‘Don’t rotate’

Press, 6 December 1979, Page 23

‘Don’t rotate’

The generally accepted I practice of rotating tyres I on cars to prolong tread | life may not necessarily j be advantageous in the i case of front-wheel-drive • vehicles, according to ' tests conducted by the Goodyear Tyre, and | Rubber Company'' in the United States. Most manufacturers recommend that, on rear-wheel-drive cars, radial tyres should be rotated from front to rear at | regular intervals to proj long their life. The Good- ’■ year tests show that if this practice is followed in front-drive applications the tyres may wear out sooner than if they were not rotated. Unless excessive wear patterns develop on either front or rear tyres, rotation can cost tread life and generally is not recommended by Goodyear

for front-wheel-drive vehicles. In tests, conducted on fr o n t-wheel-drive cars, Goodyear custom polysteel tyres, which are standard equipment on many United States models, averaged 59,200 km (37,000 miles) on the front wheels and about 152,000 km (95,000 miles) on the rear. The front tyres on a front-wheel-drive car provide the driving torque as well as the functions of steering, stopping, accelerating and cornering, all at higher load conditions than in rear-wheel-drive vehicles. The rear tyres, because of their lighter load and free-rolling function, simply follow along and tend to wear much longer.