e53 rear tire wear swap

Ryoken · #1 02-11-2016, 04:27 AM

now I know these things wear the inside of the tyre quite badly ,but has any one swapped the rears over, so the wear is on the outside, ?
is this a common practice?.
if you have you noticed any extra noise?.
or do you think this is a big nono?
reason why I ask , is some ones done it to mine

dhyrk3 · #2 02-11-2016, 07:19 AM

I've done it before. Didn't notice any noise after. Not sure if it's a no no but worked well and saved me some money.

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BimmerE38E53 · #3 02-11-2016, 07:37 AM

I don't see what it would hurt unless you have directional tires....

Ryoken · #4 02-11-2016, 01:28 PM

there hankook ventus st's, from may of 09 by the date. reason why I'm asking is I've got a bloody rotational noise coming from somewhere and I'm trying to track it down

bcredliner · #5 02-11-2016, 01:43 PM

Not sure what you mean by rotational noise but as tires wear they tend to generate more road noise. Usually you won't notice the increase in noise until you get new tires. Rotating tires should not create an increase road noise. If they are not directional tires and the same size as the front I would rotate the rt. rear to the left front as this will balance tire wear front to back also. If you are not pushing the handling capability you can also get it aligned so that negative camber is dialed out, reducing inside tire wear for the future.

Ryoken · #6 02-11-2016, 05:33 PM

ive been trying to record the noise on my phone, but I'm not sure exactly where its coming from , ive had all the bearings checked, and the mechanic has checked my wheels n tyres, they seem ok apart from slight feathering on the tread,
only thing that he said was a little worrying is the rear diff, I'm getting a little bearing rumble on the input shaft when you turn the wheels,. not sure if this could be a cause,
do the x5 suffer from poor differentials??

bcredliner · #7 02-12-2016, 12:42 PM

No, the ring and pinion in the diff seldom fails. Side bearing sometimes go bad, is there any oil showing on the outside of the diff? Usually a noise like you are hearing, is an axle shaft bearing, the transfer case or guido. There are other potential causes but normally less likely. Are there any other symptoms such as clunking at low speeds over a bump?

The Hankook Ventus ST tires are a directional tire. The can be swapped side to side only.

Ryoken · #8 02-12-2016, 02:38 PM

the rear diff had crap all round it , but after we cleaned it and refilled, this after a while got checked and proven there was no leaks
this has been an annoyance for me , even though its not a loud noise its the fact its there ,
1. took car to my local indy, asked them to look at it , he checked the bearings, on all 4 wheels, listened to prop and other stuff , and said he couldn't find anything wrong. he mentioned that there was feathering from front to back on the tires and got told to get my tyres checked

2. took car to tyre house , to ask them to check and balance wheels, fitter took car on road , said its NOT tyre noise, its a bearing , got back to tyre shop and he lifted car onto ramp , checked all 4 bearings, again, they were OK, didn't balance or test tires, but when he rotated the rear tires, he noticed slight noise from rear diff

took car back in , to indy garage, and got the front, rear and gearbox oil changed
mensioned the rear diff, he said "yeah there is noise, but ive had it worse and it not make that noise"

which is why I asked about the tires on the rears, a it look like they have changed the rear left tyre and put it on the rear right and visa versa, as there is bad wear on the outers and nothing on the inner side
I'm going to re look at it tomorrow,

bcredliner · #9 02-12-2016, 08:12 PM

Changing the entire wheel from side to side results in the same side being outside. However, you could have a problem on one side that wears the outside tread and they swapped them side to side and now the outside tread is worn on both sides. It is possible they removed the tires from the wheels and turned them around. If that is the case the tread groves are facing the wrong way. It hard to get an alignment on an X5 that will cause more wear on the outside of the tire than the inside.

Level of differential noise on the lift is not an indication of how loud it will be going down the highway. if the vehicle is off the ground in neutral you may be able to tell if there is slop in the ring and pinion and feel vibration or a slight grinding feel if the gears are damaged or the bearings are going.

While you have two matching opinions it doesn't sound like either thought it was something that you need to address at this time. You can decide to rebuild the diff now or you could just turn up the radio and wait for it to get bad enough that you can hear it again and the mechanic says it is time to fix it.

What do you mean by feathering? Is it something different than wearing the tread off on one side of the tire and not the other? Sometimes the type of gear oil can cause some noise but if you used what is recommended that wouldn't be the problem.