How to Rotate Tires

If you know how to change a tire, then you already know how to rotate tires at home! All you’ll need to do is get your vehicle’s recommended rotation pattern from your owner’s manual, or from an expert at our San Mateo service center.  Of course, you’ll also need to know how often to rotate your tires, and we know how helpful it can be to see the whole process laid out in advance. Keep reading to learn how to do a tire rotation with confidence.

Know Your Rotation Pattern

The wear that your tires accumulate will be affected by several different factors, but the most important among these is the type of drivetrain you possess! Front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and all-wheel drive vehicles all utilize their own rotation patterns:

• With front-wheel drive, you’ll move the front tires directly from front to back. When moving the rear tires up front, swap sides.
• With rear-wheel drive, do exactly the opposite. Move the rear tires up front without changing their sides, and swap the front tires left for right when you bring them to the rear.
• All-wheel drive vehicles generally utilize an “X” rotation pattern, so both front and rear tires will swap sides as they move from front to back, or vice versa. However, not all AWD systems are the same. Check your owner’s manual to be certain.

How Often to Rotate Your Tires

You should be rotating your tires once every 5,000 to 7,500 miles if you drive a model with front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive on the roads near Burlingame. The tires on AWD vehicles tend to wear down a little more quickly, so a rotation timeline of 3,000 to 5,000 miles is more appropriate.

How to Rotate Tires Step-by-Step

All you’ll need to get the job done right is a lug nut wrench, a car jack, and a set of four jack stands, so you can keep your vehicle up in the air while you move the tires around. Pick up what you need at our parts department, and then follow our step-by-step guide:

1. Park the car on a flat and stable surface, and make sure that the parking brake is engaged.
2. Loosen, but do not remove, the lug nuts on all four of your wheels. This makes it easier to remove them when your vehicle is up in the air.
3. Use your jack to elevate each wheel, one-by-one. Place the jack stand on the jack point beneath it, and move onto the next one until your tires are all off the ground.
4. Finish removing the lug nuts and set the tires aside. Now’s a good time to check each tire’s air pressure. Refill them before remounting.
5. Move your tires to their new locations, according to the pattern laid out in your owner’s manual.
6. Tighten each lug nut as much as you can by hand, but wait to tighten with the lug wrench until the vehicle is back on the ground. (Otherwise, you risk leveraging the vehicle off of your jack stands!)
7. When you do tighten the nuts with your wrench, work in a star/diagonal pattern in order to ensure an even finish and prevent the warping of your brake rotors.

Why is Tire Rotation Necessary?

If you tend to take more right turns than left turns, the tires on one side of your vehicle will wear out faster than the others! Yes, even something this minor can lead to significant performance issues if it isn’t dealt with regularly.  Tire rotation ensures even wear, and provides the following benefits:

• Longer-lasting tires, since wear will be evenly distributed
• Better fuel economy and handling, since you’ll have more traction
• Less unpleasant shake while driving and braking

We’re Here to Help!

Knowing how to rotate tires at home in San Francisco or Redwood City can help you save on regular maintenance, but since it’s so easy to schedule service at Peter Pan BMW, we’d understand if you’d prefer to let us take care of this job. We can check your wheel balance and alignment at the same time, help you learn other service tips such as how to program a BMW key, and we even offer service specials to make your visit more affordable.