Tires: tire rotation (front wheel drive), wheel drive vehicles, inflation pressure

Question
what is your opinion on tire rotation for front wheel drive vehicles ?

Answer
Leonard,

Tire rotation on a FWD is a must.  

The front tires do all the accelerating, steering, most of the braking, and carry most of the load.  They will wear about 2 1/2 times faster than the rears.  

Also, tires tend to wear the way the particular corner of the vehicle wants, which is different for each corner, but very noticeablr between the fronts and rears.  The fronts will tend to wear the shoulders of the tread while the rears will tend to wear the centers.  So you can get more miles out of a set of tires if you rotate.

Plus, freewheeling positions, in this case the rear tires, will develop irregular wear patterns if left unrotated.  You'll perceive this irregular wear as noise and/or vibration.  BTW, you can also get irregular wear from misalignment and inadequate inflation pressure.

So to maximum your investment in tires and to prevent other problems, rotate your tires every 6,000 to 8,000 miles, 0r whatever it says in your owner's manual.  

Pattern? Use what the owner's manual says, or follow one of the normal patterns.

Visit www.tirerack.com, and find their Tire Tech section.  They have a diagram of the best patterns.