What Does Rotating Your Tires Do?

Why is tire rotation important? In other words, what does rotating your tires do that warrants getting this regular car maintenance task done every time you have your oil change? Simply put, rotating your tires extends their useful life by helping them wear more evenly and optimizing traction.

What does tire rotation do exactly? It prevents any one of your four tires from developing flat spots or uneven wear patterns that sometimes come with driving certain types of vehicles, like those with AWD, or from driving a vehicle that may be out of alignment. Of course, a vehicle’s drivetrain will affect how and when to rotate its tires. Read on to learn more about how often to rotate tires and how to perform this procedure with Ryan Honda of Minot! Otherwise, for all other questions, contact us now!

How Does Drivetrain Affect How Often to Rotate Tires?

As we’ve mentioned above, the drivetrain (AWD, FWD, or RWD) system that a Honda vehicle is equipped with has a large effect on how often you’ll need to rotate your tires. Why is this the case? Learn more below!

When you accelerate, brake, or turn your wheels, and go around curves in Devils Lake, your tires experience contact, and thus, friction in different spots. If you happen to make a lot of hard left turns, for instance, it’s possible that the outer left lip of your tires is wearing faster than the right. If your vehicle has AWD, power is sent to all four wheels, creating more wear than on a vehicle with 2WD.

Here’s what else you should know about how drivetrain affects how often you should rotate your Honda vehicle’s tires in Minot:

• Front-wheel drive vehicles: Engine power is sent straight to the front wheels, which are responsible for steering, starting, and most of the stopping force. In this case, as you might’ve guessed, your front tires will wear faster than your rear tires.
• Rear-wheel drive vehicles: Engine power is directed to the rear wheels in RWD vehicles. That said, the front wheels are still responsible for steering and much of braking, thanks to physics. The rear tires will still wear out faster than the front tires, but generally in a less pronounced manner than you’d notice on a FWD vehicle.
• All-wheel drive vehicles: Engine power is more evenly distributed, but there are many experts out there that maintain that the rear tires will still wear out faster than the front ones.
• Intelligent all-wheel drive systems: Going around curves means different levels of strain and friction on the inside tires vs. the outside tires. Many advanced intelligent AWD systems go so far as to operate in FWD or RWD normally until grip is needed in a particular wheel or wheels, causing variable, sometimes unpredictable tire wear, but optimizing traction and safety in a superior manner to AWD systems that are always on.

How Often Should You Rotate Your Tires?

As a rule, you should rotate your tires or have this crucial, money-saving, safety-enhancing maintenance task done every six months or every 5,000 to 8,000 miles, whichever comes first. Defer to your Honda vehicle’s owner’s manual for specific instructions or recommendations on how often to rotate tires for your vehicle!

You may know what rotating your tires does and how often it’s needed. If you still have additional questions, one of our certified service technicians will be more than happy to provide you with additional car care tips or advice!

What Happens if I Don’t Rotate My Tires?

If you don’t schedule tire rotation service, your tires will wear out faster than they otherwise could. Failing to rotate and replace tires at the proper time can lead to disastrous consequences, including:

• Poor traction and skidding on the roads of Dickinson and Bottineau
• More rapid deterioration of your vehicle’s brake pads
• Flat tires or even blowouts

Keep Your Vehicle in Good Shape at Ryan Honda of Minot

Now that you know more about what tire rotation does and how often this service should be done on your Honda vehicle, we invite you to visit our service center in Minot for top-notch vehicle care. Otherwise, continue to browse our service tips and learn more about wheel and tire-related topics, like TPMS, wheel balancing vs. alignment, and more!