How to Rotate Full Size Spare Tire With Other Tires

Use your spare for a five-tire rotation pattern.

Regular tire rotation promotes even tire wear and allows you to get the maximum mileage out of your tires. If you have a full size spare, including the spare in the rotation will increase the mileage you get from a set of tires. It also ensures you do not have a old, dry-rotted spare just when you need it the most.

Things You'll Need

• Hydraulic floor jack
• Four jack stands
• Lug wrench

Instructions

1. Set the parking brake and make sure the transmission is in park. If the car has a manual transmission put the car in gear.

2. Remove the spare tire from its storage location.

3. Jack up the front and rear of the car in turn and put the four jack stands under the jacking locations noted in the owner's manual. Lower the car onto the jack stands. All four tires should be off the ground.

4. Remove all four wheels and tires using the lug wrench. Keep the lug nuts organized and note the starting position of all five tires.

5. Move the wheels and tires to their new positions. For front-wheel drive vehicles, the rear tires cross over to the opposite side onto the front axle. The driver-side front tire moves back to the rear axle, the passenger front becomes the spare and the spare is the new passenger-side rear tire.

   For rear and all-wheel drive vehicles the rear tires go straight forward to the front axle on the same side. The driver-side front tire goes to the spare position, the spare to the passenger rear position and the front passenger-side tire crosses to the driver-side rear position.

6. Remount the tires in their new positions. Tighten the lug nuts in a crossing pattern to align the wheels straight with the hub.

7. Take the car off the jack stands, reversing the jacking procedure until all four wheels are on the ground.

8. Replace the new spare in the spare tire location.

Tips & Warnings

• Crack the lug nuts loose before jacking up the car to make removal easier when the vehicle is off the ground.

• Retighten all the lugs after driving the vehicle approximately 60 miles. The lugs on remounted wheels have a tendency to loosen when first reinstalled.

• Never try to rotate the tires using just the safety jack that comes with the vehicle. A good floor jack and jack stands are essential to safe tire rotation.

References

• Tire Rack: Tire Rotation Instructions