Tires play a crucial role in the safety of your vehicle and the overall driving experience. While a good set of tires can make a ride safe and smooth, bad tires can wear out the car. Faulty tires also affect the vehicle balance, suspension, and wheel alignment. By rotating your tires, you get balanced handling, traction, and even tread wear. It is recommended that you should rotate your tires about every 3000 to 5000 miles.
Here in this guide, we’ll talk about the patterns, frequency, and cost of tire rotation.
Patterns
The pattern you’ll choose for rotating the tires will depend on several factors, including your car’s drivetrain type, wheel sizes, and even the number of tires on your vehicle.
Non-directional tires
Non-directional tires give you more rotation options as you can move tires to either side of the car. The important factor to consider here is the vehicle’s drivetrain, or where the engine delivers the most force.
Here are some of the most common tire rotation patterns for non-directional tires.
- Forward Cross: It is the most common pattern for vehicles with the front-wheel-drive because the front axle controls the steering and braking. Now bring the front tires to the back but keep them on their respective sides. However, for the rear tires, cross sides in the process. It results in the rear right tire becoming the front left tire.
- Rearward Cross: This pattern is most suited for rear-wheel or four-wheel drive cars. In such vehicles, braking and steering are controlled by the rear or both axles. In this pattern, rear tires are brought straight to the front on the same side and then crossing the current front tires to the opposite side in the rear.
- X-pattern: It is a common option for front-wheel drive vehicles. It helps even out the wear between the right and left sides. The front tires move to the opposite rear positions, and the rear tires move to the opposite front positions. This method can only be used if they are of the same size and have non-directional treads.
Directional tires
Directional tires come with a tread pattern that is meant to rotate in one direction. The tires have a V-shaped tread. This V-tread pushes roadway water away from the center of the tire, providing better control in wet weather. Most high-performance sports cars use directional tires since they provide better handling at high speeds.
You can only bring front tires to the rear and move rear tires to the front. Switching to different sides is not possible because that would invert the direction they face.
Frequency of tire rotation
Experts recommend rotating your tires every 6000-8000 miles or for every other oil change (which should be done each 3,000 miles). Your tires can develop uneven or irregular wear due to factors such as over/under inflation of tire pressure, neglecting the suspension, unbalanced tires, and improper alignment. For example, the front tires of the front-wheel-drive wear quicker since steering and most of the braking forces are on the front end. You can check your car’s owner manual to get information on the rotation pattern.
Cost of tire rotation
The average cost for tire rotation is between $35 and $44. It does not include taxes and fees and does not factor in your specific vehicle or unique location.
About SMA Jet Transmissions
Our team of professionals is knowledgeable, well-equipped, and reliable, with over three decades of experience in the automation repair and maintenance industry. Our ASE-certified staff is committed to the safety of our customers. We specialize in car transmissions and cater to the needs of customers in West Park, Florida.
For more information regarding our local auto repair in Davie, FL, call us at (954) 251-1204 for a complimentary estimate or any queries related to car transmission problems.