Swapping tyres (front -> rear)

[OllyBlox]

Just a quick question:
The front tyres on my Mini are getting worn faster than the rears. They aren't at the legal limit yet but will be within the next 1000 miles I reckon. So will it be okay to swap the tyres around and put the current rears on the front, to prolong the life of the tyres??

[HarryHBMCC]

Measure the tread on the front and back, how low is low? I just put my summers back on after the winter and I put the better ones on the front. My fronts now have 8mm and my rears 5mm of tread which is probably as disparate as you'd want to go. If you have 9mm on the rears and 3mm on the fronts then you probably want to just wait a bit and replace the fronts.

Harry

[MiniTiger]

I recently rotated my tires front to back for the same reason. I rotated them at about 6000 miles. I think I'll be lucky if I get 15000 miles on these Dunlop run flats.

I was lucky enough to be able to jack the the whole side of the car with one floor jack right behind the front wheel.

The only thing that surprised me was on my 1st drive after rotating the tires: the low pressure light come on as soon as I went a few blocks down the road.

I guess the rear wheels are turning more to go the same distance than before. I reset the system and all is well.

I really don't think it is a good idea to rotate them. Putting worn tire on the rear of the car and fresher ones on the front is not a good idea. Just drive the car until the fronts are worn out, and then buy 2 tires for the front. When those are worn out, you will have to change all 4.

-Andrew

[MiniMan7]

I agree with L8 Apex, I think two sets of front worn tires is equal to one set of back warn tires.

[OllyBlox]

Hmm....
The fronts are getting pretty desperate - it's dark at the mo, but I'll check the depth tomorrow.
I think I'll wait until the fronts are shot, then get two new tyres.

[DJC]

IMHO i have always replaced the fronts, keeping a good set on the rear. But you will have to keep an eye on the condition of the rears, looking for any signs of cracking. I also remember that on the Channel 4 programme "Driven" they did some tests on a wet and dry corner with a front wheel drive car, and the one with worn rears was much worse. I have to admit even I was surprised ! Hope this helps. All the best.

[Shaun]

My fronts are looking pretty worn at 12000 miles especially the outside shoulder nearside (possibly to do with the gearbox being on that side?).
I am going to get new tyres on the back and put the still good back tyres on the front. It is safer to have good tyres on the back as djc mentioned I saw that programe and this is also endorsed by cosco were I get tyres from. They show a video on why it is company policy to fit new tyres on the rear.Lots of crashes and stuff.

[vespa]

The only thing that matters is that you NEVER SWAP DIAGONALLY!

The tires only go one way -- you'll get all sorts of vibration and traction issues if the tires are backwards.

I don't know why BMW insists that tires should not be rotated but I assume it's because the krouts have never owned a FWD car. If you don't rotate the tires, the rears will easliy last 500,000 miles. You sure don't want to be driving around on 30 year old tires do you?

[acetonic]

I was at the dealer at 18,000 miles to get a software update. They said that due to the wear on the front tires they recommended a rotation, front to back.

I agree about the Dunlop runflats. I replaced them the other day after 20,500 miles. I seriously doubt I'd have gotten 25,000 out of them. The replacement tires are better in so many ways. It's like having a new MINI again!

[vespa]

I thought all MINI tires were directional but I suppose the all-seasons probably aren't. Directional tires will always have an arrow on the sidewall indicating the direction of rotation. If yours aren't directional they can be rotated diagonally but I still wouldn't recommend it. Just front to back is fine unless you have excessive wear on one side for some reason.

[Martin L]

It's actually more dangerous in a FWD to have low tread depth on the rears then the front. I remember a piece on TopGear about this which did surprise me but will always stick in my head.
With low tread on the rears the tail end is more likely to let go and we all know that oversteer is far harder to control then understeer

p.s. this theory is for wet road conditions

[Prowse]

Quote:

Originally posted by Martin L
It's actually more dangerous in a FWD to have low tread depth on the rears then the front.

Quite right. Once your fronts are worn out, swap your rears to the front, then get a new pair for the rears. I've seen this method recommended by tyre manufacturers.
Note this is for a front wheel drive car, also note that your tyres may be directional and therefore can not be swapped diagonally, as mentioned above.

[dietcokeplease]

Lots of differing opinions here.

Kwik-Fit and ATS have signs in their waiting rooms in which I think the National Tyre Dealers Association (I think) advocate placing NEW tyres on the rear axle and swapping the part-worn rears to the front axle. As Martin and others have said this has been demonstrated by TV Motoring programmes.

However, I personally disagree with this. I feel that the need to maintain wet weather directional stability in the UK is more important. I want better ability to resist aquaplaning and to stop better in the wet. I feel that I'd rather have the ability to stop before hitting the car in front rather than oversteering. The only time I've ever oversteered is on a track, yet I see head-on smashes all the time. Whatever you do it's a question of balance.

[Martin L]

Quote:

Originally posted by Max
The answer from my Dealer workshop manager - without hesitation - is that the MCS runflats are NOT directional tyres/tires and you can swap them front for back or front for back diagonally

Your dealer is an idiot then!
He's got to check the tyre brand first
My Dunlop SP9000s are definately uni-directional, I'm not too sure about the Pirelli Euphorias but they do look reversable looking at the tread pattern. Anybody out there want to confirm that??