Tire Rotation Direction

Looking at my tires, there are some arrows I believe showing the intended rotation direction. How important is this for break in or performance of the tire?
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On MGs we have never had an issues running them either direction. However, on B’stones we have had several issues with tires delaminating in the past when the arrows were the wrong way.

Typically, just to be safe, I just try to keep them going the same direction every time I run them, so if I put them on backwards, I just keep running them backwards instead of flipping them.

Also, if you’re just practicing or doing lapping sessions, you can flip the tires on the rim to get some extra life out of them once they wear down too much, but I wouldn’t recommend it for race day. Especially on the square-profiled MGs, once you camber them in with some running, flipping them will completely ruin the tire’s contact patch and you’ll lose significant grip.

I learned that the hard way at a Pro Tour race where I started 3rd and finished 21st…

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29jog2

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There was a red flag a few laps in and as we were sitting waiting to get going again Sieracki comes up to me and goes “Well do you have anything for them?” and I was like “I have no grip at all…” He noticed I flipped my front tires and he says “oh yeah, you’re screwed.”

He was right!

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Yeah there’s a reason for those arrows. There directional tires there made to only work correctly one way for sidewall stiffness and overall traction

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We use D.O.T. race tires for our classes in SCCA, and I’m used to flipping them and or installing in either direction. Some have directional arrows, but for most of them there is not a performance difference if running them either direction.

I’m glad that I noticed the arrows and asked for kart tires. Otherwise I’ll install them backwards, but I’ll probably still do that by mistake.

I guess the setup on the kart needs to right to avoid uneven wear some that one can get longer life out of the tire.

Due to caster/camber angles and how a kart’s front geometry works, you’re going to have un-even wear no matter what. Don’t worry too much about that.

^This

Because of the (relatively) massive caster (and therefore camber change) angles a kart uses, you’ll often find a well handling kart will wear it’s fronts on the inside, camber burn.

Of course:

It’s a balance between camber burn and handling.
Camber burn does not equal good handling.

In short, don’t get too hung up on it, it’s normal. But it’s prudent to keep it in check and it can be a sign of a poor handling kart with a push as well.

My understanding is that the direction is determined by how the tire is constructed, the direction of the belts. Here’s a video of how Mojos are made:

Like many, I’ve reversed tires and I think even qualified on pole with them in road racing.
BUT, I think it’s fair to say it’s not best practice and may be a reliability or safety factor.

Conversely, some kart tires tires do not specify a direction. :confused:

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LeConts are bidirectional, yet they still have the arrow on them too. (sigh)

Ive had tyres all over the place and had personal bests, also if competitor see they might think your clueless and underestimate you.