How often should you rotate your car tires?
Tire to be rotated
You have probably heard that it is important to have your tires periodically rotated. The tire rotation is important to extend the life of your tires and for safety. Tires don't always, hardly ever, wear evenly. Typically the front tires on a front wheel drive car wear faster than the rear tires, and in a rear-wheel drive car, the rear tires wear faster. The load on the car and even the road conditions, how many right or left turns you take etc. all effect how the tires of your car wear. By rotating the tires periodically you will ensure a much more even wear and extend the life of the tires.
How often should you rotate the tires?
First you can look at your owners manual and see what the manufacturer recommendation is. You can talk to your mechanic, your car dealership or a tire store and ask what is right specifically your car, driving habits and tires. They can also tell you the pattern you should rotate your tires.
Typically it is recommended that you have the tires rotated between 5000 and 10000 miles, whether they show wear or not.
You can either have a mechanic, the dealership or the tire store where you purchased the tires rotate them for you. Often free tire rotation is included when you purchase new tires. Or alternatively you could rotate the tires by yourself, if you feel comfortable doing that.
When you get your tires rotated this is a good time to inspect the tires. If you have a professional do the tire rotation for you, they should do the inspection as well. If one or more tires are worn and need to be replaced the mechanic will tell you so and show you the wear on the tires. There is a minimum tread depth for tires. Once the tires wear close to or to the minimum tread depth the need to be replaced.
While tire rotation is important and needs to be done periodically to extend the life of the tires and for safety. Don't forget to frequently check the tire pressure of each tire, and make sure the pressure is the same on each tire.
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