To rotate or not to rotate. That is the question.

[jberger]

"ramping"(see jberger: ramping, tread blocks. entry IAC Glossary 32,789b).

ha

[Hippie]

There are MANY different ways to rotate your tires... This depends on tire types and whether your vehicle is FWD, RWD or 4WD and whether you are doing a 4 tire or 5 tire rotation......

I just want my tires to die a peaceful death so I can justify some Hancooks with the stiffer sidewalls. How do I wear them out without blowing out on the highway?
Rob

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[spiffy]

There are MANY different ways to rotate your tires... This depends on tire types and whether your vehicle is FWD, RWD or 4WD and whether you are doing a 4 tire or 5 tire rotation......

I just want my tires to die a peaceful death so I can justify some Hancooks with the stiffer sidewalls. How do I wear them out without blowing out on the highway?
Rob

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I can vouch for those tires....very nice ride+good price+support VW vendor=good Ju-Ju and happy ass whilst listening to the bugs hit the front of the bus with a *tink* or sometimes a *ploink*

[VWGirl]

VWGirl, I will defer to your experience, but share that I have had a rash of belt shifts and separations with the Dunlops the Winstons and Firestones in the million or so miles of tires I have eaten up. Most tire store experience (did time there in my youth) cannot record the longitudinal history of a tire quite like owning a few sets.
The Winstons developed a vibration that was subtle, but I could feel it when I did a cross rotation to correct tread "ramping"(see jberger: ramping, tread blocks. entry IAC Glossary 32,789b). The Firestones came apart when I changed rotational direction (they were recalled . . . anyone remember the Firestone 500 fiasco?)
The Michelins have been the best tires I have owned for staying round throughout their life.
Colin

Colin... I am definitley not here to disagree with you... I have had more than my share of miles and have rotated tires every which way and have worn them until they were literally racing slicks without having them seperate... that particular pair was a set of bridgestones. in fact i have only had one tire ever do anything but wear out due to lack of tread and that was surprisingly a michelin with less than 500 miles that seperated... But I will still stand behind Michelin as the best tire out there.

Perhaps it depends on your particular brand of tire? or whether or not you buy cheap tires? I bought one set of cheap tires about 10 years ago... and never again will i do such a thing. Stickies are where it's at... it's good to feel like you are attached to the road as opposed to just kind of floating on it, especially in rain storms.

right now my bus is running YKS truck tires and they seem to be a LOT better than the Michelin passenger tires that were on it. I would highly recommend them :)

[Amskeptic]

Colin... I am definitley not here to disagree with you...

Stickies are where it's at... it's good to feel like you are attached to the road as opposed to just kind of floating on it, especially in rain storms.

Well please do. . . . fruitful disagreement is superior to soggy agreement.

Therefore. . . . I will take issue with your above description as being next to useless. You are attached to the road unless you are sliding off of it. There is no subjective in-between. Some tires may have lousy directional stability as if under-inflated, but they keep the tread on the pavement beautifully under lateral loads, some may have excellent directional stability due to stiff sidewalls, but they lift the inside tread and suffer violent break-away when they finally do exceed their traction limit. As ever, there is subjective and absolute evaluations that we must patiently wade through with. . . . fruitful disagreements.
Colin

[VWGirl]

what i am refering to is the softness of the rubber... soft rubber is "sticky" hard rubber doesnt have a good grip... BUT... soft rubber wears much faster... but i would rather have the better handling.

[Hippie]

.....whilst listening to the bugs hit the front of the bus with a *tink* or sometimes a *ploink*

=D>

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[vdubyah73]

The harder rubber tires last longer, yes. The softer rubber tires stick better, yes. Around town driving is a good use for the softer, sticky tires. If you do a lot of traveling, as does Colin, a harder rubber is a good idea. The tire will warm up as it eats the miles and become more sticky. The softer tire on a long trip will also warm up and become stickier but it will wear very rapidly on the the long ride. So what kind of use does your bus see. Mostly local with the ocassional jaunt to vist relatives, or the 6, 10, 12 hour days on the road. Thats what you need to consider.

On another note I think I'd rather have my bus slither a little when close to it's edge of handling than have it just tip over! In other words I'd rather break traction and correct for it than just start lifting wheels in an evasion manuever.

Just my 2 cents. Bill