How To Rotate Michelin CrossClimate 2 Tires

‍About Tire Rotation

Tire rotation entails repositioning the tires on your vehicle either side-to-side or back to front. It’s an important aspect of tire safety and upkeep. Also, tire rotation may help to keep them covered under their warranty.

It’s advisable to rotate your vehicle’s tires as the manufacturer has recommended or after every 5,000 miles or so. For most car owners, the 5,000-mile mark is also when they get the oil changed.

Importance of Rotating Michelin CrossClimate 2 Tires

Besides helping to keep tires covered under their warranty, tire rotation comes with numerous other benefits. And as a vehicle owner, it’s important to ensure that you observe the recommended rotation routine.

First, rotating your tires routinely will help to ensure uniform wear across all the tires. And with uniform wear, you will get maximum life from their tread. The reason behind this is that tires in different positions may wear at a faster rate than the others.

For instance, the front tires may wear out faster than the rear ones, depending on the vehicle’s drive. So, when you rotate them routinely, you will ensure they are all wearing out at the same rate.

Second, uniform tread wear will help to maintain uniform tread depth. And this will help to maintain consistent handling and traction across all the tires. This will in turn improve braking and cornering performance, thus helping to maintain safe driving for your vehicle.

Third, in case you have an all-wheel-drive vehicle, uniformly worn tires will reduce the level of stress placed on the drivetrain. And this will in turn reduce wear on the entire drivetrain system.

How to Rotate Michelin CrossClimate 2 Tires

The Michelin CrossClimate 2 comes with a directional tread pattern. Therefore, you are limited to rotating the tires between the front and rear. Also, the tires will remain on the same side of your vehicle. Nevertheless, you will follow the same procedure as with other rotation patterns. And this is how to do it.

Find a Level Surface to Work

Before you do anything else, you should first identify a level, solid surface where you can work, to ensure the jack can stand safely. A concrete surface will be the most ideal one for this type of work. Avoid asphalt, gravel, or dirt surfaces, since the jack may shift, causing the vehicle to fall off. And this may not only damage the vehicle but you may also end up with serious injuries.

Inspect Your Michelin CrossClimate 2 Tires

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After identifying a flat, solid surface to work from, you should then apply the emergency brake. This will ensure your vehicle will not wander off when you are working. If it’s an automatic vehicle, then you should engage in the “park” mode. If it has a manual transmission, then it should be in the first gear.

Once you’ve engaged the emergency brake, you should inspect your Michelin CrossClimate 2 tires. This will allow you to identify any punctures or other forms of damage that may have gone unnoticed.

You should also conduct a pressure check to see if the tires are holding air pressure well, as indicated on the vehicle’s manual. Also, you should take this chance to check the tread depth. If the tires are worn out to their treadwear indicators, you should replace them.

Remove Wheel Covers and Loosen Lug Nuts

After doing the above inspections, you should now proceed to remove the wheel covers, if your vehicle has them. Removing the wheel covers will give you better access to the lug nuts.

Once you’ve removed all the wheel covers, it’s now time to loosen the lug nuts. You will do so when your vehicle is still on the ground. However, you should only loosen the lug nuts and not remove them completely when the vehicle is on the ground. Breaking the hard grip will be enough.

Jack Up the Vehicle and Remove the Wheels

After breaking the hard grip on the lug nuts, you should now proceed to jack up the vehicle. Make sure you place the jack in the appropriate locations as indicated on your vehicle’s manual. Placing the jack at the wrong locations may lead to damage. Also, the vehicle may fall off in the middle of this procedure, causing further damage or injuries.

After jacking up the vehicle, it’s now time to remove the nuts completely and the wheels. Ensure you keep track of all the lug nuts so that you don’t end up accidentally losing or misplacing them.

Switch the Wheels and Tighten the Nuts

Once you’ve finished removing the nuts and the wheels, you should now proceed to switch the wheels. As earlier mentioned, Michelin CrossClimate 2 tires are directional. Hence, you can only switch them from front to back. However, each tire will remain on the same side. For instance, you will move the front right tire to the right side of the rear axle. The same case will also apply to the left front tire.

After you’ve switched the tires, you should now proceed to tighten the nuts. You should begin by finger-tightening them as much as possible. From there, you should then remove the jack, lower the vehicle, and torque all nuts, using a torque wrench. Your vehicle’s manual will indicate the appropriate torque setting. And you should follow this to the letter.

Under tightening the lug nuts may make the wheel wobble when you hit the road. On the other hand, if you overtighten them beyond the recommended settings, you may end up damaging the lug nuts, hubs, and studs or even warping the brake rotors.

Reinstall the Wheel Covers

Once you’ve finished torquing the wheels properly, you can now reinstall the wheel covers, lug nut covers, hubcaps, or other aesthetic pieces that you had removed when rotating the Michelin CrossClimate 2 tires.

After everything is in place, it’s now time to conduct a test drive. When conducting the test drive, you should watch out for any unusual vibrations or noises. If there are any, you should identify and correct them. And if you don’t notice any issues, then you are good to go.

Wrapping It Up

As you can see, rotating Michelin CrossClimate 2 tires is not a complicated process. You just need to follow the steps and tips we’ve shared in this guide, and you should be able to do it by yourself.