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Tire rotations are one of the most commonly missed routine tasks. When you take your car to the body shop to purchase tires, your salesman will almost always tell you a specific mileage that you will need a rotation after. While it is best that you follow his advice and rotate them after you hit the specified mileage, most people will simply forget and drive on their tires for a far greater amount of time than they should be. While it isn't the end of the world, driving on your tires without rotating them will significantly lower their lifespan. Rotating your tires is great for your car, but many people don't know why it truly helps. If you are unsure as to why you need to rotate your tires, make sure to take a look at our top reason for having a tire rotation and how it's done.
Even Tread Wear
It is a common misconception that every wheel position on your car will wear your tires at the same rate. Every position will give your tire a different wear, meaning that you will need to rotate their positions to even the wear and tear. For example, if you drive a front-wheel-drive vehicle, the tires in the front will wear out much faster than the ones in the rear of your car. If you want to ensure that your tires wear out at the same rate, then it is vital that you rotate them on a regular basis. While every tire will need to be rotated at a different rate, most will need to be rotated every 3 to 5000 miles. In other words, your tires will need to be rotated roughly every time you have your oil changed. Keeping your tire rotation and oil change in sync like this can help to remind you that it is time to have your tires rotated. Regardless of how you line your tire rotations up, it is crucial that you have them done. Needing to replace your tires sooner than what you would normally need is a pain, especially if it is because you didn't have your tires rotated. The process is extremely simple, only taking a few minutes. With a quick rotating time and huge benefits like this, there is no reason why you shouldn't take your car in to have its tires rotated as soon as they need to be.
How a Rotation is Done
When you decide it's time to have your tires rotated, you will need to either do it at home or take it into the body shop to be done. If you decide to do it yourself, then there will be a few things that you need to remember. When performing your tire rotation, you will need to take a different approach depending on what type of vehicle you drive. So, let's go over the rotation patterns for each type of car.
Front-Wheel-Drive
If you drive a front-wheel-drive vehicle, you will want to drop each of the front wheels straight back while crossing the rear wheels forward to the front. So, the back left wheel will end up on the front right side.
Rear-Wheel-Drive
For a rear-wheel-drive vehicle, you will want to push the rear wheels straight forward to the front while crossing the front wheels to the back. This way, the front right tire will end up on the back left side.
4 Wheel/All Wheel Drive
When you rotate one of these vehicles, you will need to do a double-cross, crossing your rear wheels up to the front and crossing the front wheels to the back.
By following these methods to rotate your tires, you will give your car its best shot at keeping its tires for as long as possible. Your tires are important, which is why it is best to follow your salesman's advice and rotate your tires on a consistent and regular basis.
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