Tire rotation is one of the most important maintenance routines every vehicle owner and driver should perform. You probably don’t want to do it yourself, but you can. If you can’t jack up your vehicle so that all four wheels are off the ground then you’ll need to do it one wheel at a time and that will take you a while.
In order to perform a tire rotation successfully, you’ll have to take your front wheel off, jack up the back end of your vehicle (on the same side) and take off the rear wheel and replace it with the front wheel you took off earlier. Then you’ll have to put the rear wheel on the front. Some don’ts:
- Don’t rotate tires on the same axle (i.e. front left to front right or back right to back left)
- Don’t criss-cross (back left to front right)
- Don’t crawl under your vehicle while it is jacked up
- Don’t let the wheel touch the ground with your tire not on it
Now for some dos:
- You’ll find it easier to place blocks under the front axle while you jack up the rear so that you don’t have to let the front down, jack up the back, let the back down, jack up the front, etc. That will get tiresome in a hurry.
- Make sure you rotate tires to the opposite axle on the same side of the vehicle
Rotating your tires every 5,000 to 10,000 miles will ensure they last longer and keep driving safe. As the tread wears down on the tires you’ll find that they do not handle as well. Rotate them a couple of times then replace them with new tires.
If you don’t want to rotate your own tires, be sure to hire a professional mechanic to do it for you.