[DrG]

I went back to my tire shop today to get a clarification on what they told me. Today my mechanic recommended the crossed pattern the manual shows, because he was able to see some early wear that he called a heel/toe pattern. What I learned is that the early radials didn't do well being crossed over as they tended to seperate more easily but todays radials can easily be switched from one side to another. I also found out that agressive tread patterns like the ones shown in the above pictures, need to be rotated more than a less agressive pattern like a straight ribbed pattern. The most interesting point was how to spot early wear. Using one of the lugs like I circled in the picture, slide a finger over the break in the lug rubber seen just below the thick red line I added to the picture. Slide your finger from front to back over the outside lugs with with your finger pointing to the back of the vehicle. On my front tires, there is definitely a ledge between the two pieces of rubber that form that lug, while the two pieces of rubber seen to be the same hieght on my rear tires. On the fronts, the back part of the ledge is higher than the front. Although I can't see it, I can feel it. My guy says the first 2 or 3 rotations are the most important and he recommends rotating every other oil change, and we change at 3,000 miles.
David