Tire Rotation

Tire rotation. Not something people talk a lot about. But proper tire rotation can save you a great deal of money and hassle. Take your typical car for example. It is front wheel drive and it will go through tires at a rate of nearly double that of a rear wheel car. At least..on the front it will.

Why should this be you ask? It has to do with weight distribution and also the fact that the front wheels are also the driving wheels. The engine is right over those treads you have up there. And so is the trans-axel. And really..so are you as you sit behind the steering wheel.

On a rear wheel drive car, the rear tires never vary from straight ahead. And the front wheels do not suffer the stress of turning in a particular direction and having to drive the vehicle forward at the same time. The two sets of wheels share the duties.

Not so in a front wheel drive car. Those poor front tires need to turn and pull at the same time and there is increased wear as a result. You will have to replace the tires on the front at nearly double the rate as that of a rear wheel car. Unless...you rotate the tires.

Tire rotation simply means putting the front tires on the back of your car and the rear tires on the front of your car at specified intervals. This is easily done at a garage. They just lift the car off of the floor and using air tools they can have the tires rotated in maybe fifteen minutes.

That said, there are certain ways tire rotation should and should not be done. Our front wheel drive car for example. The right front should go onto the right rear spot. And the left front, should go onto the left rear spot. So where do the rear tires go? The right rear goes to the left front...and the left rear goes to the right front. They just cross over.

This process equalizes wear on the tires and will keep you from having to replace tires so often. Without rotation you will find yourself buying tires for the front end a lot more often than the rear. There is also the question of lack of safety in having worn tread on the front of the car. This is a problem because those are also the steering wheels ! And you always and ALWAYS..want good tread on the front of your car. You lose traction and steering due to worn tires and and you may have more concerns resulting than you care to deal with.