str8 tsx

I have stock wheels and tires, are they unidirectional or directional? I called two different Acura dealerships and they gave me different answers. How should I rotate the tires?

pavan87

For stock tires, you would do the non-directional tires and wheels (the one on the left).

LoveMyTL-S

The stock tires are not directional. If your tires are directional they will have an arrow pointing in the direct that they should be rolling. Do the rotation on the left for stock tires.

rb1

The arrows are the definitive piece of information, but I think you can also tell by looking at the tread and the symmetry it exhibits.

I can't quite think of a firm rule of thumb to describe it, except that it will seem obvious that the tread is "one way" and would be backwards if the tire is rotated to the opposite side of the car.

If the tread will basically "point in the same direction" (e.g. present the same pattern with respect to it's rotation to the pavement) when moved to the other side of the car, then it's not directional.

If the tread seems to point either toward the front or the back, then it's probably directional.

There may be exceptions to this, but I haven't seen one.

Jeff The Pianist

I just went to Pepboys to get my tires rotated. I asked the rotation to be in a criss-cross patter where the Front Right tire would go to Rear Left, etc. The service guy told me that it is not recommended because of the radial tires. I didn't know what he was talking about, and I didn't want to argue with him. So I just rotate the tires front to back.

BTW, I still have the stock tires, which is non-directional.

Does anyone know what he was talking about? Will I be fine doing the criss-cross rotation?

Thanks

taz98spin

The Acura dealer I bought my TSX from does free oil changes and tire rotations every 7500 miles.

Last time I checked they did a front to back rotation with my stock tires, which
made me confused too because I thought ours were suppose to go criss cross

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Tell the moron at Pepboys that we live in 2007, not 1957 when that might have been a problem.

Modern non-directional all-season tires are designed such that you can do the criss cross rotation pattern without issues. The dude at Pepboys was just being lazy.

CGTSX07

I believe if you have non-directional tires you can do both types of tire rotations

Forkball88

Should a tire rotation typically be done with the very first oil change?

Just picked up my 07 last week from the dealer and I want to know every minute detail to keep my baby lasting forever.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Depends on how you drive. My car, with summer only tires and a more sporty driving style means I am rotating my tires every 3000 miles. However, if you are much more relaxed and are planning on keeping the stock Michelins, every 5000 miles or so should be more than adequate.

drigo

would you guys recommened a balance with the rotation? i used to do a rotation & balance with every other oil change...

ChrismanTSX

Actually, he did you a bit of a favour, but not because he is competent... he's out to lunch for sure.

The Front right tire should be moved to the Rear right position, and the rear right to the Front Left. You criss-cross back to front, and move front to back on the same side for radial tires on a FWD car. RWD cars with would be rotated as you suggested (criss-crossing front to back)

Other than with uni-directional tires, you are better off criss-crossing the tires, as you will even out the treadwear, which is uneven as most roads are slighly inclined (road crown), and most people drive by themselves, leading to slightly more weight on the driver's side tires. Rotating tires as described will ensure that each tire will be at each position over 4 rotations.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

My dad had always told me that cross rotation was bad because as the radial tire ages the cables in the tire flex and mold in a pattern of the direction the tire rotates at driving speeds. Driving on the tire at highway speeds in the opposite direction will flex the cables in the other direction and could possibly cause cables to break. So, I've always been taught to do the rotation shown for directional tires, and don't know of a shop that does rotations as shown for "non-directional" tires.

My dad and I are fairly knowledgeable about cars, but nor her or I claim to be experts...so we could be wrong!

SoCaliTrojan

My dad has a couple of old cars. One time a shop rotated the tires as a favor for him (he did not ask them to, they just did it on their own). Anyway, eventually the wires in the tire started coming out. They were radial tires...they are supposed to rotate in one direction only.

Jottle

Has anyone actually called an acura dealership and asked them? Or maybe we should call two just to be safe

cestmoi

We should have a vote as to how our Acura service dealt with rotation! When I rotated my tires at approx 11,000 miles, the Acura dealer rotated my stock using the Unidirectional method (one on the right of picture in the service manual). I know because I had the tires marked just before I brought in for servicing to make sure they actually rotated my tires and not just on paper. Goes to show you how 'gun-shy' I am now after a few bad experiences with other dealers (other makes/models).

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

Just noticed that! D'oh!

Hoosier_Buddy

From Tirerack.com

Four (4) Tire Rotation
What tire rotation pattern should be followed? The Tire & Rim Association has identified three traditional rotation patterns covering most vehicles (equipped with non-directional tires and wheels which are the same size and offset).

On front-wheel drive cars, rotate the tires in a forward cross pattern (Figure A) or the alternative X pattern (Figure B)
On rear-wheel or four-wheel drive vehicles, rotate the tires in a rearward cross pattern (Figure C) or the alternative X pattern (Figure B)



Tire Rack Rotation Instructions

cestmoi

I think what most TSX owners want to know is: what the freakin' heck should the tire rotation be for stock tires as the Acura dealers seem to be confused.

According to tire rack then, it should be figure A or B not the C which was what my Acura Dealer did!

Man, how hard is this? How can this cause so much confusion is beyond me (unless not all TSX stock Michelin tires are equal).

nj2pa2nc

I get my tires rotated every 6,000-7,000 miles and never thought of what way it is done. I guess the way my dealer is doing it is ok since my stock tires are still in excellent shape after almost 40,000 miles. I check the tire pressure often.

SoCaliTrojan

I think our stock tires are non-directional, so it doesn't matter.

nj2pa2nc

I asked my friend, a acura service manager. He emailed me and wrote front to back

CGTSX07

. I am pretty sure this is the case.

Simba91102

Great point; another thread populated by a bunch of guys (including me) with too much time on their hands. Just rotate the friggin things. As long as the back ones end up on front and the front ones end up on back, who cares?

nbtx

The guy who wrote that manual page knew there would be modern radial tires on the vehicle. And the stock ones from the factory are nondirectional so use the appropriate criss-cross pattern. When radials first came out in the 1950s it was recommended to not criss-cross them. Apparently modern radial tires are tolerant of running in either direction, and the tire store guys are still stuck in the 1950s.

nbtx

BTW, I've run radials on my trucks for the last 10 years and criss-crossing them worked fine.