I have just noticed that a tyre (Dunlop SP30) bought from a local tyre fitter?s last week has ?INSIDE? and ?OUTSIDE? markings and sod?s law, as you might guess, has ensured that it?s been fitted ?inside out?. If that makes sense.
There don?t seem to any rotation direction markings. The tread appears symmetrical and the only visible difference is that the ?Inside? marked sidewall is smooth whereas the ?Outside? sidewall is ribbed.
I would rather not go to the trouble of having it removed and refitted as I don?t think this does the bead seal much good. Also I noticed these markings when refitting the wheel trim which loses a couple of plastic tangs every time I remove it, however carefully. I have only just araldited the last two back on. Another reason is that I prefer to fit wheels myself as that way the nuts get the correct torque loading and the car gets jacked correctly.
Is there likely to be any other difference in the sidewalls other than that described?
I go to some lengths to avoid driving on or off kerbs. I bought this tyre because all the other tyres on the car are SP10s which are still legal although well over K40 miles. SP10s seem to have been superseded by the SP30s.
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I'd get it changed over at the fitters expense. This is just the sort of thing that a niggly insurance company might latch onto to avoid paying a claim. You car could be held to be unroadworthy, by your inurers or by plod-u-like.
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Lots of tyres know have a alu rim protection strip only on one side.
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A keen MOT tester should fail it...
madf
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My understanding of these types of tyes (can't remeber the correct anme) is that the tread is paterned in such a way to force all the water to the outside of the tyre. So if it's on inside out the the water will be forced into the centre of the car, filling the wheel well with spray. That would mean one tyre (the one correctly fitted) would be clear of water whilst the other would be covered in water, this would effect braking in the wet quite conciderably.
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Very imnportant they are fitted correctly.
Return it to fitting station and get them to fit them correctly for your safety!
Will affect handling braking, control in wet etc etc etc.
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Get it refitted. They will be so embarrased they will do it in a jiffy - free. Get it rebalanced at the same time, and watch it being done. Make sure they torque up the nuts properly, and you tell him what the torque is.
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According to tyres-online.co.uk the SP30 is an asymmetric tread tyre ..................
"Dunlop SP 30: Wet Performance , Good Braking and Comfort
According to Dunlop, over 70% of consumers want tyres that perform particularly well in the wet and experience very short braking distances. Furthermore, over 50% of drivers won't compromise on comfort to get the driving experience they expect. Dunlop's new SP 30 tyre has been designed to meet this challenge. The SP 30 is a tyre with the performance to ensure superior braking on wet and dry, reassuring aquaplaning resistance and a ride which Dunlop say is so devoid of tyre noise it's almost completely silent.
The key to the new tyre is the SP 30's Asymmetric.Tri-area tread featuring a Hydro-Paddle tread pattern and longitudinal grooves. The tyre's full depth lateral grooves and the unbroken longitudinal grooves quickly drain and eject water from both sides of the tread, offering excellent wet grip and high aquaplaning resistance. Meanwhile, the tyre's longitudinal rail system (a combination of a continuous circumferential rib and lateral slots) leads to a high degree of longitudinal stiffness, offering superior braking in the wet and dry and minimal noise. Last but not least the SP 30's parallelogram block design improves comfort."
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L\'escargot.
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............... SP30 is an asymmetric tread tyre ............
Straight from the horse's mouth .............. tinyurl.com/yop4jv
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L\'escargot.
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Straight from the horse's mouth .............. tinyurl.com/yop4jv
Click on "Technical Information".
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L\'escargot.
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Many thanks to you all for your helpful replies. L?escargot?s reply clinched it. I?ll get the tyre fitted correctly ASP.
My son had a somewhat similar experience recently. He took two wheels to a midlands tyre depot and had new (BFGoodrich I think) tyres fitted. A few days later when having a new exhaust fitted he was told that he had put these two tyres on the wrong wheels. They showed him the rotation marks. My last experience with rotation marks was with the Michelin XZXs on my Volvo 164 25 years ago, maybe they?re more common now.
All this seems to highlight failings not only of the owners but of the tyre industry - manufacturer, distributor and fitter. If there are indeed safety implications then the tyres should come with at least some means of warning all concerned - labels, stickers, perhaps even safety data sheets.
Having been pointed by L?escargot in the right direction I perused the Dunlop markings guide which strangely left out the Inside and Outside markings. It also invites you to ?click on the letters within the blue circles?. I did a ?Ctrl +C? for the bit in quotes. Perhaps it?s my eyes but the ?blue circles? look like squares to me!
Apparently some tyres are both asymmetrical (non-symmetrical) and directional. Does this mean these are made in clockwise and anti-clockwise versions? Thinking about all this is over-torquing my ancient collection of grey cells by the way.
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Best of luck!
There's a certain brand of tyre (I won't mention it by name, but perhaps you can guess) I'll never buy again, because I've had to throw so many away (five at last count). All of them because of tread separation of one sort or another. I take care of my tyres. I'm particular about pressures. The manufacturer involved were most unhelpful.
IIRC they had to pay out a considerable sum in compensation, after an accident, because of this very problem many years ago.
Unfortunately the car I most recently bought has five of them fitted!
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>>>I prefer to fit wheels myself as that way the nuts get the correct torque loading and the car gets jacked correctly<<<
And heres me thinking I was the only one that took the wheels off the car to have tyres fitted , especialy because of the huge jack they place under your car that can remove the underseal. In extreme cases they can crush your chassis if the jacks are not released corectly and all the weight goes on one jack!!......yes it happened to me on a big heavy diesel Galant. And ever since I have removed the wheels for tyre replacement unless they have a 4 poster.
They can also damage the finish on your alloys while removing the nuts.
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