How to Rotate Your Tires Including the Spare
Manufacturers recommend that you rotate your car tires every 5,000 to 6,000 miles. This will help to even out the wear patterns and extend the life of the tires. The pattern of the rotation including the spare tire will depend on the kind of tires you have. Directional tires will have a different rotation pattern from non-directional tires.
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Instructions
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Directional Tires
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1
Park your vehicle on a flat surface. Remove the spare tire from your vehicle. Only use the spare in the tire rotation if it is a full size spare and not a space saver smaller tire.
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2
Use the car jack and jack up each wheel of the vehicle and position it on a jack stand. When all four jack stands are in position, the wheels should be off the ground.
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3
Start on the right side of the vehicle. Loosen the lug nuts and remove the front and rear tire. Move the right rear tire to the front right. The front tire will now become the new spare. Put the old spare on the right rear position. Tighten the lug nuts with the tire iron.
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4
Move to the left side of the vehicle. Loosen the lug nuts and remove both tires. Rotate by simply swapping the rear and front tires. Tighten the lug nuts.
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5
Lower the vehicle with caution, one jack at a time. Use your tire iron one last time on each tire to snug the lug nuts.
Non-directional Tires
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6
Park your vehicle on a flat surface. Remove the spare tire from your vehicle. Only use the spare in the tire rotation if it is a full size spare and not a space saver smaller tire.
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7
Use the car jack and jack up each wheel of the vehicle and position it on a jack stand. When all four jack stands are in position, the wheels should be off the ground.
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8
Start on the right side of the vehicle. Loosen the lug nuts and remove the front and rear tires. Move the right rear tire to the front right position. Put the spare tire on the right rear wheel. Tighten the lugs nuts on both the front and rear right wheels.
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9
Move to the left side of the vehicle. Loosen the lug nuts and remove both tires. The front left tire will become the new spare. Move the left rear tire to the front left position. Take the tire that was removed from the front right wheel and put in on the rear left wheel. Tighten the lug nuts.
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10
Lower the vehicle with caution, one jack at a time. Use your tire iron one last time on each tire to snug the lug nuts.
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