Tire rotation Plus

My 2006 base Matrix 5-speed has 16K miles and wears more the inside edges of its front Continental tires. The alignment is good, neg. camber is modest, regular rotations, etc.

Recently I thought of a stop-gap solution to do before the edges are too far gone.



I just went to a tire shop and had them remove the tires from the rims, flip 'em over, remount and balance. So now the worn edges are on the outside. Cost $109.



Two weeks later: tires are quieter now, ride and handling seem fine. If I can get another 16+K out of these OEM tires I’ll be happy.

It that a question? Many tires these days are “rotational” with tread designs that won’t work if run backwards. I assume that your tires can rotate either way. I’ve heard you can change rotation direction if you give the tires a “wear in” period to adjust. I guess that means the traction might be somewhat less until the tires wear enough to insure complete contact with the road.

I don’t think this is a good practice in general, but it seems to be working for you. Personally I don’t care for Continental tires. I’m pretty sure you’ll be looking for a different brand when the tires are worn out.

How do you know the alignment is good? Perhaps you should get a second opinion.

This can be done with directional tires (as long as they’re not also asymetrical) by switching the left-mounted tire to the right rim and visa-versa. Based on the $109 cost I suspect that’s what was done.

I would tend to agree that this isn’t generally a good Idea. I wonder also about the “nagative camber is modest” comment. I also agree with Whitey that a second opinion from an independent chassis shop may be a good idea.

And I too have had problems with Continental tires.

I also wonder if the additional wear gained will be worth the $109 paid.

“Perhaps you should get a second opinion.”

Been there, done that.

$109 to switch two tires around and balance them? I’m in the wrong business.

What I don’t understand is how you could have this type of tire wear and good alignment. Maybe there is too much negative camber.

What is the specification for negative camber on your vehicle? What is the current camber angle on these wheels?

Ditto.

If these are non-directional tires, then what was done certainly makes sense.
However, the fee for what was done seems really excessive to me.

They switched all 4 tires, and they are not directional.