How to Do a Tire Rotation Yourself

Regardless of whether you choose to rotate your tires yourself or come visit our service center at Toyota, it is a critical step to ensure both your safety and to extend the overall life of your tires. Regularly rotating your tires will provide you with greater traction throughout your Powell commute. Check out our comprehensive guide about tire rotation to extend the life of your tires and keep you safe on the road.

Why Should You Rotate Your Tires?

Tire wear ultimately depends on how often you drive and the overall road condition. The outside edges of your tires wear quicker due to the wear they experience while making a turn. Rear tires often wear more evenly due to not experiencing the wear while making a turn. If you do not regularly rotate your tires, the front tires will wear quicker, and reduce the overall life of your tires.

When Should You Rotate Your Tires?

It’s best to rotate your tires every 5,000-7,500 miles, however, AWD vehicles should get their tires roasted every 3,000-5000 miles due to differences in wear patterns. However, you should always consult your vehicle’s manual to be certain.

Information on Tire Position

• FWD Tires: When rotating FWD tires, the left front moves to the right rear, and the right rear goes to the left front. The same applies to the other two tires.

• RWD Tires: With RWD vehicles, the rear tires should be moved to the front. For example, the right rear tires should be moved to the left front. The same applies to the other two tires.

How to Rotate Your Tires at Home

Rotating your tires at home requires a lug nut wrench, jack stand and a car jack. Afterwards, you just have to follow the following steps:

1. To ensure your vehicle stays put, apply the vehicle’s parking brake.
2. Take your lug nut wrench and loosen the lug nuts on each wheel. This will make it easier to loosen them once elevated.
3. Lift one wheel up with the jack and place the jack stand underneath.
4. Carefully remove each tire.
5. This is a good time to check the air pressure in each tire. After ensuring that your tire is filled with the recommended amount of air, you can rotate the tires according to your owner’s manual. Once you’ve rotated the tires, carefully tighten the lugnuts.
6. You can then lower the car and tighten the lug nuts once the wheel is on the ground. It’s best practice to tighten the lug nuts in a diagonal direction from each other in a star pattern. This ensures that the tires are evenly tightened, preventing any unnecessary wear.

Come Visit Yellowstone Toyota and Get Your Tires Rotated

If you want to ensure the tires are correctly roasted, and aren’t quite ready to rotate them yourself, come visit us at Yellowstone Toyota, where our experts will carefully rotate your tires and get you back on the road. We even have contact us if you have any questions.