PERRYinLA

There are directional tires, which can only be mounted to turn in one direction, and there are asymmetrical tires, such as the Dunlop SP5000 (on the left in pic below), which can turn in either direction, but are made with an asymmetrical thread pattern, usually with denser blocks on the outside for more cornering traction, and less dense blocks on the inside, to channel away water, so the “denser” side is marked “mount this side of tire to the outside of car”.

Like some other cars, mine tends to wear the tires on the inside more, so to even out the wear, I’d like to re-mount them so the inner side is towards the outside. Yeah yeah, I know the Dunlop lawyers don’t recommend the use of their tires in that way. And the local store of the “Just Tires” chain isn’t allowed to do so, either (their lawyers got to them, too).

Do you think I’ll find a tire shop that will do it? Any other thoughts? (No lawyers, please.)

amlin423

Good luck. I tried Wheel Works and they said no as well.
I have this crazy inner wear on my front S03's. The middle and outer edge
of the tires look like they can last another 7500 miles at least but because
my inside is completely bald, they wouldn't even touch them. (actually they're
worse than bald, they look like they've been shaved off....i guess 1 alignment per year
isn't enough??)
I'm just trying to be cheap. These tires do cost a lot of money.

PERRYinLA

Well, nothing wrong with that. I wrote to Dunlop, and got the following predictable answer:

An irregular wear issue on a tire could indicate an align issue. I would suggest correction of that issue and tire replacement. A tire that has begun an irregular wear pattern unfortunately will not even out. As far as mounting an asymmetrical tire inside out, we would not suggest it. That situation would not adversely affect the wear, but will affect performance. I would suggest tracking down the cause of the irregular wear and correcting that issue, then replacing the tires. I hope this info helps.

I wrote back and asked for specifics on his "not even out" and "affect performance" claims. Stay tuned.

PERRYinLA

Followup: As I drove around LA lately, I stopped at several shops- the larger ones (mostly chains) wanted no part of it, but I found two smaller independent shops that were willing to do it.

One guy was like "I'll do whatever you want, but cash only, no guarantee and no paperwork". Sheesh! The other guy, Junior Tires in Hollywood (323.962.3624) had no problem, since he agreed with me that the performance difference of reversing the asymmetrical thread pattern is so subtle as to be a non-issue in regular street driving.

I ended up selling the Dunlops anyway, but if you seek out the smaller tire shops in your area you may find some willing to flip your tires.

(And the Dunlop rep never responded to my second letter.)

Lexusfreak

You should get normal wear on directional tires as long as they are rotated at the proper intervals & maintain the correct tire pressure, balancing, alignment etc. No biggie, just front to back & back to front on the same side of the car........my Toyo Proxes TPT's are directional & they are wearin perfectly so far!

PERRYinLA

Captain Obvious strikes again...

GS300Rich

As soon as we get a camber kit all these problems will go away

I have the Toyo T1s so I am able to rotate them side to side. How many miles did the tires last?

amlin423

For those that have a staggered setup with directional tires, the only way to "rotate" them is to unmount them and remount them. Not quite as simple as swapping your front and rear wheels. I actually took off my rims and had a good look at the tire and it was shocking to see that they still have not disintegrated yet.

I'm digressing a bit but I recall a long while back, someone had a problem with their S03s cracking all the way around the tire. Well, mine was on the inside so I couldn't see it PLUS I had an incredibly bad inner wear. I'm not sure if the crack is attributed to the bad alignment though. I had 19s on with no gap so it is very difficult to see how badly my tires are worn on the inside.

Moral of the story...check your tires often..

I'll provide pics of the damage soon..