Assuming the tires are NOT directional.If they are the same size rotate as usual. If larger size on back then side to side
Can't hurt unless like said above the tires are directional.Any thoughts on rotating the tires from side to side? Ford service is stating not needed. At 11,800 miles there are no visual wear issues seen.
This wear can cause noise.Unless you know what your car's alignment settings actually are, they could be (and probably are) slightly different, side to side, which would tend to cause slightly different wear patterns below what you might be able to notice by eye.
FOLLOW-UP: I had the tires rotated back to their original positions where they were for the first 7,930 miles. The tires were rebalanced which was minimal (1/2 oz or less) and milage was 11,230 with the same tire pressures. I examined the tires when the were removed and the tire guy agreed that all 4 tires were evenly worn and he said they have a good amount of tread left for the milage. At age 80, I drive conservatively (well, most of the time). I drove to and from the rotation at the same highway speed of 60 mph. I understand this a subjective evaluation, but I sensed a noise reduction of at least 50%. So, for what it's worth (probably not a lot) that is my experience. This suggests to me that if the car is properly aligned, just rebalance the tires occasionally and don't rotate them side to side when front and back tires are a different size. It's possible that a different brand might respond differently. If you end up someday with unidirectional tires where front and back are different sizes, you can't rotate them anyway... BruceHi - I rotated mine (all 4 side to side) at around 8000 miles this spring and shortly afterwards I noticed an increase in the level of road noise. My wife noticed it too. All tires appear evenly worn and the ride is smooth even at high speeds so it shouldn't be a balance or alignment issue. I can't explain it, but it has gotten annoying enough that I may try rotating them back to their original placement to see if it goes away. The tires show minimal wear so I'm not really wanting to replace them, but it's bugging me. It's apparent with the windows open or closed. I play music now pretty regularly to help disguise the noise. I keep my exhaust set on normal so I don't really hear the noise until I stop accelerating. I'm at 11,000 miles now and no change In noise level. The exhaust noise is minimal when cruising at an even speed and that's when I hear it... Bruce
Ah yes . . . the era of the first tire fiasco involving Firestone. Remember of it well (a cousin of mine had 4 tires that were involved).I'm biased from the 70's when changing the rotational direction of radials was a no no. I still will not rotate a radial side to side.