When you pull out of your McHenry driveway, you want to know that you can count on your car, truck or SUV to get you where you’re going reliably, safely, economically and in comfort. These are reasons that you go out of your way to properly maintain your vehicle. How does this apply to rotating your tires?

There are several good reasons to rotate tires on your car, truck or SUV. Consider the following:

• Extend the life of your tires: Sitting in the same position on your car, the wear tends to appear consistently in the same location on each tire, but not necessarily the same location from tire to tire. If the wear continues in the same place it will eventually reduce the tire past its usefulness. Rotating the tires spreads the wear around, you might say. The tires will, therefore, wear evenly longer. 
• Improves safety: By spreading the wear evenly on your tires, you avoid creating areas where the tread is so thin that you have a greater chance of a blowout or other tire failure. It also improves your car, truck or SUV’s braking ability with better tread on the tires longer.
• Extends the cash in your pocket: Extending the life of your tires means that you don’t have to buy new tires as soon. You get more life out of your tires and more miles per dollar spent on them. 
• Reduce road noise: As your tires wear, that soft, new tire sound is replaced by a louder sound from coarser and harder tires. Better tires take bumps with less shock and create less vibration.
• Greater comfort: That softer ride translates to a more comfortable ride. You don’t bumps as much. You don’t feel vibrations. The road is more of a carpet under better tires.

You should rotate your tires within every 8,000 miles. Maybe an easier way to think of it, considering how many miles McHenry drivers put on their car, truck or SUV, is to change your tires twice each year: once in the fall and again in the spring.

While your tires are changed, a qualified auto repair technician can check your car’s alignment and the condition of your steering and suspension components – just in time for summer.