Is it important to rotate and balance my tires?

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO ROTATE AND BALANCE YOUR CAR'S TIRES?

Rotating and balancing your tires are two services that can increase the safety and efficiency of your tires. In fact, the most efficient method of increasing the life of your tires is by rotating and balancing them! Tires, as you know if you've ever had to replace them, can be a huge cost when it comes time to get new ones! Ever curious what we do when we rotate and balance them and why? Well now's the time to learn!

What's a tire rotation?

When your tires are rotated the wheels are removed from their current position and moved from a diagonal position from where they are. Therefore, the tires on the vehicle are crisscrossed. For example, your front driver's side tire is moved to the rear passenger side of the vehicle and the tire from your rear passenger side of the vehicle is brought to the front driver's side. This is done with the other side as well. By rotating your tires, you are ensuring that the tread on the tires are wearing evenly. This is because tires on the front of the vehicle tend to wear faster than those on the rear. Therefore, if you don't rotate your tires, you will have to replace your front tires more often than the rear AND if you have an AWD (all wheel drive) vehicle you'd have to replace all four of the tires more (since these tires should always be replaced together).

What does balancing a tire do?

When your tires are balanced, our mechanic uses a special machine to check to see if the weight of the tire is correct and balanced properly. If the weight is equal throughout the tire, the tire will roll smoothly, which helps make sure the tire wears evenly and gets its longest life. In addition, this helps with ride comfort, since imbalanced tires can wobble or cause vibrations while driving. If a tire is not balanced, our mechanic will attach small lead weights to the rim of the wheel to ensure that they are balanced.

How often should I do this?

The standard time frame that is suggested that tires on a vehicle should be rotated and balanced are every 6,000 miles. Therefore, a great way to keep up with the rotate and balancing of your tires, at the correct time, is to have them done every other time your oil is changed (if your car gets an oil change every 3,000 miles) or every oil change (if your car gets an oil change every 5,000+ miles).