Spare tire rotation direction
 

Firstly, I'm not referring to "tire rotation" in the coventional sense.

I've got an extra stock rim and want to use it to mount a full-size spare. I'm running the Dunlops, which are supposed to only rotate one direction (except for backing-up of course).

Obviously if I use this same model tire for a spare, there is a 50/50 chance that it will be needed on the opposite side of the car than it's supposed to be on. It would have to be re-mounted- turned-around- on the rim to rotate in the proper direction on that side of the car, and that's just not possible on the side of the road.

My question is, would it pose a problem rolling the wrong direction if only used short-term, as a spare?

I've done quite a bit of searching and haven't found any reference to this. TIA!

Tullman,

Would it matter? If you use it as you would a conventional spare, then it would only be on the car temporarily anyway. If you were to include it in your tire rotation scheme, then it would matter since it would stay on the car for more than a few miles/days.

Just a thought.

Well, that's what I'm wonderig...as a rule I have never rotated my spare on my other cars. My logic there was that it would mean 1/3 less wear on the side with the spare in the line-up.

I guess what concerns me is that I'd hate to ruin the tire if I was 200 or 300 miles from a qualified tire shop when I had to use the spare. Would this distance at highway speed kill the Dunlop if it were running in the wrong direction? I know that if I'm just across town, it won't matter, but a couple of hundred miles? That's a big deal, right? Thanks, SB8.

I would post up a question on www.tirerack.com I just looked to try and find an article on directional tires and couldn't find anything. They may be able to give you some technical information on the subject. Then you can bring it back and be all cool and stuff by posting new information!!:)