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[Dan_Lockwood]

Can anyone explain why the front tires got switched a few years ago from the tread pattern veeing out versus veeing in?

My '08 SERK had the front tire on in the rotational direction I would have thought to be correct.  When on water it "looked" that it would catch the water and track it outward away from the center, thus reducing the chance of hydroplaning.

Then my '09 SERG has the front tire in the opposite rotation with the tread, in my opinion flowing water inward and possibly increasing my hydroplaning possibilities.

So what's the real reason for the change in thought?

Keep in mind that even today the rear tires are still mounted with the, my opinion, correct rotational direction as to vee out the water away from the tire.

[GregKhougaz]

See this thread and in particular, reply #14:   New SERG Front Tire " Warranty" Replacement.

[grc]

The only problem with that "story" from the Dunflop reps in that post is that the tires had and have other quality problems that have no relation to tread or rotational direction, such as the many cases of severe sidewall cracking near the bead area for instance.  That story sounds more like BS trying to deflect blame for the poor quality of their tires.  Another reason I call BS on that supposed story from some Dunlop rep is even more simple.  Look at the many other tires with similar tread patterns on the market, including Dunlop's tires like the E3.  For as far back as I can remember the tread direction has been the same on both front and rear tires, including my personal set of E3's.  Why would Dunflop choose to go the opposite direction all of a sudden on the D407F?

Btw, while the severe form of cupping found on the early versions of the tire got better after the change, there were still plenty of reports of cupping and noise even after they changed the direction of the tread (along with the other problems like cracking). 

Jerry

[sadunbar]

For what it's worth, the newly released Dunlop "American Elite" series tires (not the E3's), with the multi compound rear tire (or M/T 'multi tread" tire, as Dunlop calls it), have the tread running opposite directions between the front and rear tires. 

I doubt this is due to a marketing disagreement between Dunlop and the MOCO as the "Dunlop Rep story" implies.  I suspect the tread design and direction is the way it is because of technical reasons and engineering decisions made by Dunlop tire engineers.  Tires are a safety item, and I seriously doubt the MOCO would tell Dunlop to reverse the direction of rotation of the front tire because it looks better that way.  Far to much liability involved.  I have no idea why the tires are designed to run with opposite direction tread patterns, but I'm comfortable it's because of a sound engineering decision.

[Dan_Lockwood]

Thanks guys for the information.

What really brought this question up is that I'm on the Morgan Three Wheeler forum in the UK and they have a race circuit that many of the older '30s Morgans race in.  These are the old air and water cooled Matchless and J.A.P. engine powered 2 speeds and 3 speeds.  Some of these very old trikes chit and get quite well.

In a couple of race pictures from last weekend they showed two of these old Morgans racing with 18" front wheels and Avon racing tires instead of the original 19" and sidecar tires with flat treads.  In the pictures it showed the tires on backwards; in other words like our front tires are today.

This brought up questions by the guys in the UK as to why the race guys would put their front tires on backwards.  It was raining, as it usually does this time of year in the UK, and these guys were still rolling their tires almost off the rims and still lifting the inside tires on hard corners.  These tyres, see what I did there, really grip and I'm assuming they reversed the rain grooves for a purpose and it seems to work.

So I thought that if there was something more than flawed Dunlop tires or "they look better this orientation", it would solve my curiosity as well as give them some feedback as well.

Thanks again for the information.

Have a great weekend...