Essential Vehicle Maintenance: Tires

If you want to upkeep anything in your vehicle, the objectsthat keep your car rolling, and off the ground, should be at the top of thatlist. Tires are often overlooked because a car with bald tires can still drive,and replacing all four tires can be expensive. When your fuel pump or fuel pump assembly goes out, you have no choice whether or not you want to replace it because your car will not drive - bald tires can get you down the street and back, and the dangers always occur when it's too late. Nevertheless, keeping track ofthe condition of your tires, and keeping them properly inflated, can meanliterally life or death for the people in the vehicle. Here are a few tips tomake sure your tires will keep you and your passengers safe on the road.

The main cause of tire failure (when your tire goes flat orblows out) is the friction caused from moving contact with the road. Thiscauses the tread on the tires to wear away. When the tread becomes too shallow,the tire is worn out and should be replaced. Bald tires give you littletraction on the road, especially when the road is wet or icy. This means thedifference in you maintaining control of your vehicle, and not maintainingcontrol, is dependent on proper tread on your tires. One trick to check if youhave proper tire tread is to place a penny, with Lincoln’s head down, betweenthe tread of your tires. If Lincoln’s head isn’t completely covered by thetreads on your tires, they need to be replaced.

 

 Underinflation is very detrimental to your tires, and yourfuel economy. Not having enough tire pressure causes excessive wear on thetires, and gives you less control of your vehicle on paved roads. You shouldcheck your tire pressure regularly. To check your tire pressure, make sure yourtires are cool (so when the vehicle has been sitting for awhile.) If you needto go somewhere else to fill up your tires with air, check the tire pressurebefore you leave and fill up appropriately. You can find out the appropriatetire pressure for your vehicle by looking in your owner’s manual, the driver’sside door panel, the glove box door, or the fuel door.  Remove the cap from the valve on one tire.Firmly press the tire guage onto the valve. Add air to achieve the recommendedtire pressure. If you overfill a tire, release air by pushing on the metal stemin the center of the valve with a fingernail or the tip of a pen. Recheck thetire pressure, and then replace the valve cap. Repeat for your other tires,including the spare.

 Another important factor in maintaining your tires is yourvehicles alignment. When you are driving, does your car pull to one side, orshake? A bad jolt from hitting a curb or pothole can throw off your alignment.Have a tire dealer check your alignment regularly to make sure your vehicle isaligned properly. If the alignment is off it will cause your tire to wearirregularly, which can lead to tire blowouts.

You should also rotate your tires periodically, typicallyevery 5,000 miles. Naturally your front and back, left and right tires weardifferently on the road. By rotating your tires from front to back, left toright, you can ensure your tires wear evenly and lengthen the life of yourtires.

I find inspecting the tires while filling up at the gas stationis convenient. While the vehicle is filling up, you can check your tires forwear, visually check for proper inflation, and inspect for any debris that iscaught in your tire tread and can damage your tires. This way you will alwaysbe on top of properly maintaining your tires.

What Can Happen if Your Tires Are Going Bald

There are millions of cars on the road and millions of drivers, most of which know what to do to keep a car safe. Keeping parts like the steering rack and the steering gearbox in good shape is something everyone makes sure to check out but what about the small parts? Well not really the small parts but the tires…they are ignored waaaay too often when it comes to car repair.

Tires are the contact patch on the road and are the only way that a vehicle can move around. If any driver were to stop and look around a bit at the tires on other cars around them they may think twice about getting on the road. It can be seen that one in five cars has tires that are beyond what would be considered bald and one in ten is to the point where failure is a serious concern. When a tire is new the rubber is stiff and has good grip in the road, as a tire loses tread it beings to soften due to less rubber in the wheel. Softer tired walls mean slower reaction time. Slower reaction time can be the least of the worries with balding tires. While a bald spot on a man may be cause for a comb-over, on a tire it is a serious situation. The tread on a tire has been specifically designed to help grip the road just like the tread on a shoe.

When tires are bald the grip they can provide is compromised and the stopping power is also reduced. The tread is designed to take advantage of the friction between the spaces in the tread and when it is missing the tires are useless. Bald tires also run the risk of bursting due to the reduced amount of material on them. The Tires are extremely important and should never be over looked, so next time you head out to your car take a min to check out the tires.