yow

I have Kumho ecsta xs tires all around. I had too much camber and when driving on the street, the inner section of tread got really worn. Can I just spin the tire around, making the outside the inside and vice versa? It'll help me get the most out of these tires before putting the new ones on later this year.

The xs is an assymetrical pattern, so I'm pretty sure the answer is no. You can see the tire here: http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...%2FPerformance

Thanks in advance!

Aardwolf

Flipping tires like that is really common. With tread it may not handle water as well as before.

froggy47

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...sp?techid=188&

yow

Great read! Thanks all!

RaleighSS

Yup another thumbs up for a common thing ... just do it before they get too far gone.

avizandum

That, though is a symmetrical tread.

The Kumho has an inboard and outboard tread. They're not directional tires - just have an outboard shoulder...

I'm not sure this has anything to do with whether it's a good/bad, plausible idea; just an observation. (I had them and never paid any mind to which side I put them.)

davidfarmer

Often excessive toe causes wear faster than camber. Just make sure sure you check it and correct if necessary.

hklvette

This. Before I replaced the eccentric bolts with plates, I had the problem of them slipping occasionally and causing toe-out. It would eat the inside shoulder in a hurry.

yow

I hear ya, but I know my problem was the bad alignment (whether toe or camber, perhaps both) that I did in my garage. So, I corrected by getting it done professionally and to my specs. Nevertheless, the damage to the tires was done, whether on track or on the road. I don't think the toe is wrong now.

Here is a picture of my tire, the worse of the two fronts. The right/inner portion is worn badly. I want to make that the outer side by putting it on the front right in the same direction. I rolled it to the car so you can see the cupping in the contrast with yellow in the background. I know this will affect grip but I think it will allow me to get a little more life out of the tire.

Your thoughts?

avizandum

I gotta agree at this point, can't see a downside to flipping them. Speaking from experience, that tire will plane out over 40~50mph on anything beyond damp if you're driving on wet roads with that amount of tread.

Watch wear though, 'cuz with the right alignment you should now see more wear on the outside if you're tracking / AutoXing on any regular basis.

froggy47

With a stock alignment and normal street driving the neg camber causes the inners to wear more.

If you track or autox the car much the outers wear more.

If you have a racy alignment with more neg camber (2.0 +) all this happens more and faster.

So the first thing you decide (before flipping) is what edge is going to wear more.

Then put the part of the tire with the most rubber left on that edge.

That will max out tire life, keep in mind the cost to flip the tire if you need to do that.

Also some tire shops will get their panties in a twist if the tire is marked "this side out" and YOU want it in. They just follow directions.