Do you have to change your tires soon? Whether this task is carried out by you or your mechanic, certain guidelines should be followed; in fact, a proper tire rotation is not done the same on a front-wheel drive vehicle as on an all-wheel drive model.
Swapping the tires on your vehicle is not as simple as removing them, storing them and then putting them back on in whatever order when the season changes! In fact, there is an order to rotating tires on an AWD vehicle and following it is important.
To rotate the tires on an all-wheel drive vehicle, you must follow an “X” pattern: the left front tire will go to the right rear and vice versa; the same goes for the right front tire, which will go to the left rear.
Also, if your vehicle is equipped with a tire pressure monitoring system, it will need to be reset after each tire rotation.
This technique is specific to 4-wheel drive vehicles; the tires will not be rotated in the same way if they are mounted on a rear-wheel drive or front-wheel drive model.
It is also possible to rotate the front tires in an “X” pattern (left front tire to right rear and right front tire to left rear) and put the rear tires on the front while keeping their original side (left rear tire to left front and vice versa on the right).
According to the APA (Automobile Protection Association), tires should be rotated at regular intervals to promote the most even wear possible.
In general, it is recommended that tires be rotated every 10,000 to 12,000 kilometres, which is about the same as when you change your tires. You drive with your 4-season tires, remove them for winter and rotate them when you put them back on.
Caution: replacing only 2 of the 4 tires on an AWD vehicle is not recommended, as it could distort the distribution of driving force between the front and rear wheels, or damage the center differential.
Rotating the tires on an AWD vehicle – like with any other vehicle for that matter – will extend the life of your tires and improve their performance.
Indeed, with the proper tire rotation for the type of drive system the vehicle is equipped with, you reduce the risk of uneven tread wear, thereby extending the life of your tires.
Not only will you enjoy better handling, but you’ll also have a safer ride because you’ll always have tires of similar size, and you’ll avoid the risk of imbalance between the front and rear of the vehicle.
The following diagram illustrates the proper way to rotate tires on an AWD vehicle.
If you are not sure how to rotate the tires on your AWD vehicle, don’t hesitate to have it done at your garage. They will also be able to tell you how worn your tires are!
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Even though an all-wheel drive vehicle gives traction to all four tires, the rear tires often wear out a little more.
Since most all-wheel drive systems use the rear axle more than the front axle, and since rotation patterns tend to focus on the drive axle, AWD rotation patterns look like those of rear-wheel drive vehicles.
Since rear bias isn’t always the case, we emphasize checking your owner’s manual for the manufacturer’s recommended rotation pattern.
Rearward Cross PatternOut of the two main patterns for all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles, the rear cross is a little bit better.
The rearward cross moves the front tires back and across to the opposite sides of the vehicle. The back wheels of a car or truck move forward, but they stay on the same sides of the vehicle.
X-PatternThe X-Pattern can be used instead of the backward cross. Even so, it doesn’t have the advantage of being able to move the tires to every position. Each tire can only be moved to one other position.
The X-Pattern is easy and simply moves the front tires to the back and to the other side of the car.
The back tires move forward and cross to the vehicle’s opposite sides.
The rearward cross is the best way to rotate tires on a car with all-wheel drive. It ensures that each tire will move to each wheel position after a few turns. It also tries to make the wear on the back tires more even by ensuring that the back tires always cross to the opposite side each time the wheel turns.
Tire Rotation for Staggered All-Wheel Drive TiresWhen the front and back wheels and tires are different sizes, this is called “staggering.” For example, all-wheel drive sports cars with a larger-than-usual rear bias might have wider tires on the back to give the car more grip when accelerating and keep it from oversteering when turning.
Wheels and tires with different sizes can’t be moved from the front to the back. They have to stay on the same axle. You can only turn them from side to side. Tire rotations from side to side don’t help tires as long as rotations from front to back, but they do help even out uneven wear between the two sides.
If you have an all-wheel drive vehicle with a full-size spare tire on a matching wheel, rotating the tires regularly will extend the life of the whole set of tires and make sure the spare tire doesn’t go to waste before it dries out and falls apart from age.
If the spare tire is used often, it is also much more likely to be in good shape, adequately inflated, and hold air well.
Rearward Cross 5-Tire Rotation PatternThe best way to add a spare tire to the regular rotation of an AWD is to use the rearward cross 5-tire pattern.
As the name suggests, it is just an extra-tired version of the rearward cross. The only difference is that the front tire on the driver’s side moves to the place of the spare, and the spare moves to the place of the rear wheel on the passenger’s side.
Logic will tell you that an all-wheel drive vehicle wouldn’t need regular tire rotations because power is always going to all wheels, so they should all wear out at the same rate.
Some people who own AWD vehicles may have had this thought.
But, when it all boils down, rotating your tires is the second most important thing you can do to your all-wheel drive vehicle to make them last longer. Checking your tire pressure is the most important.
Slip is what causes a tire to wear out. Think back to physics class in high school, when we learned about friction. The amount of force needed to move something along a surface equals the coefficient of friction times the object’s weight.
When driving, reaching this level of force, or wheel torque, usually causes a wheel to spin when accelerating or lock up when braking. Every time a tire slips, rubber molecules are ripped off the tread and left on the road.
It can also slip when a car turns a corner or changes direction. Engineers talk about a tire’s slip angle, which is the difference between where the tire is pointing and where it actually goes.
Perfect Balance and RotationFor long, even wear, you need to rotate your tires regularly.
If you let each tire run on every wheel position over the tire’s life, the tread pattern’s duty cycle will be mixed up. This will keep uneven wear patterns from setting in and shortening the life of the tread.
Uneven wear patterns also make tread noises that are too loud and unnecessary.
Going back to slip angle, since most cars are made to have some amount of understeer, the front tires will slip some more than the back tires. Tires need to be rotated often for this reason alone.
As hinted above, the second most crucial maintenance task for any vehicle, including AWDs, is to ensure the tires are rotated correctly. The reason is that tire rotation:
When your tires are in good shape, driving is smooth and safe, and if they last a long time, you save money.
Making sure all four tires are as similar as possible makes your AWD system’s parts less stressed. If there is a difference of even 1/16 of an inch between the diameters of two tires on the same axle, it means that one tire is spinning at a much faster rate than the other.
The APA (Automobile Protection Association) says tires should be switched around regularly to ensure they wear out evenly.
Tires should be rotated every 5,000 to 8,000 miles, which is about the same as when you change your tires. You drive with your all-season tires. In the winter, you take them off and rotate them.
Caution: It’s not a good idea to replace only two of the four tires on an all-wheel drive vehicle. This could change how the driving force is split between the front and back wheels or damage the center differential.
Many car owners wonder if they can save time and money by doing tire rotation instead of going to an auto repair shop.
But, a tire rotation you do yourself is often more trouble than it’s worth.
Doing it yourself can take a lot of time and is impossible if you don’t have the right tools. If you want to have your tires rotated, it’s best to take your car to a professional.
Not only is it safer to have a professional rotate your tires, but it’s also easy to coordinate tire rotations with other routine maintenance on your car, like oil changes and scheduled maintenance.
If you decide to do it yourself, you will need to know the right way to rotate your tires based on how you drive, the make and model of your car, and the size and type of your tires.
ConclusionRotating the tires on an AWD vehicle, on any other vehicle for that matter, will make the tires last longer and work better.
In fact, if you rotate your tires in the right way for the type of drive system your car has, you can reduce the chance of uneven tread wear and make your tires last longer.
You’ll have better handling and a safer ride because your tires will always be the same size. This way, you won’t have to worry about the front and back of the car being out of balance.
Today we will tell you how to rearrange the wheels on the car for their uniform wear.
What is it for? The fact is that even under ideal conditions and with a fully serviceable car, the wheels of the car wear out unevenly.
For example, the rear wheels of a car are involved only in acceleration and deceleration, while the front wheels are also involved in turning. Naturally, with each turn, they experience increased friction and wear out more.
Also, wear is highly dependent on the type of vehicle drive - tires on the drive wheels wear out faster than others, as they can slip during start-up and acceleration.
The front tires of a front-wheel drive vehicle are especially subject to wear - in this case, the front wheels are both driven and steered.
In addition, the specifics of the front-wheel drive is such that with a sharp start, the mass of the car shifts back by inertia, and the front axle is unloaded. Therefore, a front-wheel drive car can slip not only at the start, but also when driving in any gear - it is enough to press the gas sharply, especially in winter or on wet pavement.
In order to level uneven wear, since Soviet times it has been customary to periodically rearrange the wheels of a car, swapping them. If experienced drivers remember this, then modern graduates of driving schools might not have heard.
It is advisable to rearrange the wheels every 8-10 thousand km. run. For the average driver, this usually coincides with seasonal tire changes. Therefore, when replacing wheels with summer ones and vice versa, it is important to note the position of each wheel on the car in order to immediately rearrange them at the next shift.
Let's talk about the most effective wheel shifting schemes that have been developed over many years of operation.
They are different - depending on the type of drive of the car.
Considering the features described above, the wheel shifting scheme on a front-wheel drive car looks like this:
With this rearrangement, tire wear will be as even as possible.
The scheme of wheel shifting on a rear-wheel drive car looks exactly the opposite:
The scheme for rearranging wheels on a four-wheel drive car is even simpler - the wheels need to be rearranged diagonally;
Given that all 4 wheels are driving, this scheme will minimize uneven tire wear, while maintaining the balance of vehicle handling.
If you have tires with directional tread pattern, you will not be able to change them from one side to another. The fact is that such tires should rotate only in one direction, which is indicated by an arrow on the sidewall of the tire. By moving the wheel with such a tire to the other side of the car, we will change the direction of rotation to the opposite, which will worsen handling and only increase tire wear.
Therefore, if you have tires with a directional pattern, regardless of the type of car drive, they can only be rearranged forward and backward:
All tires are divided into several types and types.
During manufacture, tires are marked with a marking that indicates its main parameters and characteristics. We will not delve into the markings, but we will consider the main differences. Tires are divided into two large groups according to the way the cord is laid inside the tire during its manufacture.
These are radial tires and bias tires. Tires of these two types can be winter, summer and all-weather. Each of these three tires can have a regular or directional tread pattern.
A tire with a regular pattern can be installed on either side of the car, a tire with a directional pattern is installed strictly in the direction of rotation. Regular and directional tread patterns can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. A tire with such a pattern is placed according to the rule of a tire with a regular or directional pattern.
It is possible to buy 4 identical tires and assemble them with rims according to the right and left sides of the car. You will get two left wheels and two right ones.
Very rarely come across directional tires with an asymmetrical pattern and with an indication of the inside and outside. These tires need to buy two on each side. Two right and two left, but it is better to refuse such tires altogether. They are not convenient to use.
Radial tires are preferable for cord construction. Such tires are more reliable, they withstand heavy loads during movement, and are more stable during deformation. Radial tires wear longer than diagonal tires. Therefore, tires with a diagonal ply are currently practically not produced. Almost all car owners have two sets of tires. For the operation of a car in the winter - these are winter tires, for the summer period - summer.
All season tires can be used in both summer and winter. Winter tires can be studded. Such tires are allowed only in a few countries, where snow often and abundantly falls in winter, frost forms on the road surface. This list also includes Russia.
All-season, summer and winter tires have their own pattern characteristics that increase the car's handling.
Front or rear wheel drive vehicles can be fitted with different tire patterns. Such tires are installed in pairs on one axle, for example, tires with one pattern are in front, and with another in the back. It is forbidden to install diagonal tires on one axle and radial tires on the other. The dimension must be the same. On all-wheel drive vehicles, the same tires must be installed.
It is strictly forbidden to install tires with different treads and dimensions. This is due to the design of the transmission. If you operate a car with different tires, then the car's transmission will quickly fail. In addition, driving on different tires becomes dangerous, a car on a slippery road will behave unpredictably.
All car manufacturers and tire manufacturers recommend changing tires while driving. What is it for? During the operation of the car, all tires wear out unevenly.
This is due to several factors. Heterogeneity of the road surface, operating conditions and vehicle transmission device. Therefore, in order to extend the life of the tires and the transmission of the car, the tires must be periodically replaced.
On all-wheel drive vehicles, uniform tire wear is more relevant. Car manufacturers recommend several tire rotation schemes. But in practice, as is often the case, it is impossible or impractical to apply such tire swap schemes. Many car owners never swap tires. Which of course is wrong.
How do you change tires and how often should you do it? The frequency is approximately 8 - 12 thousand kilometers. Therefore, tire swapping can be timed to coincide with the change of tires from summer to winter and vice versa. Winter tires can be studded. When using these tires, the studs tilt to one side. This is due to frequent wheel slip.
Therefore, these tires must be installed in the same direction as they were before.
In this case, the tires from the front axle must be put on the rear axle, and the tires from the rear axle should be put on the front axle. In order not to get confused where which wheel was, in a tire shop, the master usually puts a mark on the wheel. If you apply one of the recommended schemes and change the direction of rotation to the opposite when installing the tires, the spikes will begin to tilt in the other direction, their fastening in the tread will weaken and they will start to fly out.
Which, of course, does not justify the expediency of rearranging the tires strictly according to the scheme. There is no point in this, the tires will wear out evenly, but the spikes will almost all fall out. If the tires are not studded, but have a directional pattern, the tires must also be rearranged, from the front axle to the rear, from the rear axle to the front, without changing the installation side on the car. If the tires do not have a direction of rotation, then it is possible to apply a more complex scheme.
In this case, the rear tires are moved to the front axle in accordance with the sides. And the front tires are placed on the rear axle, but at the same time the right wheel is placed on the left, and the left wheel is placed on the right. There is another scheme for rearranging wheels. In this scheme, a spare wheel is also involved. The spare must of course be identical. When using such a scheme, the tires wear out a little longer during operation. In this case, the rear tires are rearranged to the front axle without changing sides, the spare wheel is placed on the rear axle on the right, and the right front wheel is placed back on the left. The front left wheel becomes a spare. But such a scheme can be applied if non-studded tires and tires with a non-directional pattern are installed on the car.
If the vehicle is fitted with all-season tyres, it is best to change the tires in the middle of the season. That is, in summer and winter, and not during periods of changing seasons.
And it turns out that some wheels constantly "ride" on the snow in front, and the other pair - on asphalt in the summer on the rear axle. Wear will again be uneven. When using a rearrangement scheme without the participation of a spare tire, the latter does not wear out. There is a situation when you have to put a spare tire on the car and drive it.
The difference between the tread height of the worn tires and the spare wheel adversely affects the vehicle's transmission. But you can still drive several tens of kilometers. It is advisable to drive as short a distance as possible using the spare wheel.
It happens that a car owner has two sets of fully assembled wheels. That is, when replacing tires, you do not need to constantly bead tires. You just need to change the wheels, for example, from winter to summer. Before changing wheels, they must be balanced. Which will also increase their service life, as well as the service life of the car suspension. Many car owners balance their wheels only when replacing tires with new ones and then drive their entire life.
