The decision to rotate your tires is one of the more important maintenance decisions that you can make when you purchase a new or used vehicle. With good upkeep, tires should be able to last you for years before needing to replace them.
Poor upkeep means you’ll be replacing them early, inconsistently, and at a much higher expense. In the following article, we share four reasons to rotate your tires on schedule. Let’s roll!
1. Keep the Tire Treads Even
The first benefit of tire rotation we’ll discuss is wearing on the tire itself. Roads are bumpy, uneven, and inconsistent. The way that your car navigates these alterations will produce different wearing effects on each of your tires.
Rotate your tires every 5,000-10,000 miles depending on the style of tire that you use. This ensures that tires wear evenly. As a result, you don’t end up having to replace one or two tires here and there before their lifespan is up.
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2. Extend the Life of the Tire
On the topic of lifespan within the greater question of how often should you rotate your tires, how long is a tire supposed to last? Tires typically need a replacement every 6-10 years.
If you drive a lot, you might want to revisit it sooner. Rotating your tires regularly will help ensure that you get the full life out of each tire instead of incurring additional replacement costs here and there. Your tires are considered a potential hazard once the tread is at 2/32 of an inch.
3. Protect Other Auto Parts
Another thing to consider when weighing the question of when should you rotate your tires is the effect that your tires have on other auto parts. Namely, things like your axles, brakes, and alignment. There are also components such as your wheels or wheel bearings that could start to go out if you don’t take good care of your tires by rotating them regularly.
4. Avoid Safety Hazards and Gain Better Performance Overall
The act of rotating your tires helps you to avoid certain safety hazards and gain better performance overall out of your vehicle. Common safety concerns that come from bad tires include the following:
- Being unable to apply the brakes in time for an accident
- Unexpected flats or blowouts
- Unpredictable handling on the roadway
Each of these items can be quite hazardous. That goes not only for you and your passengers but also for your fellow motorists.
How It Is Done
Now that we’ve answered the question of what happens when you don’t rotate your tires, it’s time to discuss the process itself. There are a few different ways you can rotate, and each auto center has its preferences.
One is in an X-pattern where the back passenger trades places with the front driver and the front passenger trades with the back driver. Another is Rear-Cross, where the rear tires move to the front, maintaining their driver and passenger positions, while the fronts switch to the rear in an X-pattern.
Forward-Cross is just the same thing in reverse. However you choose to do it, it’s better for the tire and the performance of your vehicle to do it regularly. Stay on schedule!
Rotate Your Tires for Lower Costs and Improved Safety
When you rotate your tires, you are saving money on premature tire replacement and making the road a safer place for you, your loved ones, and your fellow motorists.
For more automotive tips and information, check out some of our additional posts!
