How to Rotate Your Vehicle's Tires at Home

Co-authored by Rocco Lovetere and Hunter Rising

If your tires sound noisy or don’t get as much traction as they used to, you may be overdue for a tire rotation. Rotating your tires simply means changing their positions on your vehicle so they wear out evenly. Rather than taking your vehicle to a costly mechanic, you can easily rotate your tires at home with a few tools. Keep reading to learn how to rotate your tires properly and use the correct rotation pattern for your vehicle.

Things You Should Know

For front wheel drive vehicles, bring the front tires to the back on the same sides. Move the rear tires to the front on the opposite sides.
For rear wheel drive vehicles, move the rear tires to the front but keep them on the same side. Put the front wheels in the back on opposite sides.
For all wheel and four wheel drive vehicles, swap the front left with the back right tire, and the front right with the back left tire.
Rotate your tires every 6 months or 5,000–8,000 miles (8,000–12,900 km).

Section 1 of 3:

Tire Rotation Patterns

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Front Wheel Drive: Forward cross Move the front tires straight back so they’re in the rear on the same side. Bring the rear left tire up to the front right side of the vehicle. Cross the rear right tire over to the front left side of your vehicle.^{[1]
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Rear Wheel Drive: Rearward cross Bring the rear tires straight forward and keep them on the same side of the vehicle where they started. Move the front left tire to the rear right side of your vehicle. Then, move the front right tire to the rear left wheel well.^{[2]
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All Wheel Drive (4 Wheel Drive): X-pattern Switch the positions of the front left tire and the rear right tire. Then, swap the front right tire with the rear left tire.^{[3]
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Directional Tires: Front-to-back Directional tires have treads that are only meant to spin in one direction for better traction. Keep the tires on the same side of your vehicle. Just move the rear tires to the front, and bring the front tires straight back to the rear of your vehicle.^{[4]
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Staggered Tires: Side-to-side Staggered tires are when your rear tires are slightly wider than your front tires, which you’ll find on most high-performance cars. Swap the positions of your front tires so the left tire is on the right side and vice-versa. Then, switch the sides of the rear tires.^{[5]
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- If you have staggered directional tires, you won’t be able to properly rotate your tires unless you remove them from the rim and switch the sides they’re on. If you aren’t able to remove the tires, then take your vehicle into a mechanic to see if you need to replace them.
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5-Tire If you have a full-sized spare tire, you can do a 5-tire rotation instead. On a front wheel drive vehicle, move the rear left and rear right tires to the front right and front left respectively. Bring the front left tire straight back to the rear left side. Use your spare tire for the rear right side. Take the front right tire and store it as your spare.^{[6]
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- If you have a rear wheel drive or all wheel drive vehicle, then move the back right tire to the front right and the rear left tire to the front left. Move the front right tire to the back left. Use your spare tire for the rear right side. Keep the old front left tire as your new spare.
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Dually pattern For light trucks that have dual rear wheels, bring the front tires to the outside of the rear axle. Move the outer tires on the rear axle to the rear inside position. Finally, take the inner rear tires and bring them straight forward as the new front tires.^{[7]
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Section 2 of 3:

Rotating Your Tires at Home

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Loosen the lug nuts with a lug wrench. You can get better leverage when you loosen your lug nuts while your vehicle is still on the ground. Park your vehicle on flat, level ground. Turn each of the lug nuts counter-clockwise until they’re looser and easier to turn.^{[8]
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- If the place where you parked isn’t level, block the tires with wheel chocks to keep your vehicle from rolling.
- Don’t remove the lug nuts completely yet since the tires could slip off your vehicle and cause damage.
- If you need to remove a stuck tire, try knocking it loose by tapping a piece of scrap wood against the side of the tire with a hammer.
2
Jack your car up onto jack stands. Find the jack points under your vehicle, which are usually reinforced metal parts of the frame just behind or in front of your tires. Place a car jack against the frame and lift up your vehicle. Position the jack stands underneath your vehicle's frame, and lower the jack back down. Use a total of 4 jack stands so you have one next to each tire.^{[9]
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- Check your vehicle’s manual to find the proper jack points if you have trouble finding them on your own.
- Avoid trying to rotate your tires while your vehicle is on the jack since it could easily slip off, which could lead to damage or injury.
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Remove the lug nuts to take the tires off your vehicle. When you have your vehicle lifted up, use your wrench to finish unscrewing the nuts. Then, just simply pull the tire off your vehicle to remove it.^{[10]
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- Keep the lug nuts in a small bowl so you don’t misplace them.
4
Move the tires to their new locations following the rotation pattern. Use the appropriate tire pattern for the type of vehicle and tires you have. Just roll the tire to the new position, and carefully slide it straight onto the bolts in the new wheel well.^{[11]
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- When in doubt, check your vehicle’s manual for the proper tire rotation pattern to use.
5
Screw the lug nuts in until they feel snug. Feed the lug nuts back onto the ends of the bolts and turn them clockwise to tighten them. Turn them as far as you can by hand before using your lug wrench to turn them until they just feel snug.^{[12]
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- Don’t screw the nuts in completely just yet since you could over-tighten them by accident.
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Lower your vehicle back to the ground. Slide your jack back underneath your vehicle so it presses against the frame. Lift your vehicle up slightly so you can slide out the jack stands. Then, slowly lower your vehicle back onto the ground.^{[13]
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Finish tightening the lug nuts in a star pattern with a torque wrench. A torque wrench prevents you from over-tightening the nuts and damaging your tires. Adjust your wrench to the proper torque, and turn one of the lug nuts until you hear the wrench click. Find the nut directly across from the first one and tighten it. Then, tighten the nut that’s right next to the first one. Keep working back and forth between the lug nuts until they’re all tight.^{[14]
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- Each vehicle has different torque requirements, so check the manual to know what you need.

Section 3 of 3:

Why is tire rotation important?

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Even tread wear If you keep your tires in the same spot the entire time, the backs of the treads will wear away faster than the fronts, which could make them uneven. When you change the tire positions, the wear and tear occur on the opposite sides of the tires so the treads maintain a consistent depth.^{[15]
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- Rotate your tires every 5,000–8,000 miles (8,000–12,900 km) to prevent uneven wear.
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Extended tire lifetime The tires that you use to steer your vehicle tend to wear out quicker than the others since they’re turning and support more weight. By routinely rotating them to a different position on your vehicle, you can get a lot more mileage out of them before you need to get replacements.^{[16]
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