How Often Should You Rotate Your Tires?

What’s Involved With a Tire Rotation?

Before we touch on additional tire rotation tips, you may be wondering what a tire rotation is in the first place. As the name suggests, a tire rotation simply means your rotating the tires from each corner of the vehicle into a new corner. Tire rotations allow for a more even distribution of wear, increasing the longevity of your tires as well as traction for your Wilmington drives. You’re essentially removing the tires on your vehicle, swapping their position, and remounting them back on your vehicle when you’re doing a tire rotation.

Rotating Tires on FWD & RWD Vehicles

The difference between a front-wheel and rear-wheel drivetrain is that with FWD, your engine sends power to the front wheels, and with RWD it gets sent to the rear wheels. Depending on which kind of drivetrain your vehicle has, this could mean you’ll likely have different amounts of wear-and-tear for either set of tires. Here are some tire rotation tips to keep in mind if you have a rear-wheel drive or front-wheel drive-based vehicle.

• For RWD or FWD vehicles, you should at least be doing a tire rotation every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Although you can get a more accurate tire rotation recommendation from your owner’s manual.
• In the case that you want to perform a tire rotation yourself and you have a FWD vehicle, it’s important that you flip sides when moving your tires. That means your left rear tire should go to the front right position, and the right rear tire should go to the left front position. The front tires, however, should be moved to the rear on the same side they started.
• If you have a car with RWD, then just flip the process. Your front tires should flip sides when moving back, and the rear tires should stay on their respective side when being moved forward.
• Depending on your typical driving conditions, you may need to rotate your tires more frequently. Contact our service experts to learn more about tire rotation based on your driving habits.

AWD Tire Rotation Tips

Want to know how many miles to rotate tires when you have an AWD vehicle? Since an AWD system is sending power to all of your tires at once, the tire rotation interval could differ from FWD and RWD vehicles. With an AWD vehicle, it’s generally suggested that you go only 3,000 to 5,000 miles before rotating your tires. With that being said, you should check your owner’s manual to get a better number.

In case you can’t remember the last time you got a tire rotation, schedule a service appointment at Key Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram FIAT. Our experts can perform a quick inspection to see if your tires should be rotated. The tire rotation pattern of an AWD vehicle can be different from a RWD or FWD vehicle, so keep that in mind if you’re performing tire rotations in your own garage.

Why Rotate Tires?

While performing tire rotations do in fact extend the lifetime of your vehicle’s tires, they also have some additional benefits that can include:

• Less noise on the road
• Relieves unnecessary stress on the drivetrain
• Improved traction

Be sure to remember when to rotate tires on your vehicle and include this in your regular maintenance schedule. Learn what causes uneven tire tread wear with Key Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram FIAT to keep an even better eye out for the condition of your tires.

Get Additional Maintenance Advice from Key Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram FIAT

Contact us today if you need to rotate your tires, or even purchase a new set. Our Xenia dealership has a professional team of experts that are ready to assist, so stop by soon! For more information, take a look at our guide on changing your car battery, how to change a brake light, and how to wash your car.  

Service Specials From Key Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram FIAT