Tire flipping question

Old Nov 25, 2011 | 07:33 PM
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Tire flipping question

So I read over Jason's DIY thread about flipping tires

Originally Posted by Jason@Performance
There has been some question on how to Rotate tires on the 350Z

(Or Any with Directional tires on a Staggered setup)



Forward:

On a vehicle with Negative Camber the Inside of the tire naturally wears more then the Outside. This technique will prolong the life of your tires.


When to do this?

Once the Inside of your tires being to show Tire Wear. If the Outside of your tires look brand new then do this just before the Inside of the tire reaches the Wear Indicator's. If the vehicle is driven in hard corners or on the track so the Outside shows signs of tire wear the sooner this technique is done, the more even the tire wear will be. Make sure to do this before the Wear Indicators are fully worn or the Tire Cord begins to show.

What will I gain from this?

If this technique is done the Tires will last almost Twice as long! (depending on driving habits of course)


How To:

STEP #1

Dismount Wheels from the Vehicle.

*For Explanation Purposes we have labeled the wheel & tire:

Front Left = #1
Front Right = #2
Rear Left = #3
Rear Right = #4

Image 1A displays the wheels before this technique is performed on the vehicle.




STEP #2

Put Wheel #1 on the Tire Mounting Machine. On 95% of wheels the face of the wheel points up (the out side of the wheel will be facing up) ((in cases of Reverse Mount wheels (Racing Hart etc) the wheel will be upside down / outside facing down))

Dismount the Tire from the wheel. Flip the Tire over so the Inside is now on top.

Mount the tire so what was the Inside is now on top and the Outside is now on the bottom.



Repeat for all wheels.


STEP #3 Time to put the wheels back on the car.

Since we flipped the tires they can not be put on where they were originally. The LEFT FRONT #1 will now have to be mounted on the RIGHT FRONT position. The original RIGHT FRONT #2 will be in the LEFT position.



Notice how what was the FRONT LEFT #1 wheel is going the Same Direction only on the FRONT RIGHT Position.

The illustrations display the Number Box on the INSIDE of the tire. The Arrow shows the Direction of the tire.

This technique can not be done with Asymmetrical Tires like the BF Goodrich KD TA.

This technique CAN be done with the OEM Tires to get more life out of them as well as popular tires like, TOYO T1S, POTENZA S0-3, BFG KDW 1 & 2, and other Directional Symmetrical Tire.


Sorry about the chicken scratch images, I do not have photoshop at home at the moment...

Now my question which is what are the dangers of flipping them like that? My inners on all 4 tires are worn, to the point were its just starting to show chord, the outsides look almost brand new. Would it be too dangerous to flip these? My car is lowered about 1.5 inches.

Also, another question...the guys at discount tire told me that getting a camber kit would cause the sidewalls to rub against the fender when hitting bumps in the road. The don't rub now, but would a camber kit really cause the tires to potentially rub? Thanks for the input guys. Heres a pic of the front and rear tires.

Front tire:




Rear tire:





Thanks for the input guys. I'm sorry if its a repeat question. I already bought some new tires, but wanted to see if it was worth squeezing some extra life out of these before I toss em
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Old Nov 25, 2011 | 08:35 PM
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Those tires are beyond their useful service life. When the steel belts are showing, they are beyond rotation and need to be replaced. Get your car properly aligned before doing anything else.
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Old Nov 25, 2011 | 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Black Betty
Those tires are beyond their useful service life. When the steel belts are showing, they are beyond rotation and need to be replaced. Get your car properly aligned before doing anything else.

Thanks man. I've already bought new tires, they will be in next week. The car is lowered about 1.5 inches with Tein springs. Do you think a camber kit would cause the tires to rub, if they aren't rubbing right now? The guy at discount advised me against it and said it would rub on the fenders/quarter panels if I start using a camber kit
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Old Nov 25, 2011 | 10:11 PM
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Nobody can tell you that for certain, too many variables. Wheel size, tire size, ride height. It probably won't. But I can't tell you that for sure. If it does, you could raise your height to where it doesn't.
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Old Nov 25, 2011 | 10:34 PM
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BB is right. Your tires are gone, and you probably won't rub with a camber kit. It's possible, but unlikely. If you do, just raise your height a little and that will likely stop the rubbing.

Definitely get an alignment before anything else. No sense in ruining another set of tires by not getting an alignment.
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Old Nov 25, 2011 | 11:00 PM
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RedlineAZ, how many miles were on the tires when you dropped the car? How many miles now?

Anytime you start messing with suspension, you need to ensure the car is still within alignment. I'd go by factory specs unless you fully understand how the different parameters interact and affect vehicle dynamics.
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Old Nov 25, 2011 | 11:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Jsolo
RedlineAZ, how many miles were on the tires when you dropped the car? How many miles now?

Anytime you start messing with suspension, you need to ensure the car is still within alignment. I'd go by factory specs unless you fully understand how the different parameters interact and affect vehicle dynamics.
Hey Jsolo, the tires probably have about 20k miles on them, the car was lowered before and was on stock wheels. My 350z had front adjustable control arms and a rear Camber kit, and tires wore very evenly without ever having to flip them. Is it possible to align the car back to factory specs without a camber kit? I'm not really sure how much adjustability there is in the G37 when aligning a lowered one before needing a camber kit. I'm about 1.5 inches lower with these tein springs, but I can tell theres some pretty significant negative camber right now. It would probably be a long shot huh?
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Old Nov 25, 2011 | 11:25 PM
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I'm not one to give advice with this specific car as I don't even have my car yet. My comments above/below apply in general to any car.

Bottom line is that all alignment specs are a compromise between tracking, cornering, handling, tire wear, any other factors. Factory engineers come up with numbers that provide a good balance between these factors. Lowering a car without a proper alignment is just wrong IMO. Those that do suspension modifications and alignments can better custom adjust a car to what the owner wants. This may result in alignment specs outside the factory recommendations.
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Old Nov 26, 2011 | 10:52 AM
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Dropped that low you will need a camber kit to get back within factory specs.
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Old Nov 26, 2011 | 02:17 PM
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Thanks for the help man! The problem is, I don't know the specifics on the wheels because I bought them from the previous owner of my Infiniti. Here's a few pics to show you how they sit on the car. I believe they are 20x9 and 20x10.5 and I'm running 255/30/20 and 285/30/20 tires. I am trying to find the offsets, I just posted on the G forums to see if anyone would know.
I'm lowered on Tein springs, heres the pics of my wheels.




and heres some close ups of the rear to give you an idea of how much room there is. I am only going to do a camber kit in the rear.







Basically what the manager at discount tire said was that if I get a camber kit, when I carry people in the car or go over a dip/bump, that the quarter panels will rub the tread instead of the smooth sidewall, causing damage to my quarter panels. I know the wheels aren't that aggressive, so what do you guys think?
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