Vehicle maintenance is important, and there are many things that need to be checked regularly to ensure that a vehicle is safe to drive. For instance, brakes need to be examined, as well as steering, seatbelts, and other safety features. In fact, it is required by law that vehicles be inspected annually in order for them to be legal to drive. But, there are things that need to be done between inspections, such as things that need to be done before the winter and again when it is spring time.
One of the things that needs to be done at least twice per year is tire rotation. The more a vehicle is driven, the more they wear. In many cases, they wear unevenly. This is why they need to be rotated. Usually this is done when tires are changed for the seasons. In the case of a vehicle that is front-wheel drive, the front wheels will be holding the majority of the vehicle’s weight.
This means that they are going to see a lot more wear than those that are on the back. When they are rotated, the ones from the back get put on the front, and vice versa, so they all wear at the same rate. It works just the opposite for a rear-wheel drive vehicle.
Turning can put a lot of wear on tires. It is common for people to make faster left turns than right turns. When this happens, the wheels on the right side are going to get a lot more wear than those on the left, because they are taking the majority of the weight when the vehicle is making a left turn. The ones on the right may also get more wear because they are more likely to hit curbs. Again, rotating allows for even wear all the way around.
Sometimes cross-rotation is done. This is where the front will be moved to the back, but on opposite sides. So, the front right will become the back left, and the front left will become the back right.
