Rotate Your Car's Tires

• Step 1 Secure the car in place

  Park the car on a level, paved surface. Set the parking brake firmly and turn off the engine. If your car has a manual transmission, check the owner’s manual for the proper gear.  

  Use chalk to mark each of your car's tires with its location so you can keep track of which tire is which. For example, mark DF for driver side front, DR for driver side rear and so on.
  

• Step 2 Loosen driver side lug nuts

  Put wheel chocks in front of and behind both of the car's tires on the passenger side.

  If the hubcaps on the driver side wheels cover the lug nuts, pry them off. Loosen the lug nuts on the driver side, but don't remove them. 

• Step 3 Jack up the driver's side

  Use a floor jack to raise the driver side of the car — the emergency jack that comes with the car isn't up to a heavy-duty job like this. Check your owner's manual for the proper location for the floor jack — it's usually not the same place you put a standard jack.

  Raise the car until you can slide two jack stands under it — one in front and one in back — where the car can support the weight, such as an axle. Your owner's manual tells you where. Lock the stands so they won't collapse. 
  

  Gently lower the car onto the jack stands and remove the floor jack.

• Step 4 Rotate driver side tires

  

  Remove the lugs nuts and set them where you won't lose them. Remove both of your car's tires on the driver side.

  Check your manual for the proper rotation sequence. These patterns are the most common:
  

  • If your car is front-wheel drive (most are) move the driver side front tire to the driver side rear. Temporarily put the spare on the driver side front. Set aside what was the driver side rear tire for now.
    
  • If your car is rear-wheel or 4-wheel drive, move the driver side rear tire to the driver side front. Temporarily put the spare on the driver side rear. Set aside what was the driver side front tire for now.

  Finger-tighten the lug nuts on both tires.

• Step 5 Tighten the lug nuts

  

  Use a floor jack to raise the car until you can remove the jack stands and then gently lower the car to the ground.

  Tighten the lug nuts with a torque wrench in a star-shaped, diagonal pattern, to the specifications in your owner's manual. Uneven tightening or over-tightening can cause brake pulsation and rotor damage.

• Step 6 Jack up the passenger side

  Repeat the process you used on the driver side:

  1. Install chock blocks in front of and behind the both tires, this time on the driver side.

   

  2. Loosen but don't remove the lug nuts on the passenger side.

   

   

  3. Raise the car with a floor jack, support the car on jack stands and remove the floor jack.

   

• Step 7 Rotate passenger side tires

  Remove the lugs nuts and set them where you won't lose them. Remove both of your car's tires on the passenger side.

  Check your manual for the proper rotation sequence. These patterns are the most common:
  

  • If your car is front-wheel drive, put the tire you set aside earlier — what was the driver side rear tire — on the passenger side front. Move what was the passenger side front tire to the passenger side rear. Set aside the rear passenger tire for now.
  • If your car is rear-wheel or 4-wheel drive, put the tire you set aside earlier — what was the driver side front tire — on the passenger side rear. Move what was the rear passenger side tire to the front passenger side. Set aside the front passenger side tire for now.

  Finger-tighten the lug nuts, lower the car and tighten the lug nuts with a torque wrench in a star pattern.

• Step 8 Replace the spare tire

  Use a floor jack to raise the end of the car with the spare and support it with a jack stand. Replace the spare with the car tire you set aside. Finger-tighten the lug nuts, lower the car and tighten the lug nuts. Replace the hubcaps, if you removed them.

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