Tire rotation and balancing is an essential part of maintenance. Just as you ensure you routinely get oil changes and tune-ups, caring for your tires helps toward keeping the vehicle safe and operational. With regular tire rotation and wheel balancing, you can make your vehicle tires last longer. Today, we at Top Notch Body Shop & Mechanics would like to further discuss the basics of tire rotation and balance maintenance.
Need to Rotate Tires
Because they handle much of the cornering forces in turns, your front tires wear more on the shoulders in your normal driving around town. On the front tires, front-wheel drive vehicles have even more force. In addition to getting a little break on the back end, we rotate the tires so that all of the tires do some duty on the front end. All four tires wear more evenly over their life and last longer by doing this task. Tires are rotated front to back for most vehicles. Some high-performance vehicles have different size tires on the front and rear and may even have uni-directional tires that can only be on the left or the right side of the vehicle. Also, a cross rotational pattern that includes the spare tire is recommended by some manufacturers. To help you sort that out and will perform the right tire rotation for your vehicle, the experts at Top Notch Body Shop & Mechanic can be of assistance. When it comes how often you should rotate your tires, your tire manufacturer will have a recommendation for this. Generally, it is usually somewhere around 4,800 to 13,000 miles.
Balance Wheels
Moving on to wheel balancing is when there are heavy spots on the tire and wheel that cause it to wobble. To balance it out, balancing adds weights. We are talking about very small weight differences. A slight imbalance can be caused by variations in the tire and wheel manufacture. Also, play into the equation is the valve stem, and now the tire pressure monitoring sensors in the tire. Annoying vibrations at speed can be caused from even small differences. Basically, as it goes down the road, the wheel is essentially bouncing. An out of balance wheel can be slamming into the road 14 times a second at freeway speeds for example. Not only is it really annoying, but it can cause your tires to wear out more quickly. You will the vibration through the steering wheel if a front wheel’s out of balance. You will feel the vibration through your seat when it is a rear tire. Bring it in to see if it is a balance issue or something else if you are getting bad vibrations from your vehicle. Also, whenever you get a new tire or remount a tire like when it’s been removed for a flat repair, you should balance your wheels.
Tire Rotation & Balancing Services in Dallas, Texas (Just Minutes Away from Addison, Balch Springs, Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Coppell, DeSoto, Duncanville, Farmers Branch, Ferris, Garland, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Irving, Lancaster, Lewisville, Mesquite, Ovilla, Richardson, Rowlett, Sachse, Seagoville, Sunnyvale & Wylie, TX)
If you are in need of tire rotation and wheel balancing for your vehicle in the Greater Dallas, TX area, contact the leading experts of Top Notch Body Shop & Mechanic and let us take care of you!
