Owning a car or truck comes with required and routine maintenance to make sure there are no issues when going from A to B. It’s important to change your fluids and brake pads routinely, but it’s also as important to rotate your tires. Depending on what kind of truck you’re driving, rotation patterns can vary.
What are Tire Rotations?
Tire rotations are a part of maintenance that help your tires last longer and even out tread across all tires. Tire tread can wear unevenly due to road conditions, driving patterns, and drivetrains. Tires should be rotated every six months, 5,000 to 8,000 miles, though frequency depends on the type of vehicle you drive and the tires you have. Consult your manual or tire supplier for how often you should rotate tires.
Why Should You Rotate Tires?
There are plenty of reasons why you should rotate your tires. As mentioned before, one of the benefits of rotating tires is that tread wear is spread evenly throughout your tires and increases the lifespan. Your vehicle is always shifting in weight whether it’s on a tight turn or if you’re carrying something heavy, and with this added weight, pressure is being applied to your tires unevenly and one tire could have significantly more traction than another.
It’s important that your tires have even tread so you’re getting proper mileage as well as traction during rain or snow. It’s especially important for vehicles with all-wheel drive as uneven wear on tires can stress the drivetrain and increase wear on components of the drivetrain.
How Should I Rotate My Tires?
Depending on the drivetrain, you may have a specific pattern to follow. Here are the most common ways to rotate tires.
1. Modified Cross Tire Rotation
2. Alternative Tire Rotation Patterns
3. Two-Tire Rotation
4. Directional Tread Tire Rotation Pattern
5. Dual Wheel Rotation Patterns
6. Five Tire Rotation Pattern
It’s important to note that you should never include a spare tire in the rotation. Considering you’re not going to be driving long-term on a spare, a rotation should commence after acquiring replacement tires. Rotating tires is fairly simple once you know what you need to do, just be careful and sure which pattern best suits you and your needs.
