Tires Directional?

[kageno]

Can anyone tell me if the stock tires on the 2005 GT are directional or not?

Service guys at the dealership say that they are not directional and that I could simply swap the front left with the front right without taking the tires off the rims......

Guys at the track say that the tires are directional and that they would have to be remounted in order to make the left/right swap....

I can't find any indication on the tires that would indicate that they are directional

I wore the passenger side tires pretty severly at the track last week and figure that I might be able to get one more track day out of this set if could swap them left to right....

 

[jasper]

all steel belted radials should not be swapped from left to right or vise versa

as the tyres have some milage on them, the steel coils up in the direction of

travel, if you where to change the position of the tires you would cause the

steel within the tire to uncoil and have a failure :ack

 

[Neilda]

As most who know me will testify, I am not a techie person... however.....

All high performance cars I have ever owned have had directional tyres - I've not spotted if there's a directional arrow on the GT tyres, but given the logical explanation above, I'd suggest not swapping rims around.

Were you to have a problem on your forthcoming track day, you'd never forgive yourself. I wouldn't take the advice from the tyre guy at the dealership!

 

[ViperJoe]

I'd swear that the owner's manual states "rotate side to side but not front to rear". I'm out-of-pocket, someone else check and confirm. Does seem unusual though I agree!

 

[cobrajeff]

Jasper is right - even if it is NOT a directional tire, a steel belted radial always needs to go back on the vehicle turning the same direction as it was first installed. In order to properly switch "side-to-side" you would have to dismount and flip the tires on the rims.

...from a guy born & raised in "the Rubber Capital of the World".....(Akron, Ohio)...where everybody in the family worked for a tire company.

The reason the Owner's Manual says not to switch "front to rear" is the size difference - they seem to always assume the customer is stupid.


regards,

Jeff

 

[escman]

tire swap

I have alwys been told not to change the rolling direction of tires, but in the owners manuals for my other Fords they move the rears forward (same side)and cross the front to the rears. I have done so without any issues. Also, on page 88 of my GT owners manual it says side to side rotation is suggested to help the tires wear evenly.

 

[Neilda]

Perhaps for track use it's not recommended? I think a few of us here would just advise caution - would hate to see one of the gang have a problem - all for the price of some rubber....

 

[everetto]

This is some old (and bad) information, regarding that modern radials should only rotate in one direction. That was true of very early radials, but I worked in the tire business when radials overcame that issue, and they have been able to rotate now for years (both rotational direction, and to either side of the car). Car owner manuals started showing rotation patterns swapping side of the cars in the early 80s if I remember correctly. At any rate, we Z06 guys rotate our F1 Supercar tires from side to side currently, and I contacted Goodyear just now to re-confirm that this is correct and here is their reply (I specifically asked them about both the Z06 and the GT);

"The Eagle F1 Supercar has an asymmetrical tread design. Tires made with this tread pattern are designed to improve handling and
reduce noise. This tire can rotate in either direction with the correct side facing out as indicated on the sidewall. Tires
manufactured with a directional tread design are supposed to roll and perform in a given direction. Sidewall will have arrows
indicating rolling direction of the tire. If installed in the wrong direction the
tire will not perform its intended function. These
tires are to be dismounted and remounted on the opposite side."

I will definitely swap mine back and forth to wear them more evenly.

 

[kageno]

Swapped 'em over

Thanks for the info "evereto",

Swapped the tires left to right (reversing the direction) and am going back on the track on Monday.

Looks like fellow Gt owner Jeff is going to be there too....gonna be a great day!!!!

 

[Vincent998]

This is some old (and bad) information, regarding that modern radials should only rotate in one direction. That was true of very early radials, but I worked in the tire business when radials overcame that issue, and they have been able to rotate now for years (both rotational direction, and to either side of the car). Car owner manuals started showing rotation patterns swapping side of the cars in the early 80s if I remember correctly. At any rate, we Z06 guys rotate our F1 Supercar tires from side to side currently, and I contacted Goodyear just now to re-confirm that this is correct and here is their reply (I specifically asked them about both the Z06 and the GT);

"The Eagle F1 Supercar has an asymmetrical tread design. Tires made with this tread pattern are designed to improve handling and
reduce noise. This tire can rotate in either direction with the correct side facing out as indicated on the sidewall. Tires
manufactured with a directional tread design are supposed to roll and perform in a given direction. Sidewall will have arrows
indicating rolling direction of the tire. If installed in the wrong direction the
tire will not perform its intended function. These
tires are to be dismounted and remounted on the opposite side."

I will definitely swap mine back and forth to wear them more evenly.

I am running the Goodyears until they wear out (they have about 7k miles now), but I would like to swap sides (R-R, F-F). This seems to be a definite OK to do that, but perhaps there's better info since then (2006)? Is it still considered OK to do?

 

[Xcentric]

I am running the Goodyears until they wear out (they have about 7k miles now), but I would like to swap sides (R-R, F-F). This seems to be a definite OK to do that, but perhaps there's better info since then (2006)? Is it still considered OK to do?

Original Goodyears?

 

[Vincent998]

No. "New" two years ago when I got the car. However, they are really NOS (older production dates). I want to wear them out and then replace with Bridgestones next year. However, I would like to swap sides, front and rear to get even wear (there's nothing obvious now, but - why not?). Just want to be sure I can do that with no problems.

 

[Xcentric]

You can do it. I wouldn't.

If I had wear issues, I'd fix the cause and get new tires.

Depends how you drive it.

That's a lot of miles on the rears. Not so many on the fronts.

 

[Vincent998]

There aren't any wear issues, both tires appear the same - not down to the wear bars, probably have at least 2-3k more miles before then. The earlier thread I quoted said no problem, but I'm checking. I just want to know if I can swap the sides, and if not, why not.

 

[The Grey Ghost]

There aren't any wear issues, both tires appear the same - not down to the wear bars, probably have at least 2-3k more miles before then. The earlier thread I quoted said no problem, but I'm checking. I just want to know if I can swap the sides, and if not, why not.

As long as it's not a directional tire, it can be swapped side to side.
Been through a lot of classes on tires. I'm in the business.
Won't be a problem, in fact, going the other direction is one of the things that helps keep the wear even and extend the life of the tires.

 

[Vincent998]

Thank you, I'll swap them. The stock Goodyear Eagle F1 supercar tires have no directional arrows, just a labeled inner side.

 

[RALPHIE]

There aren't any wear issues, both tires appear the same - not down to the wear bars, probably have at least 2-3k more miles before then. The earlier thread I quoted said no problem, but I'm checking. I just want to know if I can swap the sides, and if not, why not.

If they are both worn evenly the same way - what would be the advantage? Guess I don't understand - you're not planning on putting the inside on the outside, are you -by reversing the tire on the wheel?

 

[Vincent998]

Why?

If they are both worn evenly the same way - what would be the advantage? Guess I don't understand - you're not planning on putting the inside on the outside, are you -by reversing the tire on the wheel?

No. The reason is that my rear wheels were permanently marked at some time prior to my purchase of the car "RR" and "LR" and while cleaning them I noticed that they have been reversed. I just want to put them back as marked ... I'd also like to have both tires wear out at the same time (yes, I know, why bother ...?). I could wait until the tires are replaced next spring, but don't feel like it. Life is like that sometimes :biggrin

 

[fjpikul]

My 2 cents worth - my original GY and the second set I bought didn't really show any funny wear until about 10K, near the end of their life span. The wear was slightly uneven, but not really noticeable until late. This prompted me to check alignment before I put on the BS. I would let them ride till the end on the sides they are on now. May help you define small alignment problems.

 

[junior]

FWIW, Just rotated tires on my sedan, here's what the guys at America's Tire Company said, they always rotate (non directional) tires front to back and switch the back tires on the front axle (I. e. Left rear is now Right front and Right Rear is now Left Front), after 4 rotations using this method all tires would have rotated once and went back as first installed. I had to draw it out to confirm, and he's right.