What’s All The Fuss About Tire Rotation?
Have you ever driven a car that seems to be vibrating, or a bit wobbly? That may have been due to unbalanced tires. Tire rotation is basically what it sounds like, changing the location of your tires on your vehicle. It is typically recommended to rotate automobile tires about every 5,000 – 7,500 miles. Each vehicle manufacturer may have different recommendations, so check your owner’s manual.
Why Rotate Tires?
Ever have shoes with worn heels that seem half unusable and half perfectly fine? You know, the kind that looks as if someone chopped off a corner of the heel? Tires are similar. We wear out the tires much like shoes. If we could rotate our shoes, that could help a ton to prolong the performance and longevity of our shoes. Same with tires.
Rotating tires is important to spread out the wear on all four tires. Tire position effects wear. Front tires take on more of the friction and torque when turning, accelerating and braking. New tires are even more susceptible to uneven wear. Tires with uneven wear will wear down even quicker. Worn tires have less grip and could pose a safety issue, especially in wet conditions. Rotating tires is important to extend the life and safety of your tires, and save you money.
What is the best tire rotation pattern?
The best ride rotation pattern for your vehicle depends on the kind of vehicle you are driving and whether it is front, rear, or four-wheel drive.
- Rearward Cross Tire Rotation – Crossing the front tires to the opposite side on the rear, while moving the rear wheels to the front, keeping them on the same side. This is recommended for rear-rear-wheel, 4-wheel or all-wheel driving vehicles.
- X-Pattern Tire Rotation – Crossing both front and rear tires to the opposite side while moving them front to rear or rear to front. This is the most recommended tire rotation pattern for front-wheel drive vehicles like sedans and small trucks.
- Forward Cross Tire Rotation – Crossing the rear tires to the opposite side on the front, while moving the front wheels to the rear, keeping them on the same side.
The most recommended tire rotation pattern for front-wheel drive vehicles is the X-Pattern Tire Rotation.
These are the basic rotation patterns, but there are a number of considerations for rotation patterns based on type of tires and vehicles. If you have a full sized spare tire, you need to throw that into the rotation. High performance tires will call for specialized rotation. These will also wear down sooner and require special care.
Regular tire rotation is important to help prolong the life and performance of your vehicle’s tires. Let us take the stress out of tire rotation. Bring your car in today and have our professional ASE certified mechanics take a look to see if a rotation is needed.
