Is the only reason I can't rotate my tires is that I have 225's in the front and 245's in the back?

Can I just get either 225's or 245's and have them rotate my tires at the dealership when I get my oil change?

Does rotating tires really help?

edit:

current car: 07 350z base. no mods. daily driver but i like to drive fast as I've been told.

 

just get another set of 245's. yes, rotating the tires helps to prevent premature wear.

 

On our cars it doesnt matter much, on the front or rear it wears out the inside tread with normal driving.

 

Actually it woud help to be able to rotate. I am currently using Nitto Neo Gens and they have worn pretty good on inside shoulder. I would have rotated mine but i still have my stock mismatched 17s. My backs are gettting close to the wear bars but my fronts still have quite a bit of tread on them. Had i been able to rotate i think i could have got several more k miles.

Now, what year model 18" wheels do you have? If its the older touring "wagon wheels" (03-05?) I wouldnt seen any problem that as they are the same width front and rear, and offset is the same on both, but the Newer 18's have different widths front and back and offsets as well. I would think with the later wheels that this might be a problem running a wider wheel up front than in the rear.

 

I have an 07 stock rims and tires. The rims are the same correct?

 

nope , 8 inch front and 8.5 rear. Civics have matching wheels front and rear, that may be more your style.

 

I was thinking the same thing, I wanted to run 245 or maybe 255's front and back on my stock track rims.

 

Why are there so many people that feel the need on this forum to make rude comments when people are honestly trying to learn and get information. I honestly get sick of seeing it everyday. I wonder why it is you feel the need to even be here, as helping others is obviously not your interest. I am sure we all could do with out it.

 

Ok… getting back to the Op’s original question:
If you want to rotate tires and you have stock 18” wheels (8” front and rear, or 8” front and 8.5” rear), here are the considerations:

• The 350Z has a staggered tire-height (i.e., the fronts have an overall diameter of 25.9” and the rears have an overall diameter 26.7"). If you mount tires that have overall diameters different from the stock sizes, your speedometer will be inaccurate, and VDC or TCS might malfunction (if your car is equipped with these features). In other words: If your car has VDC or TCS, do not mount tires that have the same overall diameter (front and rear) since doing this can result in erratic deployment of VDC/TCS.
  
• If you do choose to go with a square setup (same tire width and same tire overall diameter) on 18” wheels that are 8” to 8.5” wide, go with 245/40-18” or 245/45-18” all around. 245’s fit 8” to 8.5” wheels, and 245/40 provides better acceleration while 245/45 looks better. Of course if your car is equipped with VDC, either of these arrangements will result in problems and unsafe operation of your car.

My thought here is that Nissan never intended that you should rotate your tires on the 350Z (front to rear), and designed the car to run with a staggered tire-setup (height and width). So I would advice not doing this. In fact I believe that was terrasmak’s point (maybe a little sarcastic, but probably for emphasis).

And... I would never run all-square on my 350Z just to accomplish longer use of tires.

--Spike

 

I have a non staggered setup, there is definitely and improvement in handling, with a reduction in under steer.It might be difficult to get the same profile all around in ordere to rotate tires. I am running 275/35 front and 275/40 rear on 18x9.5 +15. Going with a 40 profile all around would have been to tight in the front and going with a 35 all around would have meant a huge wheel gap with stock suspension.

 

^^ I agree with you. I'm running 245/40-18" front and 245/45-18" rear on stock 18x8" wheels. I have VDC, so it's important to maintain correct overall diameter.

Same width (245's all around in my case) does provide neutral steer and better handling.

--Spike

 

I am also currently running square setup on my stock 18x8. 245/45/18 all around. I have a Base so I don't have issues with VDC/TCS. Understeer is reduced noticeably, and really that's the reason that I run the squared setup.

Also I agree with JWright regarding the Civic comments. Not meaning to repeat the issue, but we really can do without the sarcastic remarks. Not to say that we can't handle a bit of sarcasm here and there, but it's certainly not needed/warranted...

 

My point is these cars are bought and sold as sports cars, every sports car on the market these says runs a staggered fittment except the miata. If you don't want to deal with a staggered fitment, especially for economy reasons, there are plenty of economy cars on the market.

Also a typical non staggered setup on these cars messes up the front castor setting, making it a lot more twitchy. Sure a few of us still run a 275/35 or 275/40 front and rear combo for track use, but the added caster is nice for what we are doing. I've driven a non-stagger setup on the street and it can get hairy, especially with expansion joints or grooved freeways.

 

Point taken All's good...

But can you elaborate more on squared setup messing up the front caster setting?

 

If you put the 8.5 inch wheels on the passengers side, and 8 inch wheels on the drivers side, you could make great left turns.

 

Running tires that the the same height front and rear basically lowers the rear of the car, or raises just the front depending on how you look at it. By doing this there is a change in castor in the front , and a slight change in the angle the rear suspension takes a bump ( probably castor too)

 

I have a square 245 setup. Works great.

 

I'm just looking to learn. Now that I know what a stagger fittment is, I will go with the staggered.

 

<- non staggered and the Z handles like a dream. I find it much better than a staggered set up.
dont listen to what any e-thug tells you on an internet forum. alot of research goes along way.
some magazine tested both methods and found the Z handled better non staggered. I had staggered, so I wanted to try non staggered.. I loved it.

 

^^ Are you running the same overall diameter on fronts and rears?

--Spike