Hey guys,

I just put on the 19" Ray's with OEM Potenza RE050A's. It appears the tires can be rotated...is this true? My old OEM 18" Michelin PS tires were certainly directional and had arrows to indicate which direction the tires should go....

Maybe I'm missing something....looking for some advice! And if so, what's the recommended rotation interval?

Thanks!
B

 

Nope...shadow...found out the hard way that they can't be rotated. Even if you dismount the tire, they won't roll right. They're asymmetrical meaning they have a specific way they have to be mounted for max performance

Hence the label outside and inside on the sidewall of your tire

Your best bet if swapping them out when they wear down which is about 20K

Don't ask me how I know lol. I've been dealing with this for the past 2 weeks

 

Which label should I be looking for? I can't find anything that indicates how the tires should roll, on the front or back. In addition, every site I've been to indicates this tire can be rotated from left to right...any more thoughts?

Thanks,
Brian

 

The RE050s are an asymmetrical tire and, by definition, can be rotated from side to side (left to right and visa versa). The tire should have "Outside" written on the sidewall. Because the OEM 19's are a staggered setup, just keep in mind that you can flip the tires side to side, but can't do the traditional diagonal rotation.

 

Thanks - this is exactly what I was hoping to hear. Just from examining the treads, it appeared to me that the tires could be rotated left to right. I was aware of the staggered width front to back but thanks for mentioning that anyway.


-B

 

So wait wait you guys are telling me, that when my front tires were making noise, I could have dismounted them and remounted them on the opposite side and the noise would have stopped??

If so I'm going to be pissed because I spent 500 quickly on a replacement front set because I thought my tires were over worn and unsafe.

Man, I could have saved up and got the tires I really wanted. Now I'm really mad especially with all the crap Discount tire took me through the past 2 weeks

 

It depends. By flipping the stock RE050s you're only going to effectively get another 2K miles out of them because they are so soft. As for the noise issue, when you get them worn down, switching sides with them isn't going to eliminate the road noise. That's just what they do when they're worn down, period. And with a 140 treadwear rating, they make noise quickly on our cars!

So it sounds like you were right, if the tires were at their wear markers, you should have replaced them anyways.

 

True I am a firm believer of Discount Tire. Well I work there but no matter which side of the car they are on, they will continue the noise. And employees of discount tire dont make commission so if you didnt need tires they would not force you into buying them if not needed.

 

how does an asymmetrical tire by definition mean it can be rotated side to side?

 

an asymmetrical tire only means it has to be mounted on a wheel a certain way not installed on the car at a certain spot

 

an assymetrical tire means that it doesn't have a balanced design across the tread. It can be assymetrical and directional, or just assymetrical, this makes a difference in what can be done as far as rotation.

 

In this case, the re050a's are assymetrical but not directional, which is why they can be rotated left to right, but its the directional part that is important, not the asssymetrical design

 

I completely agree the directional part is important

 

Thanks redlude...

 

You are right Redlude, sorry for leaving the directional part out.... I still was right in telling Shadow that the RE050s can be switched side to side...