Tire Rotation

[Truck#1]

When you guys rotate tires on a drive tandem do you keep the pairs of wheels together or do you seperate them and move them all around???

Rob W.

[MidniteMechanic]

I'm sure there will be many opinions on this. If the rear axle tires are all about the same depth I just move them straight front. If the right rear is worn more than the left rear I move them diagonally to the front. This is assuming the rear drive has less tread than the front. Always keep the deeper tread on the rear. If the truck has Mack rears then keep the deepest depth on the same side. Don't put new tires on the rear and worn ones on the front. Put the new ones all on one side.

[CF686F1292]

When I was trained by bridgestone,they recommended the diagonal rotation. as for all new on one side,I never heard of that,but might be true

[HK Trucking]

If the truck has Mack rears then keep the deepest depth on the same side.

That is because with the Mack power divider, if there is a big difference between the diameters of the tires on the front drive axle compared to the diameters of the tires on the rear drive axle, the result will be that the pins in the power divider will constantly be jumping over the cam & cage and this can sometimes be felt as a "clunk" in the driveline.

I've had it happen before, and rearranging the tires so the largest 4 were all on one side and the smallest 4 were all on the other side cured the problem.

Don't put new tires on the rear and worn ones on the front. Put the new ones all on one side.

I found it best to put the 4 larger tires on the curb side because it helps to counteract the "crown" of the road.

[Rob]

That is because with the Mack power divider, if there is a big difference between the diameters of the tires on the front drive axle compared to the diameters of the tires on the rear drive axle, the result will be that the pins in the power divider will constantly be jumping over the cam & cage and this can sometimes be felt as a "clunk" in the driveline.

I've had it happen before, and rearranging the tires so the largest 4 were all on one side and the smallest 4 were all on the other side cured the problem.

I found it best to put the 4 larger tires on the curb side because it helps to counteract the "crown" of the road.

A little off topic but similar: A friend of mine purchased four new drive tires for a medium duty farm truck with a tag axle. He mounted all four on the outside of the used drive tires. About 10,000 miles of usage and he had eight drive tires with about 20% tread remaining. I couldn't laugh at him, (it was difficult not to) as I explained that the outer new tires carried most of any load and the inner used tires had hardly any downward pressure on them at all. I think he finally caught onto my explanation when he purchased eight new tires, and the tire seller told him the same thing.

Rob