Many places that work on cars will rotate and balance tires for low rates if you have it done during other maintenance procedures. For instance, if you are having the oil changed ask the price to have the tires rotated and balanced, you may be surprised at the cost. With some automotive repair shops, they add these services into the price of an oil change.

Balancing the tires is important to increase the lifespan of your tires and to give your car a smoother ride. Tires that are out of balance will vibrate your car causing the entire car to vibrate. The vibration can be annoying while you are driving, or if all of the tires are out of balance the shaking can become dangerously violent. Another effect that the shaking has on the car is that it is wearing tread from the tires.

When it comes to getting the most mileage out of a set of tires, the most important thing you can do is have the tires rotated at least twice each year. The reason for this is that rotating the tires will even out the tread wear. When the tires are on the front of your car they are worked the most because they take more wear during each turn, this is especially true of front-wheel drive cars. When the tires are on the rear of the car they get somewhat of a break from all of the turning. By having the tires rotated on a regular basis you are creating an even wear pattern on all four tires extending the life of each tire.

The actual tire balacing can be done in two ways. The regular balancing is usually done on a special balancing machine, where each tire is mounted on and then tested to find out a place of improper balance. At that place technician that puts a small weight that will help with improving the balance. This way requires each wheel to be dismounted from your vehicle. Another way of doing is to perform balancing procedure directly on the equipped tire. In this case the vehicle is lifted and a special monitoring device is attached to the tire. While accelerating, the device scans rotating tires and finds out the issue, at which point the little weights are attached again.

Another thing you can do to keep your tires in good shape is to do the routine tire rotation. It will ensure that each tire is being worn out at the same rate and will also prevent the need for tire balancing. If you equip all-season tires, there is a certain way to rotate them properly. You put the front tires at the back without switching sides, and when you move rear tires upfront, you switch sides. This should help the thread on the surface of each tire to last much longer.