Taking Care of Your Tires
The condition of your tires has a huge impact on your car’s overall safety, handling, and performance. It can determine how comfortable your ride is, the gas mileage that you get, and how well your car stays connected to the road.
In order to make sure that your car performs at its highest level, you need to make sure that your tires remain in tiptop condition. Not only will taking care of your tires improve their performance, it will also ensure that they last longer, keeping you from expensive repairs or replacements.
The most important step in taking care of your tires is to check their pressure level. When a tire is underinflated, it has an increased level of stress, and it will cause the tire to wear down at irregular levels. This can cause you to more easily lose control of your car, resulting in an increased risk of accidents. Under inflated tires also increase the amount of fuel that you consume.
On the other side, over inflated tires also cause your tires to wear out faster. They are more prone to blowing out, which can lead to dangerous accidents. They also make your vehicle unstable, which decreases your car’s safety level.
Both your vehicle owner’s manual and your actual vehicle (either on the door post or in the glove box) should list the proper tire inflation levels for your car. Ideally you should check your tire pressure once a month as well as before setting out on any long journeys.
Wait until your tires are completely cool and then check the pressure with a tire pressure valve. You can fill your tires with air at your local gas station or auto repair shop. Add the air in short bursts, checking the pressure after each addition. If you overfill your tires, you can release the air by pushing down on the metal stem in the middle of the air valve.
Other things that you can do to increase the life of your tires is to have them regularly rotated and their alignment checked. Your alignment can quickly get out of whack when your car receives a bad jolt from hitting a pothole or curb. An alignment that is out can damage your tires and cause them to wear down unevenly.
Rotating your tires is helps make sure that all of your tires wear down at a uniform rate.
This is important to the overall stability of your car, as well as to how well your tires will react in the case of an emergency. Most manufacturers recommend that your tires are rotated every 5,000 miles, but check your manufacturers guide for your vehicle specifics. Both tire rotation and alignment checks can be performed at your local auto repair shop.
John Kruger opened up his own Utah auto repair shop in 2003 with the goal of creating a new standard for automobile service. He has built his business on honesty and professionalism, and as a result it has grown and improved continuously. The entire John Kruger Automotive Team works hard each day to fix each vehicle right while offering a clean, comfortable environment.
