Tire rotation: extend the life of your tires | Michelin (2024)

As mentioned, tire rotation maintenance requires swapping the position of the tires around on a car, from front to back or side to side.

The basic reason a tire rotation works is that tires of all types tend to wear down at different rates. Tires on the drive axle wear the fastest due to the transmission, power and torque. This applies to both front and rear wheel drive vehicles. The front tires suffer the most as most cars have front wheel drive. On rear-wheel drive vehicles, it will be the other way around.

Under such circ*mstances, it may very well be beneficial to move the two rear wheels up to the front. It maximizes their potential so that all tires wear evenly and last longer.

Tires should be serviced periodically following the rotation patterns provided in the vehicle's owner's manual.

You should rotate your tires approximately every 6,000 to 8,000 miles (about 9,600 to 13,000 km). For some of you, this is the same time as your car's service. The right time may also be when changing from winter to summer tires. Or simply when you buy new tires.

When replacing just two tires, Michelin recommends that the new or least worn tires are fitted to the rear axle to improve vehicle control and safety.

Using tire rotation as preventative maintenance will help ensure your tires wear evenly.

Different factors cause your tires to wear:

• The location of the engine in your car: if it’s positioned in the front, it is likely the front tires will carry more weight than the rear ones. So, your front tires will get worn out faster.
• If you drive a lot on gravel roads or rocky terrain, your tires will have accelerated wear compared to regular urban or highway drives.
• On most cars, braking is mostly applied to the front tires, which causes extra wear compared to the ones in the back.
• Bad wheel alignment is another reason for accelerated wear.
  

Another reason can be…the right-hand drive! In right-hand drive countries, right turns are for the most part tighter than left turns, and just like an athlete on a track, the left tire, on the outside, covers more distance, which causes more wear than the right!

For these tires, the wheel rotation must be strictly lateral. The left front tire should be positioned on the same side but at the rear. The same applies to the right side.

On the other hand, symmetrical tires are not affected by the wheel arrangement during a rotation. Symmetrical tires have the same pattern on the left and right-hand sides. They have no mounting direction. They won't have any problem spinning in either direction. In conclusion, they can be mounted on the left or right, front or rear.

This said tire rotation will have to take into account the type of drive system of the vehicle.

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