Tire rotation is a critical maintenance element in the life of a tire. It can literally double the durability of your tires, helping you get the most out of your investment. But which tire rotation strategy is right for your vehicle?
The idea of tire rotation can be a little confusing to the newcomer. Don’t all tires rotate? Isn’t that the point? Tire rotation, though, isn't about a tire spinning around one point, but a tire’s changing position on a vehicle. For instance, you might take a front left wheel and put it on the right rear, or sometimes just swapping the front tires with the back tires; it all depends on your vehicle.
Tire rotation is an important maintenance item on many vehicles, designed to preserve tire life. But how to do it properly isn’t a simple question to answer. First, you need to understand why it works. Here are a few simple principles for better understanding tire rotation.
Camber
One of the three parameters of vehicle alignment, camber refers to the “tilt” of each wheel. When the top of the wheel “tilts” in toward the car, the car has negative camber. While some cars have factory settings that include flat camber, negative camber is not an uncommon factory setting in most cars.
Camber assists the car with grip. As it goes around a corner, the extra pressure of the centrifugal force flattens the contact patch of the outside tire, giving the car a sure footing. However, this means that most of the time, when the car isn’t turning, the inside edge of the tire is making more contact with the road than the rest. This causes uneven wear.
The solution is to rotate the tires to even out the wear. Camber settings often differ on the front and rear wheels, so many cars recommend rotating your tires from back to front.
Drive Wheels
Even for vehicles with absolutely flat camber settings on all four wheels, two tires will still wear more quickly than the other two— the tires on the drive wheels. These are the wheels, either at the front or back, that receive power from the engine. So for front-wheel-drive cars like the Honda Civic, you will see more wear on the front tires, and for rear-wheel-drive cars like the Ford Mustang, you'll see that the back tires will begin to wear out faster than the non-driven wheels. A rotation front to back can provide fresh tread for the driven wheels while there’s plenty of tread left for the non-driven wheels.
But your car has all-wheel-drive, so all your tires wear evenly, right? Not necessarily. Many all-wheel-drive cars have a front-wheel or rear-wheel bias for drive power, which means that the front or rear of the car will get a greater percentage of the power— and those tires will wear out faster.
Directional vs. Nondirectional Rotation Patterns
But that’s not all you need to know. Many car tires are directional, meaning they’re only designed to grip while spinning in one direction.
Directional tires often help improve grip through clever tread design, which in turn also helps with tread wear. They also channel water away from the contact patch. Cars with directional tires should not have their tires rotated side to side. If a tire starts on the left side, it stays on the left side.
Drive Wheel Tire Size
Some cars, especially performance cars, have larger wheels and rear tires, at the drive axle. These larger wheels and tires obviously won’t fit on the front axles, so front-to-back rotation isn’t an option on something like the 2018 Chevy Corvette, which has 20" wheels in the rear and only 19" wheels in the front.
However, some of these tires are also directional, which means they can’t be rotated side to side. Therefore, for some cars, tire rotation isn’t an option.
The Right Way to Perform a Tire Rotation
All these factors are examples of why you should check your owner’s manual before you rotate your tires. They’re also why there’s no single correct way to do it for all cars. Each car will have its own rotation strategy.
Sorry if this doesn't provide the best answer. But that answer can be found in your car's documentation.
Or you could let Zohr handle it. Our mobile tire rotation service is every bit as convenient as our tire replacement service. We'll take care of your car at the time and place of your choosing. And we'll reference our extensive database to determine the proper rotation pattern for your vehicle.
If it's time to rotate your tires, schedule your Zohr appointment today. Let Zohr's team of trusted tire technicians take a look at your tread wear, look up your rotation patterns and analyze whether or not you're due for a tire rotation today. Uneven wear can be detrimental to the life of your tires, so make sure you're getting an expert's opinion on your tire wear at least once a year (if you're an average driver). You might need to have a mobile tire shop come out to see your car more often if you are an above average driver.
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