Directional Tires

[09vGT]

The last time we bought tires was July of '10. They are still on the car and I've put around 30,000 miles on them; Goodyear Eagle GT's. We bought four new tires from Sears. Today I took my car to a well known mechanic to get my alignment done; he always does my alignments. Anyway, he pointed out to me that the tires on the right side of the car are the wrong tires. They are made for the left side. The direction is pointed the wrong way, explaining this could be dangerous in heavy rain. You can't turn the ties around because one side has to be turned out. I've yet for Sears to get back to me to see if they are going to do anything. Anyway, just check and make sure your tires are correct if you get them done somewhere. Especially if you spend $700.00 on tires.

[Raven]

Those are asymetrical tires. The tread on the inside edge is different than the outside. If they are also directional there are left and rights. Directional tires have to rotate in a certain direction but may be moved from left to right by remounting them on the rim.http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...8V%29

[vibenvy]

I know the factory 2009-2010 GT Goodyear F1 AS/C tires are directional. It makes it nice when it's time to rotate them because they can only be rotated front to back and back to front. Makes it much easier than having to do an X pattern rotation .I hope you get everything worked out Ethan. Keep us posted .

[09vGT]

Well, Sears has offered to pay to replace tires if needed. The ones affected of course. If they do, I'll just go ahead and buy the other two. I had for things to be uneven.

[j42.snyder]

I agree with Raven that those are NOT directional tires - they're asymmetrical (Eagle GT's). The direction would be clearly marked on the sidewall with the word "ROTATION >>>". Take a close look - I'd be surprised if it's there...John

[Raven]

They will also be marked left or right if they are indeed asymetrical and directional.

[09vGT]

Hmm.. I don't know.. I have no idea on this stuff. The only thing I have noticed is "OUTSIDE" on them. Though, if you do look, the treads are facing opposite on the right side from the left. I'll know when Sears looks I guess lol. And yeah, the book shows rotating from front to back instead of in an X pattern.

[09vGT]

Rave was correct. They are asymmetrical tires. Anyhow, the RR tire was flipped with "INWARDS" facing on the outside. They replaced that tire for free. So now, with 30,000 miles on the others, I'm getting 3 new ones to match. I'll stick with the Eagle GT's since I've had absolutely no problems with them, they also never slip. I'm getting them on sale for $150.00 per tire.

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by 09vGT »Rave was correct. They are asymmetrical tires. Anyhow, the RR tire was flipped with "INWARDS" facing on the outside. They replaced that tire for free. So now, with 30,000 miles on the others, I'm getting 3 new ones to match. I'll stick with the Eagle GT's since I've had absolutely no problems with them, they also never slip. I'm getting them on sale for $150.00 per tire.Glad to hear they took care of their screwup !

[09vGT]

Guess who had a flat today? Yeah, Apollo. I'm so fed up with these stupid tires. Its completely flat and won't hold air. Seeps out as soon as it fills up. So, I'm rockin' the spare. No puncture anywhere. I have no idea.

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by 09vGT »Guess who had a flat today? Yeah, Apollo. I'm so fed up with these stupid tires. Its completely flat and won't hold air. Seeps out as soon as it fills up. So, I'm rockin' the spare. No puncture anywhere. I have no idea.I had the same issue with one of my 18s when I went to put them back on last spring. I took it to a local tire shop and it turned out, for whatever reason, the tire was leaking air around the bead where it meets the wheel. If I remember correctly, the wheel and tire that was leaking air was the new one that had been replaced after my "flat tire and majorly damaged wheel" incident. I am thinking the reason it happened was because it wasn't mounted completely correctly. This would make sense for your situation too since you just had new tires installed. The shop charged me $15.00 to take the tire off and re-mount and balance it. It took them about 15 minutes to get it taken care of and I haven't had any issues with it since.Hope you get it taken care of quick. I know the joys of rocking the spare all too well ...Times like this are when it really pays off to have an extra set of wheels and tires .

[06pvibe]

May I suggest that you not return to Good Year or if returning to Sears or some other franchised shop that you carefully check their work before leaving taking the car from it. Most of these guys are under a lot of pressure to produce and many are not well trained. It's up to you to know what was done and how. That's the price we pay for cheaper service.For example, I have seen many new tires mounted quickly and with no regard to the valve stem markings on most new tires. You see, all tires are imbalanced when they are made, so the manufacturer's have taken to marking the lightest side of it with red or yellow dots of paint so that it may be mounted to the valve stem... usually the heaviest side of the wheel. The valve stem adds a little bit of weight to that side of the wheel. By doing it this way, fewer or lighter weights may be used around the wheel to bring the final assembly (wheel and tire) into balance after they are mounted together.You can always ask us, or another automotive site before taking the car in for any service and what you might want to look for after. And my own experiences with Good Year, their products and especially their Customer Service is well documented here and other automotive forums. I won't bore you w/the details here.

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »May I suggest that you not return to Good Year or if returning to Sears or some other franchised shop that you carefully check their work before leaving taking the car from it. Most of these guys are under a lot of pressure to produce and many are not well trained. It's up to you to know what was done and how. That's the price we pay for cheaper service.For example, I have seen many new tires mounted quickly and with no regard to the valve stem markings on most new tires. You see, all tires are imbalanced when they are made, so the manufacturer's have taken to marking the lightest side of it with red or yellow dots of paint so that it may be mounted to the valve stem... usually the heaviest side of the wheel. The valve stem adds a little bit of weight to that side of the wheel. By doing it this way, fewer or lighter weights may be used around the wheel to bring the final assembly (wheel and tire) into balance after they are mounted together.You can always ask us, or another automotive site before taking the car in for any service and what you might want to look for after. And my own experiences with Good Year, their products and especially their Customer Service is well documented here and other automotive forums. I won't bore you w/the details here.Another possibility with places like Sears, etc. is that they are in a hurry and may scratch or damage your wheels. The place I went to is a "mom and pop" tire shop and the owner couldn't possibly be any nicer, more professional, excellent at what he does, etc. When they re-mounted and balanced my tire, they did it without leaving a single mark on the wheel . We have gotten tires installed at Farm & Fleet and Walmart in the past, but we will be sticking with Flatso's for as long as he's in business (hopefully a long time to come). He works for himself, so he is more apt to take his time (to an extent) and wants to do as good a job as possible to earn repeat customers (which he has definitely done with us). Then there's the price. I haven't done any actual comparisons, but I'm sure you pay more at chain places.

[09vGT]

Well, at least out of all the trouble I've learned how to change a tire! This will surely come in handy someday. I can totally see the big chains trying to hurry, but at least they have made it right by giving me a free tire after all. I don't pay for my tires, so I'm at the mercy of where the parents want to get them changed! As far as the spare, how fast is it safe to go? I think the manual says 55 MPH. Should I not push it or would it be okay to go 60-65? I'm in my hometown and the Sears here doesn't have an automotive shop, so the spare has to last me a 65 mile trip back to my house.

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by 09vGT »As far as the spare, how fast is it safe to go? I think the manual says 55 MPH. Should I not push it or would it be okay to go 60-65?I believe both the manual and the spare itself say not to go over 55 MPH, so I wouldn't risk it. Besides, you'll get better mileage going 55 !

[06pvibe]

I'm with that. You might get away with it, but I would trust the facts from the engineers that design a thing over those that may have a personal opinion.That said, most things that are engineered are designed to handle another 10% as a safety factor, hardware for example. But push it too many times and its liable to wear out that much faster and actually reduce its safety factor. So why push it if you don't have to?