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How Often Should You Rotate And Balance Your Tires?

If you make a habit of rotating your tires on a regular basis, this practice will ensure that all four of the tires on your vehicle have the same tread, instead of having two tires that are more worn than the other ones. The four tires of the car will have different amounts of weight and pressure on them, meaning that they are not all going to be equally worn. If you have two tires with worn tread when compared to the other two, you will be at a greater risk of fish tailing and hydroplaning. This can also lead to poor handling of your vehicle.

Making sure that the tires are all equally worn is good for the handling of the vehicle, as you want the best tires possible in any kind of inclement weather that could occur. Additionally, if you do not rotate your tires on a regular basis, you can potentially experience decrease gas mileage, a shorter lifespan for your vehicle, and overall, a sub-par performance while you are driving. You want to rotate your tires often enough that these differences in wear are minimized.

When To Rotate

Figuring out exactly how often you should rotate your tires can be somewhat tricky. Different people might actually give you different answers on this, so what you really should do is look at your owner’s manual that came with your vehicle. This vehicle is different from others, and the owner’s manual will have been specifically tailored to this make and model, so the estimate that it provides is probably more accurate than the estimate that you would get from an outside source in most cases. However, there are certain ideas that prevail in terms of how often people should be rotating their tires. Most estimates generally say that you should do it about every 5,000 miles. The industry standard is typically between 5,000 and 6,000 miles, though there are some who say that they should be rotated as frequently as every 3,000 miles. A good rule of thumb is that tires should be rotated whenever you have an oil change. Oil changes need to be performed at about that frequency in most cases, so it is a good idea that if you are having your oil changed, you also get your tires rotated so that the balance is even in terms of tread on your tires. However, if you specifically notice that your tires are unevenly worn, you may want to get them rotated even before the guidelines say you should.

In fact, that is how most people who own cars decide to do it. Most drivers choose to have your tires rotated whenever they take their cars in for an oil change. It is easier this way, and it ensures that the tires are rotated on a fairly regular basis and about as frequently as they should be. You can also rotate your tires on your own, but you need to have a car lift in order to be able to do it. This is why many people who own cars elect to have their mechanics do it instead for a fairly reasonable price. Generally speaking, mechanics will rotate your tires from front to back, though they will cross rotate if they see irregular wear on the tires. It is slightly different depending on whether you have a front wheel drive car, rear wheel drive car, or four wheel drive car. On rear wheel drive and four wheel drive vehicles, the mechanic will remove the back tires to the front of the car and the front tires to the back in diagonal directions. In front wheel drive vehicles, the front tires will be moved to the back, and the back tires will be move diagonally to the front. What they do generally depends on the best way to make sure that through multiple rotations of the tires, the tread will be basically even on all of them, making for a safer vehicle and safer ride for you.

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2 thoughts on “How Often Should You Rotate And Balance Your Tires?”

  1. I had never considered to get my tires rotated at the same time as when I get my oil changed. I can see why this would be an easy way of remembering when to do it. I think that it would be good to ask your mechanic how often they recommend doing. They might ask what your driving habits are to better answer that question.

  2. I like that you suggest that a good rule of thumb to decide when to get your tires rotated is that you should do it whenever you have an oil change. This is an easy way to remember to do it. I have set up with my mechanic to always have both of them done at the same time. He use to ask me if I wanted both, but now he just knows that that is what I want.

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