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I'm into my 3rd season with the original SO2's. I'm "guesstimating" they have about 15,000 miles on them. (I use snow tires for the other 1/2 of the year.) The following is a pic of my rears. The right one is off the right of the car. I put the tape measure there just for the heck of it in case there are those who are surprised at how wide these things are. Yes, they are 9" from edge of sidewall to edge of sidewall. Tread width is a little less.
As you can see in the following, the right side tire shows more wear on the inside half. I've been going with 35-36 psi (*edit: these higher pressures won't necessarily work on non-OEM tires - see my post further down this thread) and this has made it a bit less pronounced wear on that edge by distributing a bit more of the weight onto the center of the tire.
Here is a closeup of the inside edge:
And a closeup of the outside edge:
Today, I removed the rear wheels and took them to the tire shop. I asked them to remove the tire from each wheel and flip it over and put it back on the same wheel, re-balance. Now, the inside is facing the outside. Because of the unidirectional nature of these tires, they must now be used on the opposite side of the car.
Here is a pic of the finished job - this shows the left tire (that used to be the right tire):
Without this "flip", I would have anticipated needing new rears at the beginning of next season. The inside edge would have been worn down to the point of being unsafe. Flipping them gives me the thicker rubber on the part that wear quicker (while the thinner part is still not too thin) and hopefully by the time they are finished, the tread will be more or less even. I'm am now hoping that this will give me 2 more seasons, so increasing my use by 33%. All this for 40 Cannuck bucks!
Obviously, for those who track the car or drive hard most of the time, this is a pretty useless endeavour. For me, it's one extra year before pitching them.
I am at 25K miles, and I've just installed my 4th pair on the rear. I have always believed in flipping, but with my agressive street driving, I have been getting pretty even wear at the rear.
Originally posted by xviper Without this "flip", I would have anticipated needing new rears at the beginning of next season. The inside edge would have been worn down to the point of being unsafe.
Now, I'm not exactly a Bridgestone engineer, but I think you passed that point a few thousand miles ago... Do you guys actually run these tires until they're slicks?
06-09-2003, 05:13 PM
I can only imagine. 
