i've already done the general search on this forum and everywhere else. does anyone know if the stock pirelli p3000 tires are directional or not?

i've been thinking about rotating my own tires, but can't figure if they should be rotated X, or from back to front on the same side.

 

Front to back on the same side.

 

The big question is should you, not how.

If you've read previous threads on this subject you'll know there are strong opinions for and against. (I don't rotate and never would on a front-drive car because I and many others think it's always safer to have the fresher treads on the back and I prefer to buy two new tyres rather than four.)

 

Only rotate if you plan to keep up with it religiously. Like the previous poster suggests, having worn tires in the back on our little cars can produce snap oversteer (the back end whiping out on you), so if you wear the fronts heavily by waiting 15k miles and then rotate, you are inviting some trouble on wet corners. I rotate every 4k miles, but there are some very good reasons not to do so.

 

here's the odd thing, 1 of my tires has less thread than the other 3. that's why i'm thinking of rotating....

my 2 tires w/ most thread are BOTH on the passenger side right now. i've had my tires rotated once before by the dealership, but forgot to check where the tires were located originally. the 'weakest' tire is currently located on driver's rear. the driver's front thread quality is inbetween.

 

Did your dealer check/adjust the tracking when he rotated for you?

My guess is that the more-worn tyre used to be on the front and that the uneven wear is a result of one of them being knocked out of alignment by a pot hole or by kerbing. (By another driver, of course!)

I'd visit a local tyre and alignment specialist soon and get them to check and adjust as necessary as the first step and then to put the two best on the rear - assuming that the part-worn tyre still has a good life ahead of it.

(If it's too bad to keep, then two new tyres on the back and the best of the rest on the front! And you'll have a spare in case of disaster.)

 

P3000 tires are not directional.


You can rotate them front to back.
Try to find out why one tire is more worn.
Look at the tread wear pattern or consult with a wheel alignment shop.

If the outer tread is most worn that is usually from cornering and occurs easily on the front tires. A misaligned toe setting will cause irregular and premature wear on any wheel.

See
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/Dumm...bcat-HOME.html

 

thanks for the answers and suggestions!

however, with the way both driver's side tires are more worn on the outside than the passenger's side tires, is driver's weight also a factor to the uneven wear? i rarely drive w/ a passenger, and this is my daily ride to/from work.

i'm not usually an aggressive driver, but i must admit to accelerating to 30-40 mph on the freeway on/off ramps w/ yellow warning signs that read "20 mph"...

 

One question - are the majority of your on-ramps right handers?

 

yes. i also know that hard right turns are a factor too, but there's only 1 on-ramp that i'm "aggressive" on my way home from work. i don't encounter multiple hard right turns on a regular given day. hence my question about the weight issue.

although, i have a feeling the dealership rotated my tires on the same side, back/front since my weakest tires are currently on the driver's side.

 

on my dd i usually rotate x pattern given that they are non-directional
a/s tires, but sometimes i get lazy and just do a same side swap.

from wat i see the driver side front gets the most wear, passenger size
rear the least on our roads.

 

I just had the dealer rotate and rebalance the tires at 6K miles. they suggested rotating all tires clockwise, because two rims on the right were slightly deformed (can't see this visually-only showed up when balancing), probably from a nasty pothole. They said that those rims would give the car a rougher ride if they were in the front.

anyhow, a clockwise rotate with the "deformed rims" in the rear now are giving a much better ride 200 miles and counting. i'm happy with the results. there's plenty of tread left.