Perks of Rotating the Tires on a 4×4
Tire rotation can definitely extend the lifetime of your tires. It ensures even wear across all tires so that you can get the most out of every single tire. After all, not all tires are subjected to the same workload.
Replacing 2 tires instead of 4 isn’t only time-consuming but also affects your car’s handling, causing instability. By rotating your tires, they’ll wear out evenly, ensuring that you replace all 4 tires at once when the time comes. This will save you on replacement costs and protect your car from the dangers of instability.
You may ask: how many miles for tire rotation? or how long does it take to rotate tires? the short answers to the questions are: about 3,000-8,000 miles and 15 minutes only.
Directional vs. Non-Directional Tires
Before you rotate the tires on your 4×4, you need to understand the difference between directional and non-directional tires. Directional tires are designed to perform optimally in one direction more than the other. They’re the most popular type of tires you can find on the market.
On the other hand, non-directional tires perform similarly no matter which direction they move. But, as you might’ve guessed, tire rotation for directional tires is different from non-directional ones.
Rotating Directional Tires on a Four-Wheel-Drive Car
There’s only one way you can rotate directional tires on your 4×4. Here’s how to do it:
- The left front tire moves to the left rear
- The right front tire goes to the right rear
- The left rear tire moves to the left front
- The right rear tire goes to the right front
In other words, all you have to do is swap the front tires with the rear tires. Just make sure that you keep each tire on its respective side of the axle.
Rotating Non-Directional Tires on a Four-Wheel Drive Car
Here’s a quick overview of how you can rotate the tires on your 4×4 car:
Rearward Cross
This is the most commonly used tire rotation pattern for 4×4 cars. Here’s how to do it:
- The rear left tire moves to the front left
- The front left tire moves to the rear right
Side to Side
This tire rotation isn’t widely used because it’s only recommended in case your tires aren’t the same size. To do a side to side tire rotation pattern, follow these steps:
- Interchange the right rear tire with the left rear tire
- Swap the front right tire with the front left tire
Read More: How do you rotate radial tires
How Often Should You Rotate Tires on a 4×4 Car?
There are no hard rules when it comes to the frequency of rotating the tires on four-wheel-drive cars. Ideally, you should rotate them once every 6 months or 6,000-9,000 miles.
How to Rotate Tires on a 4 Wheel Drive – The Conclusion
By the end of this guide, you should be familiar with how to rotate tires on a 4×4. You have two options: rearward cross rotation and side to side rotation.
You can do the former if your 4×4 car’s tires are of the same size, while the latter is usually recommended for four-wheel drive cars with different tire sizes.
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