Rotation-rebalance

[akulla]

I've seen some people here mention that when tires are rotated they need to be rebalanced.
Is it true?
How those of you who have Michelins rotate you tires? is it just back to front-front to back(same side) or back to front same side and front to back in a X pattern.
Thanks for all the replies.

[rockman19762001]

The dealer rebalanced the tires only once, after a tire rotation. The dealer always spins the tires and check to see that the tires are balanced out. They use the front-back same side pattern, as far as I know they never have used a x-pattern. The Michelin's have close to 65,000 miles on them so it seems to work.

[whizmo]

Rebalancing is neither required nor typically done at rotation. I would never do it unless I thought I had a balance problem. That being said, it certainly can be done and might refine the balance due to wear. But a balanced tire is balanced no matter where it used on the vehicle so moving it to a new location doesn't mean it needs rebalancing for that location.

You cross-rotate (side to side) only if the tires are not directional (don't have a preferred rotation direction on the tire). Most tires these days are directional and need to stay on the same side of the vehicle or they'll rotate the wrong way. But this is something you have to check for your particular tires.

- Mark

[kramerd1506]

I recently got a pair of these tires for my wife's car.

The description says "NOTE: While initially appearing somewhat directional, the Fuzion HRi tread design is asymmetric, allowing it to be mounted on either side of the vehicle." But, looking at the tire, they seem pretty darn directional to me. Does anyone have any thoughts or comments regarding mounting/rotating or the note from the manufacturer/tirerack? Should I believe them?

Thanks!

[whizmo]

Originally posted by kramerd1506
The description says "NOTE: While initially appearing somewhat directional, the Fuzion HRi tread design is asymmetric, allowing it to be mounted on either side of the vehicle." But, looking at the tire, they seem pretty darn directional to me. Does anyone have any thoughts or comments regarding mounting/rotating or the note from the manufacturer/tirerack?

If the tire mfg says they are non-directional and there is no rotation arrow on the tire, I'd certainly feel free to reverse direction during rotation.

But.... if in doubt at all, I wouldn't. Tire rotation to start with is not a "must do" sort of thing anyway - it helps to get a little better mileage and to equalize wear, but some would argue that unless you care about always replacing all four tires at the same time, it's not worth the bother. And same-side vs. cross-side rotation is just a marginal improvement on an already somewhat marginal-benefit maintenance protocol.

- Mark

[akulla]

Thanks guys for your help.


None of the internet sites(Tirerack etc) for tires provide info if their selections are directional or none directional tires.
That's why I asked about Michelins.
Looking for new tires right now and would prefer to buy tires that can be rotated just front to back on the same side(directional if I understood correctly).
My stock Goodyears came with a booklet that sad to rotate them in x-pattern. Did that at 7K and have not rotated again since.
Currently have 26K and my front ones are almost gone, still have some thread left on the rear ones though. Not sure if it's due to not rotating them or something else.

[andyschneider]

The owners manual shows a X-pattern rotation for non-directional tires - and it's what I've used on both Pilots with great results. The real issue is natural radial tire "feathering" (if you take your hand , lay it on the tread of the front tire, and move the hand from front to back, you can feel the high spots on the tire treads). Moving the tires to the other side helps to counter-act the feathering of the tread, making the tires quieter and wear longer. Most tires that fit the pilot are non-directional, meaning you can freely cross-rotate. Some are, however, so look for the direcitonal arrow.

Using this cross-rotational method every 5 k miles, I got 39k+ out of a set of Michelin LTX M/S on the wife's 04 Pilot EX-L (would have gotten more but did a lease turn-in), and so far about 25K out of a similar set on the '06 4WD pilot.

andy