How Often Should You Rotate Your Tires?

Good on you for getting proactive about your vehicle’s health by jumping on tire rotation, we wish others were as attentive. Rotating your tires is crucial to maintaining the tires’ performance capabilities and, best of all, saving you some cash. 

A car’s tire is under a constant state of degradation, and you want to maintain an even wear. Weight, aggressive driving, uneven roads, and weather all play a factor into wear and tear on a tire. This cannot be stopped, but it can be managed by rotating your tires from one corner of your car to the other. This helps even out the wear and maintain a solid contact patch between the tire and the pavement, which helps provide better grip. 

Owners should rotate their tires based on the provided instructions found in the vehicle’s instruction and owner’s manual, or those that came with the tires themselves. Not to fret, we’re here to help. So let’s get to this and allow The Drive’s crack information team explain how and how often you need to rotate your tires.

How Often Should You Rotate Your Tires?

Your owner’s manual will give you guidelines and instructions for your specific car, but as a general rule, you should rotate your tires roughly every 5,000 miles. We tend to check for uneven tire tread wear every time we change the oil or perform other regular service. If that lines up with oil change intervals, making a habit of performing both at once is a great way to make sure you never miss a rotation.

What Is Rotating a Tire?

Rotating a tire is the act of removing one wheel and swapping it for another one of your car’s wheels. When rotating tires, your tires are relocated in a specific pattern, depending on the type of vehicle and type of tires. In short, you are rotating the tires around the vehicle, but not in a circle.

Tire Rotation Safety

Rotating your tires is simple work, but it can get dangerous in a hurry if you’re not careful. We’re going to lift the vehicle in the air, so you’re going to need some additional safety gear on top of the usual PPE. Chocking the wheels and using jack stands is the best way to protect yourself from accidents that can easily occur when using floor jacks. Other than that, you just need to make sure to use common sense, and you’ll be fine.

• Mechanic gloves
• Safety glasses
• Jack stands
• Wheel chocks

Everything You’ll Need To Rotate Your Tires

Rotating tires is a fairly simple procedure that could technically be done with a vehicle’s standard scissor jack and spare tire. But we want you to get this done as safely and quickly as possible. Use the tools below for protection and convenience. 

Tool List 

• Car jack or car lift
• Tire pressure gauge
• Four-way tire iron, torque wrench, or compressor with air impact wrench

How To Rotate Tires 

Once the workspace is ready, it’s time to get to the action, but it’s important to understand that not all tires and cars are the same. Tires can be split into directional and non-directional, and each type of vehicle requires different rotational patterns. Allow us to explain.

Non-Directional Tires

Non-directional tires can be used on either side of the vehicle, but it is important to follow a predetermined rotational pattern that is dependent on the vehicle’s drivetrain type. 

Let’s do this!

Front-Wheel Drive

Required Pattern: Both front tires slide to the rear. Rear tires move to the front and cross sides.

1. Put the vehicle in park and place wheel chocks behind wheels for an added layer of security.
2. On the front driver’s side, jack the car up and lower onto a jack stand. (If this is foreign to you, visit The Drive’s How To Lift a Car)
3. Remove the wheel’s lug nuts with wrench or impact wrench.
4. Remove the wheel.
5. On the front passenger’s side, jack the car up, then lower onto a jack stand.
6. Remove the second wheel.
7. On the rear passenger’s side, jack the car up and remove the wheel.
8. Take the rear passenger’s side wheel and put it on the front driver’s side.
9. Grab the front passenger’s side wheel and put it on the rear passenger’s side. 
10. Hand-tighten the lug nuts.
11. Drop the rear passenger’s side corner and jack up the driver’s side passenger corner. 
12. Take the front driver’s side wheel and put it on the rear driver’s side.
13. Grab the rear driver’s side wheel and put it on the front passenger’s side.
14. Hand-tighten the lug nuts.
15. Jack up the front of the car, remove the jack stands, and lower the car. 
16. Using a torque wrench, tighten all lug nuts to manufacturer specification.

Rear-Wheel Drive/All-Wheel Drive:

Required Pattern: Both rear tires move forward to the front without crisscrossing. Front tires move to the rear and crisscross sides.

1. Put the vehicle in park and place wheel chocks under wheels for an added layer of security.
2. On the front driver’s side, jack the car up and lower onto a jack stand. 
3. Drop that corner onto a jack stand.
4. On the rear passenger’s side, jack the car up, and rest on jack stand.
5. Remove the lug nuts with an impact wrench or wrench and remove wheel.
6. On the front passenger’s side, jack the car up, and rest on jack stand.
7. Remove the lug nuts with an impact wrench or wrench and remove wheel.
8. Take the front passenger’s side wheel and put it on the rear driver’s side.
9. Grab the rear passenger’s side wheel and put it on the front passenger’s side. 
10. Hand-tighten the lug nuts.
11. Drop the front passenger’s side corner and jack up the front driver’s side. 
12. Take the rear driver’s side wheel and put it on the front driver’s side.
13. Grab the front driver’s side wheel and put it on the rear passenger’s side.
14. Hand-tighten the lug nuts.
15. Jack up the car, remove jack stands, and lower the car to the ground. 
16. Using a torque wrench, tighten all lug nuts to manufacturer specification.

Staggered Tires: 

Required Pattern: Swap front tires left-to-right and right-to-left. Swap rear tires left-to-right and right-to-left.

1. Place wheel chocks behind wheels for an added layer of security.
2. On the rear driver’s side, jack the car up, insert a jack stand, and remove the lug nuts and wheel.
3. On the rear passenger’s side, jack the car up, insert a jack stand, and remove the lug nuts and wheel.
4. Move the rear passenger’s side wheel to the rear driver’s side.
5. Move the rear driver’s side wheel to the rear passenger’s side.
6. Hand-tighten the lug nuts, remove the jack stand, and release the car to the ground.
7. Tighten the rear lug nuts to a manufacturer-specified number using a torque wrench.
8. Repeat the steps for the front wheels.

Directional Tires

With directional tires, the tires remain on the same side of the vehicle and are moved straight forward or straight back to swap places with the front or rear tires. 

1. Utilize the steps for rotating staggered tires above. However, rather than swapping the wheels side-to-side, switch each wheel front-to-back and back-to-front only.
2. Follow the instructions above. 

How Much Does It Cost To Rotate Your Tires?

When done consistently, rotating your tires will actually save money, not cost extra. Rotating your own tires costs nothing but a little time and effort, and in some instances, tire retailers and service centers offer free rotation for the life of the tires when purchased from that retailer. 

If you are unable to rotate your own tires, service centers will typically charge roughly $20-50.