Why you should rotate your tires
Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:13 am
https://www.cars.com/articles/2013/05/h ... our-tires/
https://www.michelinman.com/US/en/safe- ... ation.html
Here are 10 very good (imo) reasons that I came up with:
1) The OEM says so.
2) The tire manufacturer says so.
3) For optimal and safe performance (particularly in rain but even in dry, and definitely in the snow) you want the tread on all tires to be as equal as possible. The higher the performance of the vehicle, the more this matters. The higher the performance the tire, the more this matters. That said, even on a mundane vehicle on mundane tires, in extremis, this still actually matters in terms of evasive stuff or even just how the vehicle reacts to a skid.
4) Particularly on performance vehicles with performance tires and alignments that aren't setup for optimal tire wear in highway driving, you can end up with uneven wear front to rear and sometimes side to side depending on factors. Rotating as much as possible (front to back and diagonally, per OEM requirements) mitigates this. How often is that? Every oil change or so on modern cars which should translate to annually. The higher the performance tire, the more you should rotate though. With a set of 40k, 50k, or even 75k tires, annually is probably more than enough. On tires that MIGHT last 20k if you are gentle, 7,500 miles may be too infrequent.
5) Uneven wear, aside from traction in the rain or dry, can also cause tramlining because the wear is not distributed perfectly evenly across the tire. You can play with inflation somewhat (and alignment) to better match your driving style, if you are willing. And if uneven wear is an issue, you WILL get more combined mileage out of your expensive tires by doing rotations. That is a fact, because if one part is bald, you have to replace the whole tire obviously. I am going through that right now on the STS. When you are talking about tires in the $300-$350 range (not the STS), I cannot imagine why this would not be of interest. I have no idea also why you would wait to "see how it wears" rather than just rotate annually like you are supposed to.
6) Replacing only one axle at a time increases the risk of ending up with mismatched tires (never mind the mismatched tread which I already covered) which matters a lot more on a dialed in vehicle than it does on a minivan. That said, no one in the world recommends mismatched tires. It happens. It's not totally uncommon. It is incorrect and technically a safety issue at the very least. Replacing one axle at a time as some kind of payment plan is incredibly misguided.
7) Rotation can be stifled by staggered tire sizes or directional tires. My advice here is try not to end up in this circumstance. Here are some facts: V1 is the same front and rear. My STS is staggered. 1LE is same front and rear. CTS Vsport is staggered. The holy grail here is non-directional and non-staggered so you can do a full rotation, a situation I have enjoyed on my CTS-V which is wearing its Michelin PSS's as evenly as I could have hoped.
8) Better pricing with purchase of 4. Mail in rebates, which I have mentioned multiple times in tire posts lately, are usually only on purchase of 4.
9) Chances are where you buy your tires, free rotation is part of the deal anyway!
10) If rotation is not free, and you have to do it yourself, guess what else you get? You get to inspect your brakes and suspension visually which is an important part of vehicle ownership.
Ok, all that said, tell me why I am wrong.
https://www.michelinman.com/US/en/safe- ... ation.html
Here are 10 very good (imo) reasons that I came up with:
1) The OEM says so.
2) The tire manufacturer says so.
3) For optimal and safe performance (particularly in rain but even in dry, and definitely in the snow) you want the tread on all tires to be as equal as possible. The higher the performance of the vehicle, the more this matters. The higher the performance the tire, the more this matters. That said, even on a mundane vehicle on mundane tires, in extremis, this still actually matters in terms of evasive stuff or even just how the vehicle reacts to a skid.
4) Particularly on performance vehicles with performance tires and alignments that aren't setup for optimal tire wear in highway driving, you can end up with uneven wear front to rear and sometimes side to side depending on factors. Rotating as much as possible (front to back and diagonally, per OEM requirements) mitigates this. How often is that? Every oil change or so on modern cars which should translate to annually. The higher the performance tire, the more you should rotate though. With a set of 40k, 50k, or even 75k tires, annually is probably more than enough. On tires that MIGHT last 20k if you are gentle, 7,500 miles may be too infrequent.
5) Uneven wear, aside from traction in the rain or dry, can also cause tramlining because the wear is not distributed perfectly evenly across the tire. You can play with inflation somewhat (and alignment) to better match your driving style, if you are willing. And if uneven wear is an issue, you WILL get more combined mileage out of your expensive tires by doing rotations. That is a fact, because if one part is bald, you have to replace the whole tire obviously. I am going through that right now on the STS. When you are talking about tires in the $300-$350 range (not the STS), I cannot imagine why this would not be of interest. I have no idea also why you would wait to "see how it wears" rather than just rotate annually like you are supposed to.
6) Replacing only one axle at a time increases the risk of ending up with mismatched tires (never mind the mismatched tread which I already covered) which matters a lot more on a dialed in vehicle than it does on a minivan. That said, no one in the world recommends mismatched tires. It happens. It's not totally uncommon. It is incorrect and technically a safety issue at the very least. Replacing one axle at a time as some kind of payment plan is incredibly misguided.
7) Rotation can be stifled by staggered tire sizes or directional tires. My advice here is try not to end up in this circumstance. Here are some facts: V1 is the same front and rear. My STS is staggered. 1LE is same front and rear. CTS Vsport is staggered. The holy grail here is non-directional and non-staggered so you can do a full rotation, a situation I have enjoyed on my CTS-V which is wearing its Michelin PSS's as evenly as I could have hoped.
8) Better pricing with purchase of 4. Mail in rebates, which I have mentioned multiple times in tire posts lately, are usually only on purchase of 4.
9) Chances are where you buy your tires, free rotation is part of the deal anyway!
10) If rotation is not free, and you have to do it yourself, guess what else you get? You get to inspect your brakes and suspension visually which is an important part of vehicle ownership.
Ok, all that said, tell me why I am wrong.