Tire rotations are necessary to achieve even treadwear and maximum tire mileage. To extend the life of your tires, you should plan to rotate them about every 5,000 – 7,000 miles. It may be convenient to schedule your tire rotation every other oil change (which should be done each 3,000 miles). It’s a quick and inexpensive preventative maintenance practice to establish.
There are three traditional tire rotation patterns which can be followed:
Front-wheel drive vehicles – Rotate the tires in a forward cross pattern (Figure 1) or the alternative X pattern (Figure 2)
Rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive vehicles – Rotate the tires in a rearward cross pattern (Figure 3) or the alternative X pattern (Figure 2)
Two additional tire rotation patterns are available for performance tires and wheels
Same size directional wheels/tires – The “Front-to-Rear” (Figure 4) pattern may be used for vehicles equipped with the same size directional wheels and/or directional tires.
Different sized non-directional tires and wheels – A “Side-to-Side” (Figure 5) pattern may be used for vehicles equipped with different sized non-directional tires and wheels on the front axle compared to the rear axle.
Vehicles that use different sized directional wheels and tires, and/or wheels with different front and rear offsets with directional tires will require dismounting, mounting, and rebalancing to properly rotate tires.
Rotating tires with spares – If your vehicle has a full-sized spare (not a compact spare or donut), you may want to include that tire in the rotation. Below are two additional rotation patterns which can be followed to incorporate the spare.
On front-wheel drive cars with full-size matching spare, rotate the tires in a forward cross pattern (Figure 6)
On rear-wheel or four-wheel drive cars with full-size matching spare, rotate the tires in a rearward cross pattern (Figure 7)
When’s the last time you had your tires rotated? We’ll rotate your tires for FREE every 5000 miles for as long as you own your tires – included in our Out-The-Door Installation price. Stop into any of our 30 convenient locations for more information.