Originally Posted By: Cardenio327
The plies in radial tires made in the 1980s or earlier will take a set from rolling one way, then if they are cross rotated and rolled in the opposite direction they may separate........
Not exactly. In the early days of steel belted radials, the compound used around the steel was not very good, and the rubber would separate from the steel - mostly on one side. The idea behind not reversing rotation direction was to prevent the separation from growing beyond that - which is a completely absurd contention IMHO. Nevertheless, this rotation pattern was suggested.
In the meantime, rubber chemistry has improved greatly and this type of separation no longer is an issue, but the rotation pattern recommendations have lagged behind. (Not to mention that people sometimes have pretty long memories! (The memory are sometimes faulty, and it is amazing how long some no longer valid things endure.)
The plies in radial tires made in the 1980s or earlier will take a set from rolling one way, then if they are cross rotated and rolled in the opposite direction they may separate........
Not exactly. In the early days of steel belted radials, the compound used around the steel was not very good, and the rubber would separate from the steel - mostly on one side. The idea behind not reversing rotation direction was to prevent the separation from growing beyond that - which is a completely absurd contention IMHO. Nevertheless, this rotation pattern was suggested.
In the meantime, rubber chemistry has improved greatly and this type of separation no longer is an issue, but the rotation pattern recommendations have lagged behind. (Not to mention that people sometimes have pretty long memories! (The memory are sometimes faulty, and it is amazing how long some no longer valid things endure.)
