Benefits of Rotation

One of the most effective ways to maximize tire life is to have your tires rotated. Tires should be rotated at intervals according to your owner's manual. Rotation frequency is usually every 5,000 miles. The first scheduled rotation is very important and must not be neglected.

Rotation entails moving the front tires to the rear and the rear tires to the front in some regular pattern. If your car has a compact or temporary spare tire, the spare is not included in the rotation pattern and only four tires are rotated. If the spare tire is full size, it can be included in the rotation pattern. Never include an undersized "Temporary Use Only" spare tire in the rotation pattern.

Rotation is especially important on front wheel drive cars since the front tire tread will wear faster than the rear tread simply because they carry more weight, turn on the pavement, and pull the vehicle. Conversely, on rear-wheel drive cars, the rear tires wear about 30-100% faster than the front tires because of the traction they must provide. On the other hand, the rear tires of a small front-wheel drive car may wear slowly but unevenly because of the relatively light load on the rear end or perhaps because the rear axle is misaligned.

Tire rotation will balance out the accelerated wear and uneven wear. Tires are expensive to replace, so you want to make them last as long as possible. However, if abnormal wear is consistently generated from the same tire location even after a rotation, have the problem corrected before the next rotation occurs.


TOP SYSTEMS
BACK TIRES
PREVIOUS TIRE ROTATION
NEXT ROTATION PATTERNS