Quote:
Originally posted by Dibbler
OK, here's the deal. Radial tires need to be rotated so that the tires continue to turn in their original direction. In otherwords, rotate the left rear to the left front, the right rear to the right front. Obviously, you move the front ones to the back on the same side. The reason is that the steel belts in the tires will settle into a certain position after time. If you rotate the tire any other way, you will significanty reduce the tire life.
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common misconception #1.
way back when radial tires were first developed (late 60s), there was some truth to this. however in the over thirty intervening years since, tire technology has advanced way beyond such limitations. the simple fact is that with todays tires, the ONLY reason to keep a tire on the same side of the car with respect to rotation is IF (and ONLY if) the tire is directional. of course, even with directional tires, you could swap side IF you wanted to go through the trouble of dismounting the tires from the wheels and remounting them so that when movting them to the other side of the vehicle the correct rotational direction is maintained. most people consider this too much hassle, though.
Quote:
Originally posted by Dibbler
Also, newer, lighter cars have much thinner rotors on them and they will warp if you over tighten the lug nuts. I've made this mistake on a Toyota Celica before. I could get away with turning the rotors once before they would need to be replaced due to their thinness. So, use a torqe wrench if you're driving a small to mid size car. If it's a truck or something heavy duty, don't worry about it too much.
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common misconception #2:
while it is possible (in theory) for a rotor to warp due to UNEVEN lug torquing, it is simply not the case that overtightening of lug nuts/bolts will result in warped brake rotors. you are about 1000 times more likely to damage/snap the lugs than you are to warp the rotors. the (far and away) most common reason for rotors to warp is HEAT. the simple fact that they are made very thin in the first place, in order to keep vehicle weight down, results in rotors that cannot dissipate heat well. warped rotors are a not uncommon side effect. also, bear in mind that because of how thin they are to begin with, it is unlikely that these rotors will be able to be resurfaced more than once, even without any warpage occurring. rotors today (particularly on fwd vehicles) are becoming a disposable item, much like a bic lighter. use em, abuse em, replace em.