Flipping duratracs?

AutoXSS

Adventurer
I purchased a vehicle recently that had 33" duratracs, the alignment was off a bit and had worn tbe outside edges a little. They were beginning to slightly feather/cup the outside enough to have an annoying rhythmic hum. The inside edges look fantastic. Has anyone ever flipped them to "start fresh" so to speak?
 

rayra

Expedition Leader
You could. But typically you just rotate front<->rear for that 'fresh' start.
 

AutoXSS

Adventurer
I would, but it seems that the original owner already did that cycle once. The rears have that same look to them. Just a little further along. I knew I was gonna buy it mainly due to the price and what it already had done to it, so the need for an alignment didn't bother me

Unfortunately, he did tell me he ran them at 31psi the whole time he had these tires. This is after I text him on the way home. I have since changed that to 41psi. Feels way better! Perhaps it was more that than the toe being off, probably a mix of the two.
 

shenrie

^^^ hates cars
if you have access to tooling, id flip them on the rim just as quick as i flip race tires on the rim. if its out of pocket, id align and flip them at least once to ensure you wear evenly. i always like the square edge on the outside. tires is tires, for max life i always flip them on the rim at least once. after years of autox ive figured out how to make tires last. flipping them on the rim is a pita and expensive if you cant do it yourself, but even if you do have to pay for the service, its cheaper than new tires.
 

AutoXSS

Adventurer
Yes! A fellow autocrosser! I have that same mentality when I comes to tires in general.

I'm in STX, co-driving the Wilcox Mini Cooper. What are u driving?
 
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shenrie

^^^ hates cars
yep, run with that mentality. since figuring it out, i incorporate the process with all my vehicles for max tire life. of course with the race rubber id flip them on the rim every 4-5 events depending on how long the course was and how many people were flogging on the car. and once tires are to the wear bars direction goes out the window as well. once theres no water evacuation, they go whatever direction i want them to for max life. that said, ive always had a sponsor or access to tooling. either way, getting max life out of race tires is key. them bastards are expensive...

i drive whatever car someone is foolish enough to hand me the keys to as of late, lol. we bought our van as a camper/tow rig but once we starting camping, we all but stopped racing. i was burnt out. 13 years solid not missing an event for seasons at a time. taking my class in 2 regions 4-5 years and only not taking my class locally twice in that time frame. i was a whore...then i met my wife and she picked it up quick so we charged it for 7 years together doing all the local autoxs and hillclimbs, then rallyx for 7-8 seasons...if that was still going here i would not miss those events. most fun ive ever had in a car. we actually chair the freezeout hillclimb that just had its 50th consecutive event. started in dsp then moved to sm and did that for years with mostly hondas, but raced a 05 sti for 2 seasons, and a 06 mr for 2 seasons, then tried my hand at the pax game with a 91 civic hatch. wife and i decided we want to get back into racing, but not sure if we are interested in autox anymore. not enough seat time for the amount of standing around. never know though. plus our summers are stupid hot. takes the fun factor out for us in our old age :(
 

ExplorerTom

Explorer
Yes! A fellow autocrosser! I have that same mentality when I comes to tires in general.

I'm in STX, co-driving the Wilcox Mini Cooper. What are u driving?

I was the region chair down the road from you in Wichita 10 years ago. I ran a Saturn in STS and then the region's Street Open. There were several events where I'd be the fastest on street tires. I remember Wilcox too.

Now I like playing in the dirt all day instead of standing around a parking lot. Had lots of fun in those parking lots though.

Since you've fixed the alignment, I'm not so sure flipping the tires would have the desired results. If you didn't fix the alignment, then it would wear the opposite edge.
 

AutoXSS

Adventurer
Was your Saturn a teal color?

We have to know each other. I've been autocrossing for the last 16yrs. Did many events at greyhound park down there. My home region is Salina
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Yup, they weren't rotated often enough. You'll still get the feathering problem, with a breand new truck with a perfect alighnment. I have 2 Fords personally, and a dozen more Fords and Dodges at work. All do the same thing. DT's, XT Maxes, Toyos, Kelly, it doesn't matter.

Flip them if you want to, but not if you tow. You'll have to mark the rims and tires to put the tires back on correctly. Worn and feathered tires will not rebalence properly. They'll often trick the machine into instructing the tech to put weights in completely the wrong spots. I only balence MT's and the aggressive Hybrid tires once when new, never again.
 
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