What is Tire Rotation?

A tire rotation occurs every 5,000 to 7,500 miles with the goal of helping the tires last as long as possible, among other benefits. Tire rotations also improve handling and fuel efficiency. This maintenance can lower your overall costs of vehicle ownership in Arlington.

Learn more about tire rotations with our comprehensive guide from Alexandria Volkswagen, where we tell you what a tire rotation is, what a tire rotation does, and what it means to rotate tires.

What Does Rotating Tires Mean?

Your vehicle’s tires are moved from one position to another. In general, the front tires move to the rear while the rear tires go to the front. They may also change sides, based on the powertrain and the wear your tires have on them.

Here are some tire rotation basics:

• Most vehicles carry more weight at the front because of the engine. Front tires generally show more wear than the rear tires, except maybe on a RWD vehicle, where the engine sends power to the back wheels rather than the front ones. This is called the tire rotation pattern.
• In FWD vehicles, the front tires wear down faster than the others. The same is true in RWD. For AWD, you’ll need tire rotations more often because the drivetrain sends power to the wheels based on road conditions.
• Your vehicle’s drivetrain affects your tire rotation pattern to ensure that no tire wears down too fast compared to the whole set of tires. After four tire rotations, each tire will be on each of the wheels.

What Does Tire Rotation Do?

A tire rotation does many things for your vehicle, such as…

Maintaining Traction

When tires show wear, they lose tire tread depth and you’ll have less traction. Lowered traction can reduce your ability to control the vehicle in certain situations. A tire rotation is what can prevent uneven tire wear by maintaining the same amount of tread.

Preventing Blowouts

With more wear, tires are more likely to suddenly fail, either due to bad road conditions, debris, or a sudden blow to a tire on Washington DC roads. If you’ve ever had a blowout, you understand the unpleasantness and potential danger posed by a tire blowout.

Improving Performance

Tires with uneven wear can produce vibrations, which you’ll eventually feel through the steering wheel. A tire rotation is a way to improve performance.

Maximizing Fuel Efficiency

Worn tires create drag, strain the engine, and increase your fuel consumption. What a tire rotation does in this case is keep tires from wearing unevenly to make sure your engine works at peak performance.

Tire Rotations in Alexandria

Contact us, call 844-385-8469, or schedule service with our team for your next tire rotation. We will make sure your tires wear evenly with regular tire rotations.