Do you depend on your car to live your daily life? If you answered yes, then you’re certainly not alone.
After all, it’s hard to even imagine living a productive lifestyle without a reliable form of transportation. For most people, that means your car.
One of the parts of an automobile that most people take for the majority of drivers is the tires. In fact, you likely rarely pay your tires much attention or give them a second thought until there’s a problem. Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place for advice on tire maintenance.
This article takes a look at valuable care tire maintenance tips that every driver should know. Keep reading to get the inside scoop on staying safe while out on the road.
Contents
1Underinflated Tires
Let’s start by talking about proper tire inflation. After all, this is one of the easiest ways to maintain your tires and it won’t cost you a dime.
The key is to understand the proper amount of pressure that your tires require. You can find this information on the side of your tires. If you aren’t sure, go ahead and check the owner’s manual for your car.
Keep in mind that the tires on your car could be mismatched, especially if you bought the car used. When this is the case, be sure to check the specific air pressure required for each tire.
Once you’ve confirmed the proper air pressure for each tire, go ahead and inflate to the PPS recommended for normal driving conditions by the manufacturer.
Believe it or not, this is one of the best ways to extend the life of your tires and will also help keep you safe on the road.
It’s also important to remember that underinflated tires and overinflated tires are equally dangerous.
2Signs of Tread Wear
The next thing you need to understand is how to identify the common signs of tire tread wear.
Tire tread is made of rubber, thus it isn’t intended to last forever. Over the years that you own your car, the tread will get worn away. Keep in mind that gradual wear is normal, but once your tread wears down to a dangerous level, your tires will begin to lose traction and come apart.
When your tread becomes worn, you might notice it while you’re driving. Examples of this include vibrations while the car is moving, thumping noises, or the car pulling to one side or the other. It’s important to get your tires checked as soon as you start noticing this type of behavior.
You can also easily identify tread wear simply by visually checking your tires.
3Tire Rotation
It’s important to understand that one of the best ways of minimizing tread wear and extending the life of your tires is by having your tires rotated at least once a year.
This is because the front and rear tires don’t wear at the same rate. The front end of your car is naturally heavier due to the weight of the engine. Thus the tire on the front end will wear much faster.
The solution to making sure that your tires wear evenly is to simply rotate the front to the rear and the rear to the front. This will slow down the wear on the front so that all four tires will wear evenly over the time that you run them on your car.
You’d be wise to rotate them twice a year or more if your put lots of miles on your car each year, but a minimum of once annually.
4Tire Balancing
Another aspect of reducing tread wear keeping your tires balanced.
Keep in mind that tires can easily become unbalanced over time due to the vibration of your car on the road. Once out of balance, you will begin to notice that the tread no longer wears evenly across the width of the tire.
The key is to take your car into an experienced tire shop to have them rebalance your tires. This will help extend the life of your tires and make your car much safer to drive.
5Wheel Alignment
Next up is wheel alignment. This is the term used to describe the measurement of the position of each wheel on your car. When a wheel is out of alignment, the car won’t handle properly, will become more difficult to keep on the road, and your tire tread will wear much faster.
Again, you’ll need to take your car to a qualified tire shop with the expertise to put all four wheels back in proper alignment.
6Knowing When to Replace Tires
Soon or later you will need to buy new tires for your car or truth. This is a simple reality of life. No matter how much you spend on a set of tires, they will eventually wear out and be unsafe to drive on.
Every driver should pay close attention to the quality of tread on their tires. And if your tread appears suspiciously smooth, that means it’s time to have an expert take a look or go ahead and invest in a new set so that you can travel with peace of mind.
7The Benefits of New Tires
New tires provide a variety of benefits. They will get better traction on the road, especially at higher speeds and during bad weather conditions. This is incredibly important for keeping you and your family safe.
A new set of tires will also make your vehicle easier to drive and provide improved fuel economy. That’s because your vehicle will produce less variation, offering a smoother ride so that the engine doesn’t have to work so hard. Thus your new tires will actually end up saving you money in the long run.
A Car owner’s Guide to Proper Tire Maintenance for Safer Driving
Staying safe on the road is important. Fortunately, these tips for tire maintenance will help make sure you get home safely each and every day.
Keep exploring this blog for more great lifestyle tips and advice.
