So you’ve recently had a new set of tires installed and you want to get the most mileage out of those babys as possible. If you can’t remember the last time your vehicle had an alignment, get one immediately. Preferably before mounting those new tires. A bad alignment can chew through a set of new tires in no time.
One way of getting the most from your tires is by rotating them every 3 to 5 thousand miles. No problem, right? Well, now that you have your wheels off the car, where do you move them? It’s a question that has been raised numerous times so we figured we would help you out.
As recommended by Michelin’s Tire Maintenance 101, the rotation cycle varies based on your vehicle’s drivetrain configuration:
RWD: Take the rear wheels off and mount them on the front. Driver’s side wheel stays on the driver’s side. The wheel which came off of the front driver’s side should then be placed on the opposite corner, the passenger side rear.
FWD: Take the front wheels off and mount them on the same side at the rear of the vehicle. The rear wheels should be placed on the opposite corner of the vehicle. I.E. the rear passenger side wheel should then be mounted on the front driver’s side.
AWD: Full opposite corner rotation. Rear driver’s side wheel goes to the front passenger side. Front driver’s side goes to the rear passenger side.
What’s more is that if you have uni-directional tires that are only intended to roll in one direction, they must stay on the same side of the vehicle as they are mounted. You’ll know if your tires are uni-directional because they will have an arrow on the sideway pointing in the direction of the rotation. If this describes your tires then the driver’s side rear wheel should be swapped with the driver’s side front wheel.
