Jan 11, 2021



Is it Necessary to Rotate my Tires?

Tire rotation is a central component of tire maintenance and protection and is a regular repositioning of the tires in some layouts from front to back or from side to side. Extended warranty can be assured on the tires if the practice of tire rotation is followed. Many people wonder if they have to rotate their tires, this is because they think that this concept of rotation is just a way for the dealership and many mechanic personnel to make some simple money only by doing absolutely unnecessary work. You will see the directions for how often you can rotate the tire while reviewing your owner’s manual. The rotation of tires every 3000 to 8000 miles is typically recommended, but is it really needed?

What is the Purpose of a Tire Rotation?

The purpose of rotating tires is to compensate for wear. The front tires wear much more quickly than the rear ones because the front tire edges are under greater strain when you turn. Besides regular driving, stuff like triple turns, parallel parking, U-turn, and many more put extra stress on the front tires you don’t have to deal with in your rear wheels.

You will equalize wear by rotating the tires, allowing all tires to wear at the same level. After wearing all the tires at the same time, you can get all of them replaced to gift your car a new set of tires. If your car has a full-time all-wheel drive or a four-wheel drive, replace all four tires one time so that the transfer box linking the rear and front axles is not overworked. The rotation of the tires on these vehicles is therefore recommended. It is not appropriate to rotate tires in certain situations, but the exception will be there for the all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles.

Whether the car is on the front or back wheels, or non-directionally, whether or not it has the same size on the front or rear side of the car, the rotation pattern that is better for your vehicle depends on many things. The fact that you have a full-size spare that can also be rotated around, unlike a temporary spare, should also be taken into consideration.

For high performance from the tires, the most common pattern followed are:

  • Side-to-side: Both tires are moved to their same size partner and stay on the same axle. The two rear tires turn with each other to the opposite side, while the two front tires do the same. This way, the pressure experienced by the tires remains relatively uniform throughout.
  • Front-to-back: Both tires are shifted from one axle to the other, but they stay on the same side of the vehicle. For instance, the left front tire is moved to the left of the rear axle, and the left rear tire is transferred to the left of the front axle. This way, the pressure experienced by all the tires are the same, and the wear is maintained at the same level.