Swapping tyres rear to front

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Thu 23 Mar 2006 13:10
Swapping tyres rear to front - cheddar
I have got a case of the thrumming, chamfered blocks on the rear tyre(s) causing a thrum at certain speeds, there has been a few cases reported recently within these pages, I recall a 330d and a Vectra.

My rear tyres have done about 25k miles and are wearing more on the outside than the inside, the Mondeo does that, they both have a fair bit of wear left in them though the nearside is slightly more worn than the offside. I am noticing the thrum from this nearside rear. The fronts are the same tyre, Bridgestone, though newer, about 8k miles. The tyres are directional so cannot be moved easiliy from one side of the car to the other.

Options:
Get the rears turned on the wheels so, for instance, the outside of the nsr becomes the inside of the osr. Cost about 20 quid with balancing.

Move the rears to the front on the same side of the car with the expectation that the thrum will be less noticable on the front or may disappear due to a different wear pattern.


Any thoughtS?


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Thu 23 Mar 2006 14:38
Swapping tyres rear to front - Peter D
The uneven tread wear could cause the front wheels to tramline and I suspect wear quite quickly but the tread unevenness will not recover. You could turn them in the rims but the back end may be loose for a while but at least you will know if the noise was the tyres. Regards Peter
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Thu 23 Mar 2006 15:21
Swapping tyres rear to front - Mapmaker
Some thoughts.

Currently back tyre wears as \. Swapping it to the other side will cause it to wear like /, which will give you a V profile on the tyre reducing your grip. It will also lead to some pretty rapid wear on your tyre, owing to the extra pressure on the point of the \ when it is first swapped. I've read that's not really recommended - when looking at a similar probelm on my awful Vectra.

Swapping to the front... well the front suspension/steering etc. set up is particularly sensitive. It may not take kindly to being messed about with by a badly worn tyre. Also, you will lose the grip on your steering wheels.

I therefore decided to do nothing, and face the fact that the suspension geometry on my current car causes tyres to wear out too quickly.

Doubt that helps!
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Thu 23 Mar 2006 15:23
Swapping tyres rear to front - bell boy
tyre blocking could be due to worn shockers.
--
\"a little man in a big world/\"
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Thu 23 Mar 2006 15:29
Swapping tyres rear to front - Mapmaker
curse the html. That should have said: Currently back tyre wears as "backslash".

And: point of the "backslash" when it is first swapped
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Thu 23 Mar 2006 19:15
Swapping tyres rear to front - cheddar
Good points there Mapmaker, yes you mentioned this previously re your Vectra, I also had it before on a Vectra V6 estate and though there was guy with a 3.0 CTDi on here who had the same symptoms recently.

My rear tyres are not badly worn nor are they too uneven, it is simply the block chamfering that is causing the thrum, I think I might exchange fronts to rears at the weekend and take it for a spin to see how it drives.
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