Are Tire Rotations Worth It?

Quality tires don’t come cheap, so it makes good financial sense to take care of them. Routinely rotating your tires doesn’t just ensure even tread wear–it gives you an opportunity to thoroughly inspect them for any signs of blistering, irregular tread depth, low air pressure, or other troublesome symptoms. By keeping an eye on their condition and keeping up with your rotation schedule, you can actually prolong the life span of your tires, and if needed, replace them ahead of any handling issues or accidents. You also optimize your fuel efficiency and save yourself a bit of money! Tires that suffer uneven wear create more friction when you drive, forcing your engine to work harder and guzzle more fuel, so even though it feels like a hassle, tire rotation is a serious cost-cutter at the pump.

How Often Should You Rotate Your Tires?

Many drivers choose to get their tires rotated whenever their oil is due for a change, but it’s best to consult your owner’s manual for specific details about when to rotate your tires, as numbers vary across models and brands. Kia advises drivers to rotate their tires every 10,000 km (6,500 miles), or sooner if they develop significant or irregular wear.

What Happens if You Never Rotate Your Tires?

Choosing not to keep up with your maintenance schedule can have serious consequences for your vehicle's performance, from its traction and general maneuverability to its overall safety capabilities. Uneven or excessive tread wear can lead to poor traction and responsiveness, especially on slick road surfaces in poor weather conditions such as rain and snow, increasing the risk that you’ll skid into a collision or come off the road completely. There is also a raised chance of a flat tire or a blowout from too much pressure being put on particular tires rather than spread out uniformly, meaning you’ll end up at a dealership either way–one visit will just be significantly more expensive and inconvenient than the other. It’s worth keeping in mind, too, that many tire brands require you to rotate your tires regularly in order to protect your warranty, meaning that failing to do so will only cost you more in the long run, so why wait? Book a tire rotation with North Edmonton Kia today and save yourself a headache later!

Which Tire Rotation Pattern is Best?

Truthfully, there is no “best” tire rotation pattern beyond which best suits your vehicle’s transmission type and evenly distributes wear across all of your tires. This maximizes your tread life, which is crucial to your vehicle’s balancing and handling, so different patterns are required depending on:

• Whether your tires are directional or not
• Whether your tires are of a consistent size in the front and back of your vehicle. These types of vehicles may require you to dismount your tires entirely and remount them on the opposite sides, which can present a lot of hassle.
• Your vehicle’s transmission type (front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive)

For instance, vehicles with a front-wheel drive system will bear the majority of their weight, torque, and friction on the front end, placing more pressure on your frontmost tires, and causing them to wear out quicker.

As a rule of thumb, the rules of tire rotation are as follows:

• Front-Wheel Drive: Your front tires should be moved to the back on the same side, whereas each rear tire should be moved to its opposite front corner.
• Rear-Wheel Drive: Rear tires should move to the front in the same positions, and front tires should move to the opposite rear corner.
• All-Wheel Drive: Don’t assume that an All-Wheel Drive system will move all of your tires equally when in motion! Your wheel’s rotation can be impacted by elements such as your vehicle’s electronically controlled differentials. Rotate your tires by switching them each to their opposite corners in an ‘X’ formation; front right to back left, and back right to front left.

Tire Rotation at North Edmonton Kia in Edmonton, AB

With how important proper tire rotation is to the safety of your vehicle, we don’t recommend that you attempt to handle this task yourself. Our factory-trained technicians at North Edmonton Kia are more than capable of handling this service quickly and efficiently, so book an appointment with us today to save yourself time and money! Using our advanced tools, we’ll be able to tell you if you need further services from our specialized tire centre, such as new tires, wheel balancing, or wheel alignment while we’re at it, saving you another trip to our service centre in the near future. Book a service appointment with us today and we’ll have you back on the road in no time!

To learn more about servicing your Kia, visit Kia.ca.