Why You Should Rotate Your Tires

Welcome to weather in New England when the pot holes are deep and the frost heaves are frequent. 

It’s important, especially, when there are environmental factors that attribute to the life of our vehicles we do our best to maintain them. 

One of the most common and largest expenses to owning a vehicle it seems is - tires.  A tire’s longevity already differs between drivers, driving conditions, vehicles, and manufacturers, it doesn’t need to shorten due to lack of maintenance, too. 

Rotating your tires is the easiest maintenance tip to ignore yet, is most detrimental to maximizing the life of your tires and most use of your dollar. Maintaining even tread wear amongst your four tires guarantees prolonged life, improved gas mileage and better performance and handling. 

Both front wheel drive vehicles and all wheel vehicles (which primarily operate in front wheel drive until driving conditions warrant all wheels to engage) drive and power your vehicle by providing power to the front axle and in turn - the front wheels and tires.  This results in faster and uneven tread wear between the front and rear tires.  If ignored, uneven tread wear can result in driveline vibrations, misalignments, and costly repairs. 

The best rule of thumb is to schedule a tire rotation with each conventional oil change or in between each synthetic oil change.  Most vehicle manufacturers recommend that your tires be rotated every six months or 5,000 miles and most tire manufacturers require that they be rotated every six months to maintain any tire warranty. 

When technicians perform a tire rotation, it requires that they remove wheels, and inspect the undercarriage of the vehicle and components of the vehicle that may begin to show signs of wear. 

When the technician has the opportunity to inspect the tires for any uneven tread wear, it allows them to warn you of tread wear pattern concerns.  If they note that your tires are feathering, chopped, irregularly or excessively wearing on the inside or outside edges, or if it’s been longer than a year since your last complimentary check, it might be time to check to make sure your vehicle is still within it’s alignment specifications. 

If you are unsure if your tires need to be rotated, trust your dealership and its technicians to inspect and rotate your tires to their best performing positions.  Don’t ignore the significance of this simple and money saving service.