hello everybody hows your day!!!! i may be wrong but seems i read somewhere that there is more to rotating your tires is more than just getting the car off the ground and undoing some lug nuts is this true??? thanks miniinhd

 

I don't think there is anything "special" that needs to be done, if that's what you are wondering. But with Run-Flats they can only be rotated Front to Back (same side). With Non-RunFlats they can be rotated Cross-Wise, or Front to Back. Someone may correct me, but that's what my thoughts are.

 

The manufacturer of your MINI recommends that you do not swap the front wheels with the rear wheels as this may impair the handling of your MINI. -- 2009 MINI Hardtop Owner's Manual

 

What you say is sort of true, here is the total story.

Many runflats are directional tires I.E. they are meant to run in one direction only for best performance. But not all are.

Most performance non-runflat tires are directional but not all.

The only tires that can be Cross-Wise rotated are tires that are NOT directional

Tires that are directional will have a direction of spin arrow on them and MUST ONLY be rotated front to back on the same side.

Yes, rotating your tires can adversely affect the handling of your car but for most owners that will not be a problem as they are not really running the car to it potential.

If running your stock tires on the track occasionaly then i would recommend against the rotation but for normal street only use it may be beneficial to rotate them for wear purposes only.

Although i must say the Dunlop SP Sport 01's (OEM Runflats) that I had on my car were never rotated and when worn out all were with in 1/32 tread depth of each other.

 

I knew there was more to it...I just didn't want to mis-inform the OP...FWIW my Dealer has no problem rotating my Tires every 6mo., both my Run Smacks (replaced Oct. 09) and now my Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grids have been rotated once already!!

 

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/536225...wers_you_to_m/

Watch this video. I'm now convinced. Seems counterintuitive at first, but it makes perfect sense. MINI should add a little more explanation to the owner's manual to clarify this. I'll keep my good tires in the rear from now on.

The manufacturer of your MINI recommends that you do not swap the front wheels with the rear wheels as this may impair the handling of your MINI. (from page 102 in the 2009 MINI's Owner's Manual)

 

On our front wheel drive cars, the front tires wear out faster. If you rotate the tires regularly, then all 4 tires can wear out evenly. Some would say that having better grip in the back is safer. So if you don't rotate the tires, and let the front's wear out, your rear will likely have a lot of treadlife. You can just purchase two new tires, put them on the rear, and swap the old rear ones for the front.

But if you drive aggressively, not having 4 new tires isn't as pleasurable since the worn tires on the front might have some wheel spin, lol.

I think every MINI owner should try an autocross. Knowing how the MINI feels when the rear end breaks loose at low speed--35 to 45 mph, and how to instinctively correct it...assuming that we are talking about conditions that permit correction..the video with the hydroplaning shows that we need to slow down in wet conditions especially if your tires aren't optimal.

Richard

 

Rotate the tires every 5,000 miles and they will wear nice and even.

I find rotating them front to back on the same side works perfect. It's not hard to do because you can lift the front & rear wheels off of the ground at the same time and just switch the wheels. "EASY" Put the jack on the front jacking point.

 

Video is for morons that are not smart enough to slow down in the rain. Same morons that cause all cars to be set up to plow like a pig.

Radial tires are rotated front to back. Never cross. This is independent of tread, but how the stress in the tire carcass behaves. The Mini is no different from any car built in the last, oh 100 years.

 

I think the task is actually getting the car off the ground. Thats where the 2X4 jacking technique comes into play...

2X4 under the rocker, jack, and set stands under the points...

Im sure there are other ways, but not with an Aero Kit...

 

Not a nice thing to say even at slowed speeds this can happen very easily, even at speeds of less than 20 mph depending on the road surface and many other factors.

May be you should research things before you speak as the statement you have made is VERY untrue.

Check this link and READ about tire rotation straight from a manufacturer. They state "All season tires should be rotated in a "modified X" pattern,".
http://www.goodyeartires.com/faqs/Rotation.html

They do go on to mention that directional tires should be moved front to back only.

Here is another that even states full size spares should be incorporated to the rotation schedule. Of course the mini does not have a full size spare so yo can not do that. But if the car manufacturer tells you to cross rotate then the manufacturer of the tire says that is what you are to do.
http://www.conti-online.com/generato...nd-mixing.html

At the bottom of the page is where it talks about tire rotation and states that there are many different tire rotation patterns and that the Dunlop dealer will rotate tire in accordance with the pattern recommended for your vehicle.
http://www.dunloptires.com/care/alignment.html

Yet another that states to follow the vehicle manufactures recommendations, including adding the full size spare to the pattern.
http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/bfgap...use.jsp#rotate

Hancook also recommend cross rotation on non directional tires.
http://www.hankooktireusa.com/Serv/R...m=3&ChildNum=2

Now all of these and any other manufacturers make "radial" tires and none of them have stated that I can find. Infact some even state to cross rotate tires.

And BTW the Tire and Rim Association also recommends a Cross Rotation pattern on non directional tires. Log in info is required to get to their publications so I can not give a link to their publication but if you can find a copy and read it you will see that it recommends cross rotation.

Please do not provide "false" information here.

Well yes it is as cars of even 50 year ago did not have the safety systems nor the technology that the new MINI's have.
Also cars of 100 year ago did not even run on the same type of tire used today, so there really is no comparison.


Personally I did not rotate my OEM Dunlops and the wear was very even less that 1/128 different between front and rears after 22K miles when they were replaced. My current Yokahama S.Drives will also not be rotated as after 10K miles they also are NOT wearing unevenly.

 

+1 ...this is what I do.

 

Wow, what are you using that can measure down to a 1/128 difference?

 

make sure you loosen the lugs while the car is on the ground. if wheels are properly balanced thats all you should need to do.

 

I'm working on finding the exact middle of my car so I can put a jack under it and raise the entire car all at one time. That will let me rotate my tires from front to rear in a double-cross pattern. Since I have replaced all of my lug bolts with wing-nuts, I won't even need tools to do the job.

I've always wanted to be double crossed.

Oh, wait a minute.

Forget what I just said.

There is no middle.

 

Micrometer. I don't actually have one of those little tire depth gauges that the tire shops use, so I used the micrometer from back in my machining days.

If I remember correctly it was actually only .0075 difference over most of the tread side to side on the front and the same to the center of the tire on the rear but the rears varied side to side by about 1/32 inch, both side were the same.

If the car is aligned properly then you should get more wear on the inside of the rear tires and the fronts should be fairly close inside to outside. That is if it is to factory specs.

 

Do as you wish. I got my information from an engineer at Gates Rubber who designed tires for a living; not from WEB or sales pitches.

 

Thats funny as Gates Rubber does not make tires they make belts, hoses, and hydraulics for the automotive industry. that comes directly from thier website, which one would think should be correct.

Also the the actual tire manufacturers websites one would thnk should also be diseminating the acurate information about thier product.

Now of course you can not take every thing you read on the web as fact but when the Tire manufacturers mostly have the same info, again one would think that they know what you are talking about.

 

Actually, Gates used to make many of the house brand tires for everybody in their Denver factory. They got out of that business some years ago. They were originally called "Gates Tire and Rubber"

You are free to take whichever advice you choose.

 

I think that just doing same side front to back works perfect on a front wheel drive car. Do it every 5,000 miles and you will be surprised how nice and even your tires will wear.

It is really easy to do your self because when you jack up the front of the Mini both the front and back wheels can be lifted together. Use the front jacking point. I bought a wheel hanger from E-Bay that really makes putting the wheels back on easy.(it is just a stud that screws onto the hub that lines up the bolt pattern for very easy wheel instalation.) I also bought a torque wrench from Lowes . I also put neversieze on the bolts and a little around the lip on the hub. I do wash the inside of my wheels when I have them off.

It is so easy a CAVEMAN can do it.

I think it is more important to rotate the wheels no matter if you want to do it X-style or front to back then not do it at all. ""BUT"" my opinion is that I do not want to reverse rotation on any radial tire so front to back on the same side is my choice. "Not scientific but just my choice."

 

Thanks for the tip - Just bought a red anodized pair of the wheel changing studs. Great little tool.

http://stores.ebay.com/GOOD-OL-BEARs...&submit=Search

 

Just ordered the same wheel changing studs, MCS Fever. Great idea, thanks!

 

I've made it a point to rotate (front to back) every 3K miles in order to maximize tire life since getting the car in 2008. I ran the stock tire for 18,000 miles before they started to show wear. Balancing and alignment helped greatly. Two track days and several club runs didnt bother them. At that point, I bought an additional set of tires and rims just to see the difference and put the original runflats in the garage. I usually put them back on when just driving around town and will continue to use them till I see the tread wear indicator or the plug comes out. I plugged the right front tire 8K miles ago and have not had any issues.

The only caveat, is when you are doing multiple HPDE's. On the LTGP track this past year, I shredded the inside edge on the right front Star Spec. GTE in Atlanta, removed the all the tires and remounted them so the wear was now on the outside edge. I still use these tires on the street and when they get down to where it makes sense to replace them...I'll replace them with Star Spec's or Advan AD08's.

 

My tire dealer here in Cincinnati also checks balance every rotation too [free with nitorgen fill wen purchasing tires from them]

I got 33,000 out of my OEM performance runcraps and I am not a very consevative driver.

 

Rotate them often - or not at all !