Which ones wear first?

[PSDfreak]

The other tire thread got me thinking...Which tires are wearing faster on my truck (in sig)? The rear end has an open diff. I ask because I have lost track of when I need to rotate.... The rears are looking more worn than the fronts, so is it time to rotate again? Do the rears usually wear faster than the fronts?

Thanks,
Casey

 

[ryanPSD]

My rears seem to wear faster.

 

[whatabudro]

I rotate my tires to the rear once I see the slightest hint of chopping, a week later they are reay to go back up front

 

[MUDWHISTLE]

I have to buy a new set of rears once a year I put the slightly worn ones from the front on the rear a the new ones on the front and that way I always have rally good tires on the front. and I only have t buy two at a time. works for me.

 

[Maintain]

Rear's wear faster if you do burnouts, or use the gopedal alot around corners. hard cornering and regular driving should wear the front tires less evenly and more quickly then the rear's.

Key to often rotation. The best is a 5 tire rotation, but most people's spare does NOT have the same rim and/or tire they are currently running on their trucks. Our trucks are heavy, and I see you have a pre-99 F250 which means you don't have the solid axle which means you have the beam suspension which is PRONE to uneven/cupping/chopping or anyother BAD thing you can think of for a front tire. I encountered those problems on my 1994 Mazda which has a similar setup. Rotating your tires often is the best advice.

 

[DaveBen]

I have owned four Ford 4X4 trucks and they all wear the rears before the fronts. I don't lay rubber or do quick starts all of the time.

Dave

 

[Crumm]

My rears wear a little faster than the front. I only rotate once in the life of the tire and that is when they are about wore out.

I am no expert but let me enlighten you with my theory on tire rotation When you leave the tire in the same position all its life it tends to wear the same way its whole life. If you change the position it tends to start wearing differently than it was and thus accelerates the wear. Think of it as a piece of steel and a piece of sandpaper. When you sand in one direction for a while the surface becomes smooth and hard to cut but if you then start sanding in a little different direction the paper will start cutting again. When you rotate the tires it has the same effect and starts accelerating wear. Now keep in mind that this is my theory and I have never heard of many people agreeing with it but it is my story and I am sticking to it.

Don't forget that the guys telling you to rotate your tires are the ones that are wanting you to hurry up and buy another set

 

[PSDfreak]

My rears wear a little faster than the front. I only rotate once in the life of the tire and that is when they are about wore out.

I am no expert but let me enlighten you with my theory on tire rotation When you leave the tire in the same position all its life it tends to wear the same way its whole life. If you change the position it tends to start wearing differently than it was and thus accelerates the wear. Think of it as a piece of steel and a piece of sandpaper. When you sand in one direction for a while the surface becomes smooth and hard to cut but if you then start sanding in a little different direction the paper will start cutting again. When you rotate the tires it has the same effect and starts accelerating wear. Now keep in mind that this is my theory and I have never heard of many people agreeing with it but it is my story and I am sticking to it.

Don't forget that the guys telling you to rotate your tires are the ones that are wanting you to hurry up and buy another set

Interesting Theory...never thought of it that way before...thank you for your interesting take on it...

Thanks everyone else for there opinion/expirience. It seems the driver side rear is wearing the fastest.

On a side note...I have been very lucky with my D50 TTB. I think its in part to my stiff 4" lift springs in the front. My tire wear up there is very even, havn't had a lick of problem...only aligned once in the past 2 years and its still trackin nice and straight (knock on wood )

Thanks again,
Casey

 

[powerboatr]

interesting there crumm

however, i rotate fronts with fronts and rears with rears.
the fronts I do the manages the odd outer edge wear the happens when i run around empty. I found my cure to making all 6 wear evenly is, to vacation alot and take the fiver with me, it tends to load all six pretty good

my second BIG reason for doing htis every 7-8k miles is it allows me to clean the wheels really good, insect the brakes, hubs and suspension parts, lug nuts and to break the alum wheel away from the steel.

 

[Maintain]

What powerboatr said.

Rubber is not sandpaper, you aren't running it in one direction since you are constantly turning and encountering different surfaces (asphalt, concrete, etc).

I do not sell/buy/have shares/do anything with tires so I have no reason to have people rotate their tires so that they buy new ones sooner. If rotating your tires is such a bad thing why does ford, or anyother dealer for that matter suggest doing it to maintain tread life and wear? Think of it this way, you write with your pencil and if you keep going at it on one angle, it wears away down to the wood and then barely writes. IF you turn it, it will write nice, sharply and crisply. Similar to the tire... if you leave it on one position then it will wear down part of the tread and then you have to worry about blow outs and reduced handling. I could go on, but NOT rotating your tires is NOT a good thing to do. I'm not going to get into a pissing contest but for the sake of the original poster, it is good to rotate your tires. (added bonus, you find out you have a leaky axle seal when you remove the tire and see the newly painted inside wheel. Save yourself alot of money so you don't have to get new gears because your old ones burned out from lack of lubrication!)