Tire rotation

involves moving the wheels and tires from one location to another, either diagonally, back to front or even left to right. The main reason why you should have your car tires rotated is that the original tires tend to tear and wear unevenly. For instance, the front tires will often wear faster on the outside edges as they usually lean over when driving round a corner. Rotating them will not only ensure that they all wear evenly, but they will also last for a longer period. Depending on how often you drive, you should make sure that you regularly rotate your car tires. Consider do this at least once or twice a year and even more times when driving over 100,000 miles yearly. Most manufacturer and car dealers usually recommend that you change your oil and rotate the tires after every six months or after driving 7,500 miles. Although some car models such as BMW allow you to drive for up to 15,000 miles without changing the oil, you should avoid driving too far before rotating your tires.

Most car owners neglect the essential routine maintenance such as tire rotation as they don’t think it is important. You can easily spot a motorist with a vehicle that’s been neglected, as the wheels are nearly black as a result of the accumulation of brake dust. Do you realize that the front tires are large and are designed for more breaking function than the rear tires, resulting in the generation of more brake dust? Tire rotation is essential to all types of vehicles, whether back, front or four-wheel vehicles since their workload and weight is distributed unevenly among all the wheels. Most of the today’s cars on the road are ‘all-wheel-drive’ or ‘front-wheel-drive’ and the front tires carry a heavier weight than the rear. Why? Both the transmission and the engine are mounted on the axle of the front wheels, hence carrying more weight compared to the rear tires.

Besides the extraordinary load of the transmission and the engine, the front tires have an added burden that the rear tires do not. Such as more weight shifts towards the front when the brakes are applied. Another reason why the front tires will wear quicker is the steering and powering of the vehicle and the cornering forces the shifting of weight towards the outside of a turn. The back tires on a front-wheel car will endure less wear and tear compared to the front tires as they carry a lighter load and are only required to ride along without steering or turning forces. On the other hand, four-wheel and rear-drive vehicles usually have more weight spreading to the rear tires as they are the primary tires used for driving the car. However, the front tires also carry a significant load because they are the one’s doing the steering and braking.

One of the best ways of determining how frequent you should rotate your tires is by checking the service section of the owner’s manual. There you will find the manufacturers recommend tire rotation schedule. However, it’s a good idea to rotate your tires every time you change your oil. There are several different ways to rotate your tires it depends on your type of vehicle. When you own a front-wheel-drive vehicle, it’s best to move the front tires to the rear wheel on the same side and the rear ones to the front. This pattern might not apply to four-wheel and rear-wheel drive vehicles When rotating tires of a car or truck with directional tires, ensure that you rotate tires on the same sides, only moving them from front and back. A vehicle with different tire sizes should only be switched between tires running on the same axle.

There are three principal features of tire rotation. First, each wheel and tire are removed from the vehicle. Secondly, air pressure is checked and adjusted, if necessary. Finally, the brakes are checked, there easier to reach and see the brake pads with the wheel and tire removed. Other maintenance services that you may want to consider alongside tire rotation include tire balancing and alignment.