OK I heard this from a fruitcake mechanic that I don't go to any more, but I just wanted to see if there was any truth to it.

I run 245's in the front and 255's in the back, plus the front/rear wheel offset is different, so it's impractical to "rotate" tires front to rear. This mechanic told me that if I "rotate" them side-to-side (just remove the right and left rear wheels and put them on the opposite side) it will cause the tires to be more likely to fail because they are rotating the opposite direction (that is true anyway) and rotating in different directions causes the rubber to break down faster? Is he full of **** or what?

 

he's full of ****!! unless that is, you are running directional rubber... go see if there are arrows on your tires telling direction of rotation.. if not, swap away and tell that runt you're keeping your cash

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'86 IROC-Z 305/auto with no cat, performance chip, shift kit, and 4.11s
'87 IROC-Z factory loaded with every option, 84,000 miles

Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

 

He's wrong!

Unless your tires have a directional tread design, the tires won't fail because of a change in their rotation! And even if they ARE directional, they won't fail, but they won't perform to their highest potential as the manufacturer intended. In fact, changing the direction at each rotation is the "NEW" best way to rotate tires.

So rotate them anyway you like!

Rick

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'87 L98 IROC
Warmed over 30 over L98
K&N's, Dynomax CAT, Edelbrock Cat-back
4Wheel Disc, leather, power everything
Moon-Glow Pearl White with red "25th Anniversary
Heritage Stripes"

 

Thanks guys, just wanted to double-check. My tires are NOT directional, I specifically didn't get directional ones, partly because with an open rear, I wear down the right tire a LOT faster than the left :-) :-) :-). So I wanted to be able to swap them back and forth to get the most out of them. Then that idiot told me that so I was worried. Thanks again!

 

hehe.. just go pin an Idiot badge on him... call him Doofus each time you see him, and then go laugh at the fact he screwed himself out of your business next time you DO need work