Tire rotation, what is it, and just how important is it? Tire rotation simply refers to the routine re-positioning of your vehicle's tires either from front to back or side to side.
Tire Rotations Can Increase the Life of Your Vehicle's Tires!
There is more than just one reason why regular tire rotation is good for your tires and is safer for your vehicle. Regular tire rotations help in maximizing your tires' tread life. How? Well, each of the four tire positions of your vehicle requires different efforts from each of the tires meaning that the wear on your vehicle's tires will differ from tire to tire. By routinely rotating the tires, you help even out the wear in the tires thus maximizing their life.
Because new, deep tire tread is more susceptible to wearing unevenly, it is recommended that new tires be rotated by 5,000 miles. By keeping the tread depth on your tires more even, you help your tires keep more traction as well as handling. All of this will in turn make your vehicle much safer for driving as it will increase its cornering and braking performance.
Something else worth mentioning is that regularly rotating your tires gives you a great opportunity to visually inspect them for things such as air pressure, damage as well as tread depth.
How To Rotate Tires
There is more than one way to rotate your vehicle tires and it all depends on the type of tires on your vehicle and the vehicle itself. The patterns include:
- Rearward Cross
- X-pattern
- Forward Cross
- Rear to Rear
- Side to Side
All of the above-mentioned patterns are dependent on whether your tires are:
- Uniform in size and non-directional
- Uniform in size and non-directional with a full-size spare
- High performance and directional
By not rotating your vehicle tires you run many risks. Firstly, your tires will not last as long as they would when being regularly rotated, which means that they will have to be replaced more frequently. Secondly, you increase your risk of an accident. You also run the risk of losing your tire warranty if they're newly bought.
Now that you know the importance of regular tire rotations, If you need a tire rotation performed, we invite you to bring your vehicle to German Motorworks today!