So you are implicitly admitting that making the car more likely to understeer leaves the companies less liable to suit? Because perhaps it is easier to control in a car thats FWD. This isn't a vette where you have oversteer on demand with judicious use of the loud pedal.

With the exception of one I work with that does open wheel racing, I can't think of many lawyers that know or care about under v. over steer, btw.

I recall a thread where you were arguing that instead of a tall skinny tire you were recommending a wide short tire for snow or ice conditions. Most people, especially FWD owners, have no idea how to deal with sudden oversteer, and often there is nothing you can do anyways. You are less likely to spin among other things if you are "anchored" at the back in a nose heavy car.

But as I said, properly rotate your tires and it shouldn't matter.

For Jane and Joe Commuter, you want them to understeer. Especially when you consider that other people have to share the road with them.

The amount of available friction doesn't mean jack if you cannot control it. This is akin to the misconceptions people have about brake upgrades without increasing the contact patch or using a stickier rubber.

Its all for nought if you can't take advantage of it.

 

DSM... give up, I tell ya.

Some folks will not listen to others, no matter the reasoning.

They're all arguing theory.

 

Your pretty screwed if using unidirectional tires and unable to change side to side when rotating anyway. There is no way that tires are going to wear equally rotating front to rear on the same side... It makes sense to not rotate unidirectional tires if you can get the exact same tires to place on the rear after the fronts need replacing and then moving the ones on the rear forward... There is noway to get a semblance of equal wear between front and rear if doing rotations at the extended time that elapses on the oil change minder unless you drive very easy and can avoid having to stop and go situations.. As long as tires wear evenly across the width of the tread the depth of the tread isn't an issue on most dry surfaces and in fact there are situations where a well worn tire has better traction that a new one... The best thing is to have the same amount of traction on every corner of the car and to do that means rotating the tires every chance that you can.. I've never heard anyone say that you can rotate your tires too frequently.

 

I'd rotate them every week (or day)... and call it EXERCISE... if I weren't so damn lazy.

 

Unidirectional tires need to be remounted to do the job correctly a good reason to avoid them in the first place.

The idea of rotating tires is, as Coyote just pointed out, to balance the wear patterns. Common knowledge and recommended procedure. Fail to do so and you open up the can of worms regarding which end of the car do I put them on.

I went for years in cars with miss-matched tires. Handling goes out the window. But on a tight budget and needing to get to work you sometimes do what you have to do. Joy would come whenever I mounted a match set of four new ones. On my RWD I always liked the good tread on the rears. If the tires matched it was a bonus. If the front took direction I could always steer into it and catch it with the right foot.

 

When I was younger and dumb(er) I lost a center diff to combination of slightly mismatched tires and wheelhop...

Later on I almost lost a car because of a ~1/8" difference in "roll out" on a pair of slicks on a FWD.

That seemingly insignificant difference in circumference at rest between two tires with the same wear is a big deal because by the time you are going 55mph the tire has grown due centrifugal force. I found this out at 130mph, which is not cool at all, especially when you get there in just under 11sec.

Fortunately that was on a well prepped track.

Where am I going with this and how is it relevant you ask?

Matching and rotating tires is a good idea. For a lot of reasons. Something you shouldn't insist on learning the hard way...

Small issues add up as you get up to 30, 45 60mph or beyond. Add inclement or non-constant conditions like one would encounter on public roads and you should at least do what you can to give yourself the best possible odds.

 

Maybe you can't but doesn't mean that the rest of us can't...I know I can!

 

If the rear end is passing the front, and you have effectively jack-knifed your nose heavy FWD Fit.. you are boned in most situations. No matter how good a driver you've convinced yourself to be.

Nothing gives you the right to knowingly endanger others. Just do it properly, or at the very least don't disseminate bad advice to others without mad skillz behind the wheel. I am quite confident in my abilities, I also know there is much I could still learn in that arena.

None of which encourages me to make the public roads my proving ground.

 

It's called a calculated risk...even you do it every day...when you cross the street. I am capable of making those calculated risks for myself...don't force your calculations on me...or anybody else for that matter.

 

When your risks affect everyone else on the road you are damn right we are gonna force our calculations on you. Could you be more self-centered?

There's a reason it's against the law to jay-walk. It's not just to protect you.

 

How do you know I don't have a concealed carry permit? I'm a danger to everyone but myself...how will you mitigate that risk? Are you going to change the constitution? You are really naive if you think you can remove all risks...

 

No further point to be made. Take it here The Wasteland - Unofficial Honda FIT Forums

 

CCW is illegal in this state so it would be unlikely, not that I agree with that as a firearm owner myself. But I don't see what that has to do with tires... and where did I make any attempt to take your freedoms to be irresponsible?

And isn't it the least bit ironic for you that the guy who carries a concealed weapon is accusing the guy talking about proper tire rotation of being paranoid about removing all risks?

I am just asking you to be responsible and be considerate of those who have to share the road with you. Like I would hope you are with a gun hidden on your person in public. How is that trying to amend the constitution?

If anything I support your freedoms. You have the freedom to be selfish I guess, so.... USA USA USA

 

What the hell is going on? Wow!! Que Paso Vatos? What it is?

 

I have lived in Colorado for 39 years. Sun, rain, snow, ice, etc.
I have also been a master mechanic for a good bit of that time.
I can tell you we get some pretty nasty, quickly changing road conditions. If you happen to have to engage in a panic stop or evasive maneuver, (who hasn't?), and you have the bad tires on the front, You ARE going to be involved in a crash. You'll have no steering and no brakes. The new tires on the back end of you're vehicle will only serve as witness to your willingness to eat whatever you're fed.

If you're driving too fast for conditions, that's your fault, not the tires'. The lesson is, learn to drive. If you can manage that, the good tires on the front are a lot more likely to save your ride and more importantly, your life.
Not to mention proving you're not an schmuck for believing the "industry" and their lobbyists studies meant to vacuum out your wallet...

 

I'm with you, man. You present a very logical approach. I have yet to put enough miles on either of two Fits to need to answer this question, and rotate my wheels every 5K. If I encounter the OP's situation, I would handle it as you describe it.

Not that it pertains, but I moved from SoCal to Western CO. in the mid-'70s driving a two-year-old '72 Chevy Blazer equipped with wide flotation tires that worked great in off-road desert, rock climbing, and freeway situations. But in my first winter in Grand Junction, little old ladies in their station wagons with skinny little tires would blow me off the road as they passed on the freeway in snow conditions. I didn't stay in CO long enough to buy skinny little tires for winter conditions.

I appreciate your contribution to the forums, please keep it up. Was a Mechanic myself, but never reached "Master" status. I hated watching idiot customers ruin the repair work that I had just done on their cars, and realized that dealership mechanic work was not for me. Went back to school for a Mechanical Engineering degree, and spent 30 years never regretting it.

 

Wow, the amount of ignorance in this thread is amazing. Why does the average person think they know better than established well proven systems that are put in place for EVERYONE'S safety!!!

 

I suppose as a general rule, I understand why shops would do it as 90% of the driving public's reaction to some sort of traction loss situation is to slam on the brakes or let off the gas. Makes sense to me.

I put the good tires in the front. I'd much rather be able to accelerate, brake and turn effectively and deal with a oversteer situation with the throttle. I can manage this and i'm not a racecar driver.

This is personal preference, I don't think there's a right or wrong way. Whatever is more comfortable to you type of thing.

Man, this is an old thread.

 

I usually just rotate my tires every 5k and when replacing tire I replace all 4 to be on the safe side. Never thought of just replacing two tires so the reading on this issue is pretty interesting and the differet points of view.

I always assumed if you did not rotate the tires the front would wear out first that you move the rear tires forward and put the new on the rear. That the rear tires would have enough tread for all road conditions. If not then you should be replacing all 4.

 

Oooh, so superior! I hope that if my handling of my car causes a wreck, it is with your car on the receiving end.