Tire rotation: front-to-back? Side-to-side?

[jblackburn]

I've only ever seen front to back and only ever done front to back.

[jimmy57]

The cross pattern came about from the numerous tread patterns that are rain n snow or mud n snow that wear odd on a perfectly aligned car of many makes. Rubber bushings in certain spots in the front suspension that make the car quieter often lead to wear of every other or every 3rd rib at an angle. If you reverse that tire it often wears the tire back to a smooth face again.
Volvo put a Goodyear (was it VIVA?) tire on the 92 960's that wore the tread like ocean waves and reverse rotation was the fix according to Goodyear. The problem was these tires would wear odd again on front before they had "healed" on the rear. Lots of these got replaced by Goodyear with a revised tread pattern tire. Some of the other tires of the last two decades have had some wear pattern issues that reverse rotation would remedy if rotated often enough. Some tires with simple ribbed design with simple siping have no issues and front to back to let the worn rest on the rear while the front eats on the lesser worn off the rear is all you normally need do.

[FireFox31]

The 2000 V70 owner's manual page 88 states:
If the wheels are rotated, they should be kept on the same side of the car so that they revolve in the same direction as prior to rotation.

The P3 2013 XC70 owner's manual page 294 states:
If the tires are rotated, they should only be moved from front to rear or vice versa. They should never be rotated left to right/right to left.

I'm currently driving on Goodyear Assurance ComforTread all-season tires. They have no directional rotation arrow on the tire wall. The Gooodyear tire rotation page is vague about rotating forward or across. I could find no written specification for this tire indicating how to rotate it. I called Goodyear customer service and they said this tire should only be rotated front to back.

Can anyone find written statements from tire manufacturers saying tires should be rotated diagonally or otherwise left to right? I want to be sure that I'm following tire and car manufacturers' guidelines when rotating. Thanks.

[foggydogg]

I would stick with the owners manual. When I get uneven tread wear, usually the outside edge, I dismount the tires, turn them over, and put them on the other side of the car. I like to keep steel belted radials spinning the same direction.

[scot850]

The side-to-side, front-to-back was how we were told to do what we called cross-ply tires (pre-radials we have today). But that was in the 60's and 70's. Once radial tires and then directional tires came in the general guidance fro tire shops was front to back only as some tires were not marked directional so this was the safety out on fitment.

I mark our tires for the seasonal change overs with a wax crayon and used that as the guide for my reminders.

Mind you I never wear out tires due to my low mileage! I have changed my 'R's tires in the last 3 years. In the last 10 years the car has covered 14,000km ( <9000 miles)! The winters have never seen winter and have covered about 40 ft in total in the garage. I now have a 3rd set of rims with used tires on them as sacrificial tires to prevent flat spotting the good tires.

Neil.

[abscate]

I suspect the conservation of side is a legacy from the first gen radial tires, whose belts would “ set” in rotation. Modern tires that are not directional tread probably don’t mind this flip. The Volvo manual says to preserve sides but of course was written for the 1992 tire legacy