Best Tire Maintenance Tips
When it comes to routine maintenance for cars, tire maintenance ranks up there as one of the most important things to keep an eye on. However, they’re also one of the more expensive parts of your vehicle that you’ll have to replace on a regular basis. Depending on your type of vehicle, the type of tires, and even the size of your tires, new tires could end up costing you some serious coin. That’s why car owners want the most out of each set of tires they purchase. However, without proper tire care you could end up replacing it way before you need to. Here are 5 tips to keep your tires in great shape and make sure you’re getting maximum tire life.
Wheel Alignment
Misaligned tires can wreak havoc on your suspension and steering systems. This problem means your handling and suspension systems are off, causing your tires to wear down quicker and unevenly. Wheel alignment perfectly sets the wheels and axles to ensure even wear and improve handling and suspension.
Tire Rotation
Tires should often be rotated to ensure that tires wear evenly on all sides. Many manufacturers recommend rotating front to back and left to right every time you change your oil. Doing regular tire rotations is one of the easiest ways to ensure you get the most out of your tires.
Tire Pressure
Another easy way to ensure your tires wear evenly is by frequently checking and maintaining pressure. The proper tire pressure is listed on the inside of the driver’s side door frame. Many times this is considerably lower than the max psi stamped on the wall of the tire itself. However, these are the correct factory pressure levels for fuel efficiency and max tire life.
Tire Balancing
Unbalanced tires may bring about a number of issues for you. First, they cause unnecessary shaking or vibrations in the seat and steering wheel. However, this also causes your tires to wear unevenly and may even make driving straight harder than it has to be. Tire Balancing corrects these problems and resets your wheels and axles back to factory specifications.
Driving & Inspection
A surefire way to ensure the longest tire life is to drive carefully; especially on bumpy roads, poorly maintained roads, gravel roads, etc. Additionally, you should regularly give your tires an eye test to check for nails, screws, and other items that may have punctured your tire. HINT: a tire that slowly loses tire pressure could be an indication of a puncture or another problem.
