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[desertman123]

So I got to thinking and I just wanted to make sure the orientation of my tires are correct. I got the staggered sport style 262 wheels (Sumitomo Touring Plus LSW 205/50R17 + 225/45R17)

These only say "outside" and all of the wheels say it on the outside, so would this be correct? Or do they matter left/right as well?. Can I rotate these (from left/right, I know not front/back)?



Pictured is front passenger wheel, excuse the super dirty rim

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by desertman123

So I got to thinking and I just wanted to make sure the orientation of my tires are correct. I got the staggered sport style 262 wheels (Sumitomo Touring Plus LSW 205/50R17 + 225/45R17)

These only say "outside" and all of the wheels say it on the outside, so would this be correct? Or do they matter left/right as well?. Can I rotate these (from left/right, I know not front/back)?



Pictured is front left wheel, excuse the super dirty rim

What you have are asymmetrical tires...you can swap them any which way as long as the tires are mounted on the rims properly as "outside". So you can go side to side, front to back, diagonal no problem, as long as outside is showing you're good.

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by asbrr

What you have are asymmetrical tires...you can swap them any which way as long as the tires are mounted on the rims properly as "outside". So you can go side to side, front to back, diagonal no problem, as long as outside is showing you're good.

Perfect, thank you! I only mentioned not being able to go front to back since its a staggered setup.

I was kinda hoping the tires were on wrong - my wet performance is abysmal, guess it's just what you get with these. Oh well, that's an excuse to shred these and get some higher quality rubber on it!!

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by desertman123

I was kinda hoping the tires were on wrong - my wet performance is abysmal, guess it's just what you get with these. Oh well, that's an excuse to shred these and get some higher quality rubber on it!!

What kind of tires are those? Are they new? bc they kind of look low on tire thread. Check the four digit build date(week/year, ie: 0215, means the tires were made in the second week of 2015). I bet these tires are older than five years. ???

Also... check that there is no directional arrow on the tire sidewall.

good luck,
Dackel

[AlexR6]

Originally Posted by desertman123

These only say "outside" and all of the wheels say it on the outside, so would this be correct?

Are you serious?

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

What kind of tires are those? Are they new? bc they kind of look low on tire thread. Check the four digit build date(week/year, ie: 0215, means the tires were made in the second week of 2015). I bet these tires are older than five years. ???

Also... check that there is no directional arrow on the tire sidewall.

good luck,
Dackel

Sumitomo Touring Plus LSW. That wasn't a great picture - the tread depth is good and they were made fifth week of 2014. They don't say directional on them or have any arrows, only 'outside'. I think they're just budget tires lol.

Here's the best pic I tried getting of the tread

Originally Posted by AlexR6

Are you serious?

As silly as it sounds, I wanna make sure I didn't miss anything else. I saw some post about rotating tires and what to do/what not to do with directionals/asymmetric/whatever tires and figured I should just ask instead of guessing.

[AlexR6]

Originally Posted by desertman123

As silly as it sounds, I wanna make sure I didn't miss anything else. I saw some post about rotating tires and what to do/what not to do with directionals/asymmetric/whatever tires and figured I should just ask instead of guessing.

Directional ones have an arrow for the rotation direction, they have to rotate always in the same direction according to the arrow.
Asymmetric ones must be mounted with the outside side... outside!

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by desertman123

Sumitomo Touring Plus LSW. That wasn't a great picture - the tread depth is good and they were made fifth week of 2014. They don't say directional on them or have any arrows, only 'outside'. I think they're just budget tires lol.

Here's the best pic I tried getting of the tread




As silly as it sounds, I wanna make sure I didn't miss anything else. I saw some post about rotating tires and what to do/what not to do with directionals/asymmetric/whatever tires and figured I should just ask instead of guessing.

Ok, so the tires are a little over two years old. That's ok. But over here in Germany, tires can not be older than one calendar year in order to be sold as "new tires". Most of the times when I have bought tires they have been only a few weeks old to maybe two months old.

Still... the tire thread look low. Just make sure you have at least 4mm of tire thread. Over here in DE once the tires get down to 4mm's, its time to start looking for new tires. A new tire has 8 or 9mm's of thread. The reason why most Germans replace their tires at say 3mm's is because we have lots of bad weather and tires play such an important role in a car's safety. Maybe the tire compound is hard for long tire life, hence the poor wet weather performance.

I really would not spend the money on rotating your tires. Just make sure your car has a good alignment done.

[desertman123]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Ok, so the tires are a little over two years old. That's ok. But over here in Germany, tires can not be older than one calendar year in order to be sold as "new tires". Most of the times when I have bought tires they have been only a few weeks old to maybe two months old.

Still... the tire thread look low. Just make sure you have at least 4mm of tire thread. Over here in DE once the tires get down to 4mm's, its time to start looking for new tires. A new tire has 8 or 9mm's of thread. The reason why most Germans replace their tires at say 3mm's is because we have lots of bad weather and tires play such an important role in a car's safety. Maybe the tire compound is hard for long tire life, hence the poor wet weather performance.

I really would not spend the money on rotating your tires. Just make sure your car has a good alignment done.

Just measured them yesterday while installing the subframe inserts, about 5mm deep using my digital calipers. So they're gettin there. I tried giving it a decent bit of gas under an overpass and spun them nice lol.

http://www.sumitomotire.com/cars/pro..._plus_lsw.aspx

Seems these are budget all-seasons (damn previous owner!!). Combine that with the fact the depth is gettin low, it's no wonder I struggle for grip. Definitely gonna get some nice rubber on here once these are fried. Thanks for the help!

[Rudy@tirerack]

Yeah as mentioned Asymetrical tires have an inside and an outside. Does not matter what direction they rotate in. Now there are a couple tires that are Asymetrical and Directional but that is pretty rare.

[TheCaptain]

You should not rotate left to right because the tread will wear in the direction the wheel is rolling. To feel this, rub your hand along the tread in both directions on a used tire. It will be smooth in one direction and jagged in the other. With a staggered setup you don't rotate at all just buy new and keep it aligned.