Tire rotation is one of the peskier parts of car maintenance – not because it’s difficult or expensive, but because it can be so easy to forget. We’re here to help underscore why it’s so important, as well as get into all the details you could ever want to know about tire rotations. Check below to find out the benefits of tire rotation, the frequency with which you should rotate tires, how the job is done, and more! By the end, you’ll be a seasoned expert, ready to go and to ask the right questions to your mechanic when it comes time to rotate your tires next.

What does Rotating Tires Do?

Tire rotations exist to prolong the lifespan of your tires and other parts of your car. To do this, it involves moving tires from one position of the vehicle to another once they’ve become worn. This, overall, makes sure the tires wear evenly over time, making your tires last longer and can protect your car.

What Are the Benefits of Tire Rotation?

In addition, rotating your tires can improve your braking performance and other parts of your handling performance by providing extra grip. Tires that have been rotated have new, unworn points of contact with the road, which give it that extra grip and associated benefits. Getting rid of this uneven wear is one of the main reasons to rotate tires, and it also helps other parts of your car beyond, for example, having more control and traction when going around corners.

Mechanical problems can arise if you neglect your next tire rotation. Your car’s suspension and steering can also be improved by a tire rotation, but can be damaged by not rotating tires frequently enough. Tire rotation protects various parts of your car to ensure that you handle it safely on the road and that you don’t need costly repairs as frequently, either.

Do Tire Rotations Really Save Me Money?

Yes, tire rotation saves you money by ensuring that you don’t need other repairs as often as you would, on top of prolonging the lifespan of your tires. Your tires wear down over time but do so unevenly based on the location they are in the car. When you spread the uneven wear on your tires by rotating them, they last longer, meaning you need fewer iterations of new tires for your vehicle in its lifespan. Tires can be expensive. This can be a considerable cost-saving measure over time.

In addition, other parts of your vehicle can be harmed by driving on unevenly worn tires. With a less stable car, that can even wobble when you drive it if your tires are very unevenly worn, comes a potential for even more repairs to be needed on the car that a tire rotation can’t fix. Having your car’s tires rotated early and often can prevent extra costly repairs, too.

How Often Should You Rotate Your Tires?

While both your vehicle manufacturer and tire manufacturer have recommendations on the best frequency with which you should have your tires rotated, there are some simple rules you can use to determine when you should have your tires rotated next. The general rule of thumb is to have your tires rotated every 5,000-7,500 miles driven. To get more detail, there are a variety of things you can check up on. Your vehicle’s owner’s manual contains the manufacturer recommendation on how often to rotate your tires. Your mechanic, too, will have a good idea, given what’s going on with your car, as to when the best time to have your tires rotated is. It’s good to keep in mind that the recommendation that comes with your tires for rotations may not be accurate, as the tire industry is there to sell you more tires and have them wear out more quickly.

How Do I Know When I Need a Tire Rotation?

Giving your tires a visual examination is the best way you can determine whether it’s time for your next tire rotation yourself. You’re looking for different signs of tire wear in this visual inspection, specifically whether there’s uneven tread wear. This means that one portion of the tire will look more worn than the rest of the tire. It’s tire rotation that can balance that wear out to improve performance.

There are vehicle performance signs, too, that can indicate that it’s time for a tire rotation. If you’re noticing a loss of braking performance, a loss of steering performance, or traction issues, you should bring your vehicle in and see if a tire rotation will solve the problem. Additionally, if you’re experiencing these issues with your car, performing the visual tire inspection mentioned above can help determine whether a need for a tire rotation is the root of the cause.

Are Tire Rotation, Wheel Balancing, and Wheel Alignment the Same Service?

Many Iowans conflate these different services because they sound so similar. Who can blame you if you aren’t a mechanic at your day job!? Don’t get it confused, though; these are very different services that do different things to make sure your car drives smoothly for the long haul.

Tire Rotation

Tire rotation involves moving the positions of your tires elsewhere on the car. This is to ensure that there’s no longer uneven wear on the tires and improves traction as well as braking.

Wheel Balancing

While improper wheel balancing can lead to uneven tire wear, it is a different process altogether. It involves balancing the weight of the wheels so the weight is evenly distributed on each wheel without moving the tires to a different location.

Wheel Alignment

While it’s called wheel alignment, wheel alignment is actually an adjustment of your car’s suspension. It adjusts the angles of the wheels to make sure they’re all pointed straight. This can prevent wobbles as well as other, more significant suspension problems.

Do I Need a Wheel Alignment to Have My Tires Rotated?

A wheel alignment only needs to be done if your vehicle is out of alignment. While unscrupulous mechanics found at places other than Ames Ford may suggest that you have a wheel alignment done each time your tires are rotated, you actually do not need this. Tire balancing is not required at the time of tire rotation either.

What is a Tire Rotation Pattern?

If you’ve been doing some reading online or even heard of tire rotation patterns, it’s an easy question to ask what a tire rotation pattern is and what they do. Tire rotation patterns are the way that tires are moved to different positions of the vehicle. These tire rotation patterns are largely dependent on the drivetrain of the car, but there are other factors that can influence the tire rotation pattern used on your vehicle, too.

Why Do Some Cars Require Different Tire Rotation Patterns?

Different drivetrains and other factors of the car can create different wear patterns on different wheels. For example, if there’s a difference between the wheels providing power than the ones that do the turning on the vehicle. Each set of front and back tires will wear differently from one another while also wearing differently depending on whether they’re on the left or right side. These differences in wear are due to the way each individual car drives requires different patterns in order to spread the wear of the tires out effectively.

You may notice that almost all of these tire rotation patterns involve trading tires between the front and rear axles. That’s because there is a difference in what those wheels are doing with respect to driving, steering, or just being along for the ride. Trading between the front and rear axles corrects for these differences in wear caused by what that wheel usually does.

Front Wheel Drive Vehicles

The x-pattern and the forward cross are used for tire rotations in front-wheel drive vehicles. These patterns both involve moving the rear tires forward and having the front axle tires become the rear axle tires. However, they differ in where they cross the tires over the side. For example, the forward cross takes the rear right tire and moves it to the front left position while the front axle tires simply move back. The x pattern does the same thing with crossing over the rear tires to the front but crosses the front on the move to the back, too. The forward cross and the x-pattern both work to balance the differences in usage with the front and rear tires while accounting for tires used on each side.

Four Wheel Drive and Rear Wheel Drive Vehicles

The x-pattern is used with four-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles, in addition to the rearward cross pattern. Here, too, the rear axle tires are moved forward, and the front axle tires are moved back. However, with the rearward cross, tires only switch sides when they are moved from front to back. For example, the front left tire is transferred to the rear right position.

Vehicles with Dual Rear Wheels

If you’re driving a dually, you might wonder what type of tire rotation your vehicle uses and if it’s any different from the ones listed above. In short, it is. Duallys utilize a six-tire rotation pattern. There are two rotation patterns your mechanic can use to rotate the tires on your vehicle with dual rear wheels. One involves a cross pattern that moves the rear tires to different positions before incorporating them into the pattern. Another six-tire rotation consists of rotating the tires based on the axle, where the rear axle tires are swapped separately from the front axle tires.

Vehicles with Directional or Different-sized Tires

If you’re driving a vehicle with directional tires, it has specific tire rotation patterns to account for this. Doing so evens the wear properly without turning the tire in the other direction. This pattern is known as the front-to-rear tire rotation pattern. In this case, tires aren’t rotated by the axle, but the opposite. The tire in the right rear position is moved to the right front position and vice versa so that tires are traded along the same side.

If your vehicle has different-sized, non-directional tires, there are only some tire rotation patterns that can be used. In this case, tires are traded out along the same axle. This accounts for the different tire sizes on each axle and is called the side-to-side pattern. The side-to-side pattern is one of the easier ones to understand, given the lack of crosses in the pattern.

Does My Tire Rotation Change if I Have a Full-Size Spare Tire?

If your vehicle has a full-sized spare tire instead of just the standard, temporary spare, you’ll need a distinct tire rotation pattern. Doing so further prolongs the lifespan of your tires by allowing that spare into the mix. Five tires last longer than four. Vehicles with a full-sized matching spare use either the forward cross or rearward cross, depending on the drivetrain in a five-tire rotation.

Tire Rotation at Ames Ford

Ames Ford is your home for all things tire rotation or any other service your car may need. Driving a Ford but didn’t buy it from us? Not to worry! Ames Ford is still your location for Ford auto repair. Our mechanics are still prepared to help you with any problem or upgrade your vehicle may have or need. Our helpful team of expert mechanics isn’t limited to just working on Ford Vehicles, either. We’re here to help any and all vehicles in the Ames area with their auto repair needs.

Whether it’s service, upgrades, or our wide selection of New and Pre-owned vehicles, Ames Ford is here to help you through every step of the car buying and ownership process. You’re always welcome to drop by to get set up with what you’re looking for. If you’d like, to make things even easier, you can schedule service or schedule a test drive online.