Xantia tyres

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 26 Jan 2009, 22:00

DickieG wrote:Sorry to differ in opinion here but with a directional tyre it may have "outside" marked on it as well as a direction arrow, but as long as the tyre is mounted correctly on the wheel the arrow will always point in the same direction regardless of which side of the car its mounted on, the V shaped groove moves in the same direction!

Remove a wheel form the offside, put it on the nearside and the arrow/V groove still points forward, strange but true use the spare tyre to prove it if doubtful!

You must be right as otherwise they'd have to make left and right tyres, but I've just tried it by drawing an arrow on a roll of sticky backed plastic, and when I turn it round to fit on the other side, the arrow goes the wrong way.
Now my head hurts.

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 26 Jan 2009, 22:09

Xac wrote:
You must be right as otherwise they'd have to make left and right tyres, but I've just tried it by drawing an arrow on a roll of sticky backed plastic, and when I turn it round to fit on the other side, the arrow goes the wrong way.
Now my head hurts.

I think the trick is that extra / so the tyre tread is /\/

Though I admit that to start off with a bit of head scratching went on

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 26 Jan 2009, 22:11

I feel im right!

Ill find a pic i have to prove it, but just think, your n/s wheel is going one way, you put it on the o/s and it will be running in reverse! So the directional arrow would be the wrong way.

So in order to put a directional tyre on the other side,l you need to get it removed from the rim, turned around and put back on the rim so it goes the other way!

They dont make left and right tyres, they just put it on the wheel the other way. Why else would a tyre have a rotation sign, if it wasnt to stop you putting it on the wrong side

Ive got my directional tyres off the Xm at the moment, so ill take a snap and post it up. My Xm has \/ tread tyres, not /\/

Unless im going mad and my head has stopped working, which is quite possible

Toby_HDi · Post by **Toby_HDi** » 26 Jan 2009, 22:15

On trying with the plate I just ate my pizza from....

I think your both right.

Unless I'm mistaken Citroenmad is stating that you couldn't turn the tyres round if you keep them on the rims (ie switch the rims around the car)

DickieG is saying that it doesn't matter as long as the tyre is fitted on the tyre correctly (ie you take the tyre off and put it on the rim the right way round)

I think thats what you fellas are trying to say....

I hope

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 26 Jan 2009, 22:28

Yes, thats what im saying, seems we have our wires crossed a little.

Just to prove what i was saying:

This is my Xm, you see the front tyre Vs are going the right way:

This Xm (sorry if this is someones on here) has V tyres but the front one is going the wrong way, so its fitted to the rim as if it should be on the o/s side, not the n/s:

But swap that over to the other side and it will be fine, or get it swapped around on the rim and it would also be fine. As it was its going in the wrong direction, so it will be collecting water instead of dispersing it away like it should.

Proves you cant swap a directional tyre from side to side without having it turned around on the rim first, in which case it would be running the same way again.

DickieG · Post by **DickieG** » 26 Jan 2009, 22:57

Toby_HDi wrote:DickieG is saying that it doesn't matter as long as the tyre is fitted on the tyre correctly (ie you take the tyre off and put it on the rim the right way round)

Nope!

Simply take off a wheel from either side then put it on the other side (no removing of tyres) and the arrow still points forward, irrational but true

Its got you all thinking

DickieG · Post by **DickieG** » 26 Jan 2009, 23:11

On the green estate the tyre will still rotate in the wrong direction when its placed on the O/S as it was incorrectly fitted. I can almost guarantee that the tyres on your white XM will not only have a directional arrow on them but they will have "Outside" as well and there can only be on one "Outside" on the tyre!

Go on get your jack/wheel brace out and prove it

When a wheel is changed from one side of the car to the other it still turns in the same direction, what changes is that its now "Upside down" what was the top is now the bottom.

This is not an issue with "V" shaped tread but can be an issue with some asymmetric tread tyres, IIRC one of the early versions of Michelin Primacy tyres had this problem.

If I'm wrong you'll have to carry two spare tyres

handyman · Post by **handyman** » 26 Jan 2009, 23:18

Methinks the gentleman from George Green is having a little wind-up!

Citroenmad is right on directional tyres, they can only safely rotate one way, in the direction of the arrow. They cannot be swapped from side to side without being turned.

On the other hand, asymmetrical tyres can be fitted on either side as they do not usually have a rotational arrow. I have only ever seen that on some very special tyres, like rally tyres and I think, from memory, Michelin 800x13 crossplies made for the VP Princess 4 litre R. Strange tyres, strange car.

Handyman

Gregg1100 · Post by **Gregg1100** » 26 Jan 2009, 23:21

Hi,
Just drawn a tread image on 2 sellotape rolls, with arrow on the left sidewall of roll, facing forward and arrow facing forward on right side of 2nd roll wall. Turn it round so you look at right side of roll--although the asymetric groove is in same place whether fitted left or right, the direction is wrong. As there are direction arrows on both sides of tyre, you have to fit tyre to rim with asymetric groove in same place on tyres. To change tyres from nearside to offside, and vice versa, tyre has to be turned on rim to preserve direction.
Apart from all that, I have used Goodyear G2 tyres to good effect on my old L reg Xantia TD---excellent wet weather tyres, quiet and long lasting. And no asymetric bits in sight.

Greg

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 26 Jan 2009, 23:57

DickieG wrote:On the green estate the tyre will still rotate in the wrong direction when its placed on the O/S as it was incorrectly fitted. I can almost guarantee that the tyres on your white XM will not only have a directional arrow on them but they will have "Outside" as well and there can only be on one "Outside" on the tyre!

Go on get your jack/wheel brace out and prove it

When a wheel is changed from one side of the car to the other it still turns in the same direction, what changes is that its now "Upside down" what was the top is now the bottom.

This is not an issue with "V" shaped tread but can be an issue with some asymmetric tread tyres, IIRC one of the early versions of Michelin Primacy tyres had this problem.

If I'm wrong you'll have to carry two spare tyres

You have indeed got me thinking

im sure im not missing something!

You can't have a directional tyre as a spare, if you have to then its recommended you only use it for a very short period and be aware of the effects this will have in the rain if fitted to the wrong side.

Im not sure what you mean by the tyre is upside down, tyres rotate?

Ill take some pictures of my Xms wheels tomorrow, as they are off at the moment after fitting wobbly webs. All 4 of my tyres are directional, so they can only go on the side they were fitted to the rims for.

Ive not noticed if they say outside on them, but i shouldn't think so, given that my current inside could also be the outside if i got them swaped so they were on the opposite side of the car.

I know when i bought one car, it had two new tyres on one side, both directional, so i thought ill just put the new back one on the opposite side to the new front one, of course this ment changing the directional tyre from the n/s to the o/f, which didnt work as the arrow was facing the wrong way.

Obviously if you take a wheel which is on the left of a car, to put it on the right means turning the wheel 180 degrees, so the tyre will then be facing the opposite way. Meaning the arrow or V shape will then be running the wrong way.

The only way to get a directional tyre to run the right way on the wrong side of the car, without taking the tyre off and refitting it the other way, is to mount your wheel face first!

The Xm wheel trims show this fact well, notice one way they are curved backwards and the other side they curve forwards. Obviously they are not two different trims, but running in opposite directions

You only get this problem with directional tyres, of course, so asymetrical tyres can be run on either side of the car. The outside, inside thing is just to make sure its fitted correctly onto the rim.

My pictures will explain it all tomorrow

Toby_HDi · Post by **Toby_HDi** » 27 Jan 2009, 00:01

My head hurts....

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 27 Jan 2009, 00:21

Mine too

Sorry i seem to have over complicated things here.

Toby, just make sure your arrows on the Vredesteins are both pointing the right way and you will be fine

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 27 Jan 2009, 00:35

I think the element of confusion that's fuelled an interesting discussion
here is the definition of asymetric and directional! FWIW I'm with Chris
and would heartily recommend the Vredesteins!

Mind, with our rubbish roads, yes rubbish strewn as well as rubbish
maintained won't good tyres be little stretched - especially when stuck
behind that rubbish old Rover 400 for mile after mile whilst they try
fruitlessly to get better than 30.03mpg...

Andrew

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 27 Jan 2009, 00:39

Yes, im sure i could have explained it all in a more simple way! Sorry about that everyone

Ah yes, the sunday motorist, its for when you blast past them that you need the good tyres.

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 27 Jan 2009, 00:47

I've lost 3 near new tyres now over the last 6-8 months, one was a new
Michelin - shredded by a damned pitchfork head and another a Dunlop
in a crevass that I think would have swallowed the car had it not already
gorged on a bus

(not sure if it was even a double decker...)

overtaking? I remember the days when there was no oncoming traffic...

Andrew