Posted by David on August 27, 1999 at 06:52:08:
In Reply to: reversal>whitewall in-blackwall out. posted by Mr. Parsegian on August 26, 1999 at 22:32:48:
It sounds like the advice you are receiving could be comming from one of two schools of thought.
The first is from an out dated, no longer accurate one. In the early years of radial tires it was thought (and to some degree true) that once a tire started turning in one direction the internal components "set" in place and changing the direction of rotation would cause a "separation" or the internal components to "come apart". This is not the case with today's radial tire technology. Not only can you change the direction of rotation, Tire "separation", which is commonly refered to as belt separation (where the internal construction components separate from eachother) is a rare occurance. And when it does happen there is always (99% of the time) an external cause. Examples would be a puncture, nail or other object, disrupts the integrety of the internal components or allows air and or moisture to do the same causing the failure. Another would be a sevre impact, pothole, curb, etc..., causes a similar disruption. Bottom line tires do not (99%) separate by themselves.
The second is the directional or asymetrical tire design. In this case the tread pattern has been designed to rotate or turn in one direction. Usually due to aid in the performance of the tire, either water dispertion (wet traction) or to aid in the handling attributes in combination with wet traction by designing larger tread blocks on the outside shoulder for dry corning ability and smaller tread block on the inside of the tires tread for water dispertion.
In your case, you mention you have white sidewall tires. It is my expirience there are not (99%) any white sidewall tires desinged directional or asymetrical, this design style is usually used on higher performance tires. And given the first issue, unless your tires are more than 6 years old, this would not stop you from doing what you want to do. Actually it is fairly common practice today to run a w/w tire, black sidewall out and white sidewall in. As well tire rotation pratices on todays front wheel drive vehicles call for a rotation pattern (refered to as an X or modified X)that change the direction a tire turns every time the tires are rotated.
Hope this helps