V8 Sport suspension owners: ROTATE your tires!!
 

This has been discussed on some threads (usually about buying tires), but I don't remember a thread just to warn people about the negative camber in the suspension, partiuclarly the rear wheels on the Sport suspension SAV's. I don't know if the non-Sports have the same negative camber. Since the wheels/tires are staggard, you can't easily rotate them.

I got a full set of Toyo's about 14,000 miles ago and remembered my Micheline's had a LOT of meat left on the outer edge, but were bare on the inner edge. I decided to take them in for a side to side rotation.

After the rotation, I was shocked to see that the tread on the outer edge (previously the inner edge) was about 1/2 a key width in tread depth, while the new inner edge was almost a full key width in depth (virtually like new). I really feel I essentially doubled the life of my tires for $10/corner. I also added a 4 wheel alignment since it was about time.

did you not feel the car vibrating at higher speeds when your tires weren't rotated?

I had a bearing like noise on my tires, front right and back left, I had my bearing check, and they werer fine, check my tires, they looked fine, I decided to go to the tire shop, when the removed one rear tire the inner part was a lot lower than the other parts. I have about 20k on them(not noticeable when mounted in the vehicle) i decided to have them rotate them by removing them from the rims. cost me $20.00 per rim, all noises are gone, I did my aligment. now i am good to go.

It drove fine. I still have a good amout of tread left, but remember what happened last time and decided try to save some tire.

There is serious negative camber on the 4.4i Sport setup. What value did your alignment shop (dealer?) set the rear camber to? (on your alignment sheet, it should state what your camber was before and after alignment adjustment). Could you share these numbers?

Thanks AUS!

My independent mechanic recommended I rotate my sport 18s front to back (MXV4s). He noticed the uneven wear. I took it to him before my warranty was up so he could inspect my CV boots and for a thorough examination. Not that I don't trust the dealer :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

How often do i need to do an alignment. I have one done last year around this time. Also do i need to rotate my tires? I thought the front and rear tires are different sizes. I have 4.4i 2001 x5. Right now i feel a little vibrating and also it tends to lean to the left when i drive. The steering wheel also tends to lean the same direction. thanks

Can you rotate tires on the sport suspension X5? I thought most were uni-directional tires? Do you have to have the tires removed from the wheels?

Check the tires. As I said, I have 18" MXV4 sports and my mechanic recommended front to back rotation. You do not remove the tires from the wheels.

Yes, this is PROVIDED your tires are NOT Asymmetric (Diamaris is asymmetric).

Waste of time IMHO rotating for sports set-up - just get new shoes. :thumbup: