Last Updated on April 19, 2024
Bought yourself a brand new set of tires and wondering whether the tire installer put them on backwards? Is it even possible to put car tires on backwards? Don’t worry. A lot of people have the same concerns. Thankfully, you have us to point you in the right direction.
Can car tires be put on backwards? It depends on the tire. If you have directional tires, then yes. Directional tires are designed for movement in only one direction. If you have a non-directional tire, you can mount them however you wish.
Let’s go into a little more depth on this, shall we? This way, you will have more idea as to whether your specific tires can be mounted in any direction. Don’t worry. It is much easier than you think!
Can Car Tires Be Put On Backwards?
It is always going to be dependent on the tire. Your average tire built for general road conditions, in most cases, will be a non-directional tire. This means the tires can be mounted any way you want on the wheels.
In fact, most new cars come with tires that are non-directional straight from the factory. This makes tire rotations much easier, and extends the life of the OEM tires.
Non-Directional Tires
Many people like non-directional tires, as you can change the direction that they have been mounted any time that you want. This allows for more even wear on the tire, as uneven wear could lead to the steering wheel shaking while driving.
Directional Tires
However, if you have directional tires, then they are built to travel in one direction only. Directional tires will normally have a tread designed for harsher conditions, e.g., wet roads, off-roading, snow, etc. This tread can only provide grip when it is traveling in one direction. So, if the tire has been put on in the wrong direction, then it isn’t going to work anywhere near as well as it should.
If you are unsure as to whether you have directional tires, don’t worry. Directional tires will clearly be marked with an arrow.
You will also find the details in the manual. The manufacturers of these tires really do go to huge lengths to ensure that the owners know that they are dealing with directional tires.
What Happens If You Put Tires On Backwards?
It depends on the situation. If you are driving in dry conditions on the road, then you probably wouldn’t even notice that you are driving on backward directional tires. The tires may have a little bit of extra wear on them, but the car will be completely fine to drive.
The real issues start happening when you are driving in poor road conditions or off-road. You may find that your tires do not grip the road as well as they should.
The handling of your vehicle may feel completely wrong. You may even find that you lose control of your vehicle when you are driving over water on the road, such as hydroplaning.
This happens due to the direction that the tire treads are. Because the tire tread is not running in the direction that it should be running in, it isn’t able to grip the ground properly.
Additionally, if you are planning on driving in anything other than dry conditions on the road, having a directional tire on backwards will be plain dangerous.
If you are driving in dry conditions, you will have to replace the tires far more frequently. However, this is something that you do not want to happen under any circumstance.
Are Noisy Tires a Sign They Are On Backwards?
Not always–but this can be a early sign that your tires are mounted backwards. When directional tires are mounted backwards they will produce excessive road noise. Tires that are on backwards may even cause the steering wheel to shake or vibrate.
How To Tell If Your Directional Tires Are On Backwards
As we said earlier, the manufacturers really like to make it clear that you have directional tires. After all, if you have directional tires and you mount them incorrectly, you may be pretty mad at them.
While it is always advised to look at the manual that came with your tires, the easiest way to determine whether you are dealing with directional tires is to just look at them. An arrow on them will tell you the direction that the tire is meant to rotate. Of course, you want that arrow pointing toward the front of your vehicle.
If you do not see an arrow on your tires, then it is unlikely that you have directional tires. This means that there shouldn’t be any issues mounting them however you want on the wheels. However, you may want to have a quick flick through the manual that came with them just to be 100% sure.
Should The Dealership or Tire Shop Be Responsible to Replace Tires Installed Backwards?
Yes, if the tire shop or dealership installed your tires incorrectly, causing significant wear and tear, they should replace the tires at no cost to you.
In order to ensure the installer takes responsibility for their mistake, keep your receipt handy. Otherwise, you may be stuck with a repair bill!
The Final Word
Can car tires be put on backwards? Yes, if the tires are non-directional. If you have directional tires however, then they have been designed to work in only one direction. If you see an arrow on the tires, then this means that your tires are directional. You will need to ensure that this arrow points toward the front of your vehicle.
If you mount a directional tire in the wrong direction, the vehicle becomes dangerous. While you may not have any issues on dry road surfaces, you will have a lot of problems when things get a bit wetter, or you head off-road.
Have you ever had experience with car tires on backwards? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
Managing Editor
Christopher is an automotive technical writer. When he’s not at the local autocross event, he can often be found working on one of his cars. Specializes in automotive class action law, industry trends, and automotive maintenance. Email me direct, or learn more about us
Michael Y
January 19, 2024 at 8:54 pmI bought 5 Michelin CrossClimate directional tires with one to be used as a full-sized spare. Reason is that I go off-roading at times and don’t feel comfortable having a donut get me out of those situations.
Every article I’ve read says to never mount them rotating backwards, but none state what to do with a Spare — whether it’s safe to temporarily use or not. Some say to use a non-directional as a Spare, but then you’d run into other articles saying that mixing tread patterns and manufacturers/models is also dangerous (Michelin customer support even said as much).
So, using a non-directional or directional one as a Spare seems to be bad either way.
My conclusion thus far is that as a Spare, using the 5th same-tire temporarily to get out of the sticky situation is fine. You have a 50/50 chance of the spare facing forward or backward, depending on which side of the car’s tire is blown, whereas with a non-directional spare, you’ll have a 100% chance of having mixed tires.
Michael Y
January 19, 2024 at 8:52 pmI bought 5 Michelin CrossClimate directional tires with one to be used as a full-sized spare. Every article I’ve read says to never mount them rotating backwards, but none state what to do with a Spare — whether it’s safe to temporarily use or not. Some say to use a non-directional as a Spare, but then you’d run into other articles saying that mixing tread patterns and manufacturers/models is also dangerous (Michelin customer support even said as much).
So, using a non-directional or directional one as a Spare seems to be bad either way.
What’s your opinion on this? My conclusion thus far is that as a Spare, using the 5th same-tire temporarily to get out of the sticky situation is fine. You have a 50/50 chance of the spare facing forward or backward, depending on which side of the car’s tire is blown, whereas with a non-directional spare, you’ll have a 100% chance of having mixed tires.
Christopher Rossen
January 26, 2024 at 9:23 amMichael, overall not a fan of a directional tires being used for a spare. With that said, if that is all you have, yes it can be used, but for short distances only. My preference would be to replace the directional spare with a nondirectional tire. Hope this helps.
Mrs.Dunham
July 24, 2023 at 1:16 pm24 /7/2023 Took my car to be MOT today VW UP it failed the reason being both rear tyres not fitted in accordance with side wall instructions. These tyres were fitted by Kwik fit Roman Bank Skegness on the 30/7/2020. These tyres have remained on the car since that date and has passed two MOT in 2021/2022. It’s strange how it passed those two and failed this time. I must add that this has now been rectified. Is this a recent change or have I been driving with something that could have been potentially dangerous. I would appreciate any comments.
Michael Ramos
December 24, 2022 at 4:56 pmMy soon not to be regular tire shop mounted 3 of the 4 winter performance tires in the correct direction. The 4th, drivers rear was installed backwards. Driving during the recent blizzard from IL to MI was treacherous and many times unstable. I have an AWD 2018 Jaguar F Pace S and literally had to drive 35 to 60 mph because the rear would lose traction so frequently and unexpectedly. Extremely dangerous rookie mistake at a tire shop.
Christopher
December 28, 2022 at 3:07 pmVery, very dangerous to have a snow tire installed backwards Michael! Glad you discovered the issue and are getting it fixed. Thanks for sharing your voice to this post.