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Feathering

6K views 79 replies 20 participants last post by  Daveyboy123 
#1 ·
Hi Guys

My Sportage has just had its second service. The tech who carried out the service said the back tyres were on the limit and there was signs of feathering on the rear tyres. Next Monday l am having new tyres fitted and want to rotate the front tyres to the rear and have new tyres on the front. The tyre fitter said that can't be done because of the tyre warning system. Also l asked about the feathering and he said the tyres are out of alignment.

Has any other member had this problem and how did they solve it.

Happy Motoring
 
#17 ·
Sportage is independent rear suspension, which you'd expect for the price.
Beam axles are usually on cheaper/smaller cars, to keep costs down and maximise interior space (beam axles take up less physical space than independent)
 
#4 ·
My 1.6T AWD has shown mild feathering on the outer circumference of all four tyres (have swopped front to rear to even out wear) Not done anything about it due to its mildness, third service+MOT nearly due so hoping tyres will pass MOT ;)
 
#6 ·
just had mine swapped, DIAGONALY, BY LOCAL TYRE SERVICES GARAGE.
Kia couldnt be ar*ed to do the job at service 1 and 2.. keen enough to note fronts wearing faster than rears with measurements. No oil filter change at last service either, tho` its all ticked in the relevant box, 2YEARS OR 20K mls. oil stinks. still not my problem or car. Kia and lease company can argue it out if anything fails
anyway, back to tyres......understood they were only to be back to front ??
receptionist said diagonal as they are asymetric. the outside label is still on the outside
used to put the vectra with them, no problems.
I bow to his superior knowledge
and there was no charge
TPMS SORTED ITS SELF IN A COUPLE OF HUNDRED YARDS
 
#7 ·
just had mine swapped, DIAGONALY, BY LOCAL TYRE SERVICES GARAGE.

anyway, back to tyres......understood they were only to be back to front ??
receptionist said diagonal as they are asymetric. the outside label is still on the outside
used to put the vectra with them, no problems.
I bow to his superior knowledge
and there was no charge
TPMS SORTED ITS SELF IN A COUPLE OF HUNDRED YARDS
I'm sure someone will correct if I'm wrong but some (all?) tyres also have a direction of rotation arrow which must be adhered to. If you swap diagonally and the 'outside marker is still visible then the rotation arrow will be reversed.

This quote is from a site called 'tires-easy' (another lot that can't spell a simple word!)

Rotating Asymmetrical Tires

You can rotate your asymmetrical tires from front to back on the same side of the car, but not from one side to the other.
 
#8 ·
I enquired at my local kia dealer regarding rotating tyres at service to ensure tyres wear evenly. However, I was advised that it’s not really something that is needed and just to keep a check on tread levels but they said that generally when the fronts are due then the rears won’t be far off anyway so all 4 would get changed together. With AWD apparently they all need to be replaced at same time to ensure system doesn’t break. I’m still not sure on what’s a safe tread level difference between front and rears to avoid damage (kia did state 2mm but that does seem a small margin, what does others think?)
 
#12 ·
The fronts will wear quite a bit faster than the rears because in normal use the car is front wheel drive. That advice is simply dead wrong. I swap front/back at around about 10k miles and this evens the wear so you get to replace all four when they are all worn down. If you just leave the fronts on the front they will wear down to the point that the AWD starts to kick in and at the very least this will then start to wear all four tyres quickly and potentially damage the transmission. I really don't know what degree of wear difference is tolerable but I have heard/read somewhere the 2 or 3 mm figures. I can't see how to verify this and I am not about to try the experiment on my own car. It would not take rocket science for the car to learn about it's tyre wear differences and compensate the AWD trigger accordingly.
 
#9 ·
Perfectly fine to move wheels about - the KIA TPMS system sorts itself out after driving it for a few hundred yards.

Correct to fit the new tyres on the front and move the old fronts to the rear.

Absolutely worthwhile to get a 4 wheel alignment check/adjust. Rear tracking is adjustable on the Sportage and mine was well out last time I put new tyres on it.
 
#10 ·
Swapping the tyres around could only be a problem if you have AWD.
If the rear tyres have more tread than the front, they could (in theory) cause the AWD system to believe that the fronts were losing traction and activate the AWD system.
It has been mentioned on here before, and others have suffered the issue.

How much tread depth difference causes the issue is a bit of an unknown though.
I'd like to say that a few mm difference wouldn't affect anything.

As for feathering, I suffered what the garage called 'castling'. where the front of the tread pattern was slightly higher than the rear of the pattern, this gave the effect of a sound very similar to a worn wheel bearing
 
#13 ·
Update on the feathering. Got the car in early for new tyre fit as there was a nail in one of the rear tyres. New tyres on the front and front tyres put on opposite wheels on the back. Tracking checked and slightly out ,adjusted and the car is now driving like a dream. Expensive morning with two new tyres and balance, o the joys of car ownership. Less money for beer !!!!!!
 
#14 ·
The usual tyres for the Sportage have an asymmetric tread and cannot be swapped side to side without taking them off the wheels. They must rotate in the specified direction which is marked on the side wall. I would expecct any tyre bay to know this so are your old tyres not of the asymmetric tread type?
 
#19 ·
Asymmetric tyres are not the same as directional. Asymmetric means they have an ‘outside’ and an ‘inside’ which will be very clearly marked on the wall of the tyre. It is completely wrong to say that asymmetric tyres can’t be swapped left-right - the outside is still on the outside.

Some asymmetric tyres are also directional - in which case that advice would be true. These too will also be marked clearly on the sidewall, with an arrow indicating the direction they need to roll in. These are the tyres you can only move front to back. Don’t confuse the two types. Also, not all directional tyres are asymmetric. They are two completely different properties of the tyres.
 
#26 · (Edited)
137699 said
Directional tyres cannot be swapped left to right without taking off the rim and refitting.
Asymmetric tyres absolutely can.

That depends which website you choose to read (see my post #7 -
You can rotate your asymmetrical tires from front to back on the same side of the car, but not from one side to the other)
.and believe. As with lot's of things motoring related there is a lot of conflicting advice on the web. Perhaps the best answer is if you are unsure look for the rotational markings on the outside tyre wall and before swapping ensure they will still be showing forward rotation?
 
#27 ·
My original front tyres wore down far quicker (less than 2mm at 18k miles) than the rears on my FWD version, but no sign of feathering or any uneven wear on the rears (still over 4mm tread depth). Fitted the rears to the front to allow the new tyres to be fitted to the rear and - as said - the TPMS system fairly quickly picks up the new locations. Original Hankooks were/are not directional.
 
#29 · (Edited)
I have changed a wheel on my 19" wheel Sporty using the supplied jack and I recall no difficulties (apart from dodging the traffic whistling past my bum) and it did not take very long.. OK you have to raise and lower the car 6 times to rotate all four. Speaking personally, I would be happy to pay a tyre bay to do it but it is an option. You seem to have a low opinion of the average DIYer but IMO many would not find this a challenging task, after all the supplied equipment is intended for the user.
 
#32 ·
It's not a 'difficult, job, but boy it's a pain in the ass.
That jack need a LOT of winding to get 19s off the ground.
And if you don't have axle stands, you've to put the space saver on before you can move the jack to the rear.
I'm all for DIY and avoiding giving dealers money, but £40-£50 is worth it.
 
#31 ·
With a difference of only 1 mm there is nothing to worry about. I would not ask a KIA dealer to rotate tyres, even though it is on the ramp anyway for the service they will charge you the book price for that job on its own in addition to the service price. All garages do this. When the time comes take it to a tyre bay and they will do it for a lot less than a dealer will ask, but by then you might be needing 2 or 4 new tyres anyway and if they are fitting tyres my experience is that the tyre bay will do that for no or minimal extra charge.
 
#41 ·
Ok so is it best to just check every few weeks and see what they look like. When would you advise that rotation should occur, when it’s at around 2mm difference?
Yeah I did think it was quite expensive for a job that would take a matter of mins as it will already be on ramp but as you say it’s prob just a set price. So if say fronts get down to 3 mm and rears are then at 4-5mm, at that point is it still worth rotating or better to replace all 4?

thank you for your asssistance.
 
#34 ·
TBH I've got a hydraulic trolley jack that would do it in a fraction of the time.
But I'm not overly sure where the correct points are to use that on the Sportage, so I tend to do the jacking with the scissor and then just use the trolley to lightly touch a crossmember in case the scissor collapses..
I can't use the trolley on the scissor jack points, the flat round plate of the trolley wouldn't be good against the sharp ridge of the sills.
I should have asked for trolley jack points on here, but too late now..
 
#40 ·
dont know if it’s been mentioned but with feathering the first thing to do is to get all 4 wheels aligned,it can save you a fortune ,it’s a known thing on some models and any good tyre company should offer this service when seeing feathering And fitting new tyres.
 
#42 ·
It's really up to you. Even a difference of 2mm would not worry me excessively but the decision would then rest on factors such as how much more life there is in them, how low you would let them go, and is Winter approaching. I rotated mune just once in their life. Was getting close to doing it again but there was probably only 2 - 3 k miles left and winter was approaching fast so I felt happier on nice fersh rubber all round to see me through the winter.. 4 new (budget) tyres came to less than £300 fitted so for me it was an easy choice.
 
#46 ·
Ah ok so it’s just a case of keeping an eye on them I guess as I believe the continentals will not last a great deal of miles (I’ve seen reports of them only lasting between 8 and 10k miles). So guess if the Treadwear between fronts and rears is not too extreme then it might not even be worth the rotation if there’s only a couple of thousand miles left in the tyres at that point?

in regards to people that have had the AWD ‘wind-up’ issue when tyre tread differences have been quite big or different tyres used which have caused the issue, is there any warning that something is amiss? E.g. does any sign come up ok dash to say AWD ia trying to engage etc?

tyre wise, I’ve seen local tyre shops sell some budget tyres for 75 quid fitted. After that, they go up to around £130+.Ive always gone with budgets as replacement tyres on my cars previously. However, reading on different sites they seem to suggest that budget tyres are not great on heavier cars such as SUV’s as could be slower to brake in wet or dry and also might not be as good for grip. Is that true? I’d be happy to replace tyres when they need to be done with budgets but if they could potentially cause car to not brake as well then I’m not sure. What’s your opinions?
 
#45 ·
There is a tyre and battery place near to me (Bracknell) which has the best prices for miles around. They get huge deliveries of tyres and sell them on to other tyre bays in the area so they get seriously bulk prices. They are very professional. 5 lifts and a dedicated laser alignment bay (with it's own lift). Always a queue. I see little vans from various local garages delivering wheels and collecting ones with new tyres fitted. Have been using them for years for tyres and batteries with absolutely no complaints. Thing is I really trust these guys and I know they wouold not sell anything iffy. I have witnessed them refusing to fit tyres which a customer had sourced on the grounds that they were almost certainly fakes and they wanted nothing to do with them. For tyres I always ask for budget and don't give a hoot about brand. I currently have Comforser (Chinese - never heard of them before !). They are round and black and exactly the correct size to reach the ground !

They seem quieter than the Continentals which came with the car. No noticeable difference in handling but my days of driving on the edge are now behind me.
 
#44 ·
My tyres. Co. Uk
Is run by Europe's largest tyre retailer. You can get the tyres sent to a tyre fitter near you, or receive them at home. Ask your favourite tyre fitters prior to purchasing what they'll charge if you come with a set of tyres purchased online.

Main advantage is that there are dozens of tyres to choose from, no need to buy a lesser known untested brand from China when there are premium brands or tyres made in a premium brand factory, available at low prices.

Point S is a brand name continental use. I have a new set on my Kia, made in hannover Germany. These are a good buy for folk who don't want to purchase online. As far as I can tell, they're as good as a conti premium contact.
 
#53 · (Edited)
My tyres. Co. Uk
Is run by Europe's largest tyre retailer. You can get the tyres sent to a tyre fitter near you, or receive them at home. Ask your favourite tyre fitters prior to purchasing what they'll charge if you come with a set of tyres purchased online.

Main advantage is that there are dozens of tyres to choose from, no need to buy a lesser known untested brand from China when there are premium brands or tyres made in a premium brand factory, available at low prices.

Point S is a brand name continental use. I have a new set on my Kia, made in hannover Germany. These are a good buy for folk who don't want to purchase online. As far as I can tell, they're as good as a conti premium contact.
Black circles is by far and away the best tyre shop in the UK.
Good website, cheap prices and they include fitting.
They give you a choice of fitters near you, the tyres get delivered there and you're given an appointment.
Works great.
 
#47 ·
"tyre wise, I’ve seen local tyre shops sell some budget tyres for 75 quid fitted. After that, they go up to around £130+.Ive always gone with budgets as replacement tyres on my cars previously. However, reading on different sites they seem to suggest that budget tyres are not great on heavier cars such as SUV’s as could be slower to brake in wet or dry and also might not be as good for grip. Is that true? I’d be happy to replace tyres when they need to be done with budgets but if they could potentially cause car to not brake as well then I’m not sure. What’s your opinions?"

All depends on your needs but if I were you I would have a look on tyre manufacturer sites as well, many offer a variety of tyres (including high performance) designed especially for SUV's.
 
#50 ·
Yeah that’s not too bad £100 a tyre. Not seen anything fully fitted for that price yet other than as I say the budgets. So do you think it’s better to avoid the budgets on these higher weighted SUV’s?

also still a little confused as when I was checking tyres I put my number plate into various sites. The tyres I have come up which are 245/45/19 98. But there’s only a couple of tyres that are 98. Most are 102 and have XL listed next to them and instead of W they are Y.
assume these tyres are all fine for car as well and wouldn’t cause any issues?
 
#51 ·
That's correct, no issues.
The weight rating is a minimum, so in your case min. 98.
Same with the speed rating, in your case W or "higher".
In your size it's mostly only higher speed ratings available.

However, purchase price is just 1 variable. What about Miles per £?
A tyre with a treadwear rating of 300 for £120 is better value than one with a treadwear rating of 200 for just £100.
 
#52 ·
That's correct, no issues.
The weight rating is a minimum, so in your case min. 98.
Same with the speed rating, in your case W or "higher".
In your size it's mostly only higher speed ratings available.

However, purchase price is just 1 variable. What about Miles per £?
A tyre with a treadwear rating of 300 for £120 is better value than one with a treadwear rating of 200 for just £100.
Thank you for confirming. Yes I see what you mean. When I get new tyres I think I will come away from the continentals as the wear down really quickly and most people get a short life out of them.
move heard the hankooks are ok. Any other recommendations for tyres on Sportage that are good but also doesn’t wear the tread quickly?
 
#54 · (Edited)
With regard to tyres, avoid budgets like the plague.
When you get wheelspin in a 86bhp diesel Fiesta in THIRD GEAR in the wet, you know you've made a mistake (they were 'Sunny' brand). :oops:
I'm not even sure I could fit budgets to a car I was selling, not without feeling guilty.
If budget is an issue, I'd rather buy used quality tyres than new budget ones.
I've been buying used winter tyres for years, save a fortune over new and never an issue (I get the fitters to check them)
 
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