What does NT mean on car tires?

[Anthony Whitesell]

I guess I should of clarified my post.

This recommendation came from my Uncle who has been in the tire business for 30 some years.

He always puts new tires (if only replacing two) on the rear for the same reason that Tom mentioned. When the new tires get to the point of needing to be replaced, the rear (now worn down some) come forward and the new ones go on the rear, repeating the cycle.

As for mismatched types on 4WD or AWD, I don't know. I have always owned a 4WD truck and I've had four different types/widths of tires on some of my early ones (when I didn't have money) and didn't see any appreciable problems. But with modern anti-slip sensors on AWD cars, I can see that mismatched tires might be a problem. I don't know for certain though.

As for the comment about rotating tires - I don't do it on my car or minivan. Why rotate them? In the past it was to ensure even wearing of the tires. This wearing was because the front end was not aligned properly and the tires would wear unevenly. Rotating tires was cheaper than a front end alignment. But it doesn't fix the problem (the front end being out of alignment), it only hides it. If you notice uneven wearing, get an alignment done.

I do rotate the tires on my truck though (it's a dually) because that's the recommendation from Goodyear and the tires came with a warranty. If I don't rotate, it voids the warranty. And since the tires cost $2500 to replace two years ago I really want to keep the warranty intact.

Be well,

Doc

Doc- I agree wholeheartedly with you about the front end alignments, but I still stay that rotating the tires will help them last longer.

I have a 2004 Nissan Altima 2.5 and found that rotating the tires in a cross-over pattern is absolutely essential . In fact I'm due to visit wally-world for another rotation. Hey, at 7.50/tire $30 per set for lifetime mount and balance you can't beat it. Plus tires are too simple for them to screw up. That "goofy" little car has enough power that at even the easiest acceleration in the rain, the right front tire (the high torque in terms of the differential) lights right the heck up and spins.

The first set of tires I had on the car were a set of Continentals and rotated in the standard front-to-back/back-to-front method and wore out the RIGHT side tires. Not the fronts, not the rears, but the rights. The lefts were good for atleast another 15K (I changed them when they got tpp iffy ofr my liking when winter got near). I ended up buying one pair of tires and moved the left front to the right rear and threw out the right rear tire and put the NEW TIRES ON THE FRONT of the front wheel drive car. The new set was rotated in a crossover pattern (either fronts crossed to the rear and the rears come straight forward; or the rears tires are crossed and the fronts move straight to the rear. I personally use the Cross-Rear pattern, crossing the rears to the front and moving the fronts straight back). The set was a 40K tire (Yokohama Avid TRZs I believe) and I barely got 45K from them. Again they just weren't that good in the rain on that car. My newest set is a set of Goodyear Assurance. I have ~60K on them already and still look nearly new. I think the difference being is these tires are much better in the rain and low traction situations.

If you're keeping track, that's a '04 with 3 sets of tires with 40K, 45K, and 60K eachfor a total of 145K in 5 years, or about 29k/yr. I am aware of all the stories about changing rotation by moving the tires from side to side and all the other "urban legends", but this is what works for me and I have the mileage to prove it.

[Don Abele]

Anthony, sometimes that which works for us defies all other logic. So stick with it My '03 Kia Spectra commuter car has 150,000 miles on it (I bought it new) and I've only changed the tires on it once - at about 80,000 miles . The current tires have plenty of tread left on them, go figure.

I understand what you mean about the urban legend on tire rotation pattern. From what I know, the big one had to do with the cross rotation because you are changing the direction that the tire is spinning. My understanding is that this is only an issue with tires that have a unidirection tread pattern. The six tires on my dually truck get rotated in some highly complex mathematical formula that takes calculus to figure out but I do know that each tire will eventually be in all positions.

Be well,

Doc