If you have ever been to a tyre shop to change your vehicle’s tyres, you will probably have heard the staff asking you if you want to do tyre rotation. So what is it and why is it recommended by people in the industry?
Wear and Tear
Tyres are consumables, and are due for a change when your tyres have been worn down or have reached the end of their lifespan (usually 5 years). Assuming you’re someone who daily drives your car, the wear and tear on your front tyres are going to be significantly more than the rear tyres. It’s because the front tyres are in charge of steering your vehicle, which puts more load on them. And since most of the cars now are front-wheel drive, the front tyres are also in charge of propelling the car forwards, thus increasing the wear and tear of your front tyres over time.
So what is tyre rotation?
Tyre rotation is when you replace only the worn down pair of tyres on your car by swapping the existing rear pair of tyres to the front, and installing the new pair of tyres in the rear, mainly to even out the wear between all the tyres on your car.
Different patterns of tyre rotations
You can decide if you want to swap them in a:
- cross pattern (rear left to front right and rear right to front left)
- straight pattern (rear left to front left and rear right to front right)
Is it a must?
Tyre rotation can be done even if your tyres have yet to be worn out to even out the wear between all of them, so that when it’s time to change your tyres, they mostly have even wear on them. Some people prefer to change all their tyres at the same time so that they can have a better driving experience as all their tyres are new, and that’s fine too. But overall, tyre rotation can let you make the most out of your tyres and save you money in the long stretch.