Rotate Your Tires

Edmunds.com

Rotate Your Tires

Rotate Your Tires article on Edmunds.com

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psgivens

I think I should point out that this article doesn't make any sense. Scott makes an argument that it is important to swap front/back tires but not side to side. In fact he argues against it. Scott seems to think the reason that we rotate our tires is because we parallel park.

I don't know what the average driving habit is, but for me, I spend probably about 0.05% of my time parking and 95% of my time on the freeway.

With that said, the main reason we rotate our tires is because the streets are bowed to allow for rain run off. This causes your tires to wear unevenly on one side. By swapping your left and right tires, you help your tires wear evenly. Swapping front and back is important too, but not as important as side to side.

I believe the correct pattern is to bring the front tires directly back and swap the back tires as you bring them forward. Over time, they will enjoy the tread patterns of all four spots on the car.

Thus, to do it properly, you cannot do it yourself with out a full car lift. You can however do the next best thing, swap the left and right tires by lifting the front or back end.

brewerguy

My 2012 Buick Regal's owner's manual lists no intructions on how to manually reset the air pressure monitors after the tires are rotated. My last car, a 2009 Malibu had such instructions. Is there a way to do it without going to a dealer?

brewerguy

My 2012 Buick Regal's owner's manual lists no intructions on how to manually reset the air pressure monitors after the tires are rotated. My last car, a 2009 Malibu had such instructions. Is there a way to do it without going to a dealer?