2016 GTI Tire Roation

I was never comfortable cross rotating, even in the VERY old days. The rubber is used to taking extreme loads in one direction, and now you're asking it to take them in the opposite direction. I also have them balance them again. Usually they need to add a little weight, and you should be good until you rotate again. In my case, I usually replace the tires before I need a second rotation and balance.

I rotate every 5k when I do an oil service. Always do front to back. At one time the suggested method of rotation was to cross the non-drive wheels to the drive, and rotate the drive wheels straight back or forward. Now it is suggested to rotate front to back for all wheels (except staggered of course, can't rotate those). I remove all the corrosion on the rotors / hub when I rotate as well and remove any from the wheel.

I have never re-balanced a wheel without replacing the tire, except for when a flat repair takes place, and that is done by our tire shop. I have heard that for best results, when you rotate the tires, you should have them balanced (or rather after X amount of wear, they should be balanced).

I would say it's also worth having your alignment checked before replacing tires, just in case anything has changed that would cause additional wear. Also a good time to inspect the control arms and tie rod ends. Make sure everything is in good condition and no bushing are torn or ball joints loose. Also look for torn C/V boots and torn ball joint boots.

The argument against cross-rotating that I always heard (and which makes the most sense to me) is that it can result in steering abnormalities, due to the established wear patterns on the tires.

Are there benefits to cross-rotation? If there are, I can't imagine what they'd be. The 60/40(ish) weight bias and FWD are what cause the front and rear tires to wear at different rates, and swapping the right rear to the left front isn't going to make a difference.

Finglonga said:

Yep, if you look on the sidewall it says "outside". All decent tyres are directional nowadays and will either have "outside" or an arrow on the sidewall showing the direction is should rotate. Scary thing is some people do not realise and are driving around with them on the wrong way round.

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Outside does not mean directional. MPS AS3+ are non-directional and say outside.

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anotero said:

Outside does not mean directional. MPS AS3+ are non-directional and say outside.

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Exactly. There are directional tires (the ones with an arrow), there are asymmetric tires (the ones that say outside), and there are directional asymmetric tires. And then there are tires that are none of the above. My GTI came with "none of the above" tires.

I'd worry more about the balance. I just do front to back and check the balance. If you rotate at 10,000 miles it's probably the only one you'll need to do.