{"id":1278,"date":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:25:21","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T23:00:00","slug":"tyre-rotation-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/micksgarageblog.org\/tyre-rotation-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Tyre Rotation Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s been a lot of discussion about tyre rotation, some people swear by it and others are now advising against it. Put simply tyre rotation is the process of changing the position of\u00a0the wheels and tyres on your car to help them wear more evenly and therefore extend their life and ultimately save you money. Some people have reported as much as 5,000 extra kilometers from a set of tyres if they rotate them. The other reason people rotate their tyres is when they have been bought in pairs. The two new tyres will\u00a0obviously\u00a0be in better condition than the two older tyres. The crux of the debate is on whether the new tyres, which are likely to produce more grip should be fitted to the front or the rear of the car.\"tyre-rotation\"<\/a> The majority of cars on the road are front wheel drive so we’ll use a front wheel drive car for the purpose of this example: In the past, it was advised that your ‘best’ ie newest tyres should be on the front of the car because up to 70% of the braking force is transmitted to the road via the front wheels,\u00a0as is\u00a0100% of the accelerative force & also greater cornering forces, so in theory it would make sense to have your ‘best’ tyres on the front. It sounds counter-intuitive but tyre companies & retailers such as Quick Fit are now advising that your ‘best’ tyres should be on the back. The reasoning behind this is that they feel a loss of\u00a0front end grip is easier to control than a car that loses rear end grip – ie understeer is easier to control than oversteer…..and they probably have a point, after all car manufacturers have been engineering cars\u00a0understeer by default for years because they are more predictable and user friendly . \u00a0The instinctive\u00a0reaction to any loss of grip for the vast majority of people will be to immediately lift off the throttle and get on the brakes, which is exactly what you want to do if the car is understeering \u00a0and the exact opposite of what you want to do if it’s oversteering. When Should\u00a0You Do It?<\/strong> Generally speaking, every\u00a0six months, or 6,000 miles \u2013 whichever comes first. The method of tyre rotation is different for the 3 different drive layouts eg front wheel drive, rear wheel drive and four wheel drive. Also if your tyres are directional, there’s a different set of rules – we’ll go through each one: Front Wheel Drive Tyre Rotation<\/strong> Assuming your tyres are not directional, the diagram below shows the correct method for front wheel drive tyre rotation. You’ll need all four wheel up in the air to perform this change over. The front right tyre moves to the rear right, the rear right moves to the front left, the front left moves to the rear left and the rear left\u00a0moves to the \u00a0front right. \"tyre-rotation-fwd\" Rear\u00a0Wheel Drive Tyre Rotation<\/strong> Again, assuming your tyres are not directional, the diagram below shows the correct method for rear\u00a0wheel drive tyre rotation. You’ll need all four wheel up in the air to perform this change over too. The front right tyre moves the the rear left, the front left\u00a0moves to the rear right, the rear right moves to the front right\u00a0and the rear left\u00a0moves to the front left. \"tyre-rotation-rwd\" Four\u00a0Wheel Drive Tyre Rotation<\/strong> For non\u00a0directional tyres, the diagram below shows the correct method for four\u00a0wheel drive tyre rotation. Again, you’ll need all four wheel up in the air to perform this change over. The front right tyre moves the rear left, the rear\u00a0left\u00a0moves to the front\u00a0right, the front left\u00a0moves to the rear\u00a0right\u00a0and the rear right\u00a0moves to the front left. \"tyre-rotation-4wd\" For Cars With Directional\u00a0Tyres<\/strong> If you have directional tyres this is the method of tyre rotation, regardless of what type of drivetrain your car has. \u00a0You\u00a0can make these changes with just one side of the car in the air.\u00a0The front right tyre moves to the rear right, the rear right\u00a0moves to the front right, the front left\u00a0moves to the rear left and the rear left moves to the front left. Note:<\/strong><\/em> The tread pattern on directional tyres is designed specifically to work in a certain way and should not be fitted so that the tyre rotates in the wrong direction, to do so would\u00a0be dangerous. \"tyre-rotation-directional\" It’s important to note that some cars have different sized wheels front to back (common on rear wheel drive high performance models) and these should not be rotated. Recently we rotated the tyres on our Project GTi <\/a>and filmed a quick video<\/a> while we were at it. We’re also looking for your input on which new tyres to go for, why not check out the video and let us know what you recommend: