Getting the Most Life Out of Your Tires

Tire maintenance is always essential, no matter what kind of vehicle you drive. The better you maintain the tires on your vehicle, the longer they will last and the safer they are. If you are not sure how to maintain the tires correctly, an excellent place to start is the owner's manual for your vehicle.

Tire Pressure

Tire maintenance should include checking the tire pressure for your vehicle. If the tires are underinflated, driving the vehicle will cause the tire to spread out more, and the sidewall of the tire can make contact with the road surface, causing damage to the sidewalls that will result in needing to replace the tire prematurely. 

The sidewalls on most passenger tires are only two-ply construction, and the steel belts in the tire do not extend to the sidewalls, so scuffing them along the road surface is extremely bad for the tires.

Ove- inflating them will cause the tire to wear on the tread, but often tires will wear right in the center and not evenly over the tread. Once the center wears thin, the tires will need replacement, so keeping the proper inflation for the tires is critical to extending their lives.

Tire Rotation

Tire rotation is another essential part of tire maintenance on your vehicle. Rotation allows even wear of the tires, even if one position on the vehicle wears a little different from the other three. Because each tire eventually rotates through the position with the different wear patterns, all the tire will wear that same way, and no one tire will wear out early. 

If you have a specific position on your car that produces strange wear patterns, you should have the car checked out by a mechanic, but rotating the tires with each oil change can help with tire maintenance until you can correct the issue. Check with the tire manufacturer about the number of miles it is safe to put on the car between tire rotations and look at the recommendation in your vehicle's owner's manual if you still have the factory tires on the vehicle. 

Treat The Tires

When you wash your car or truck, treating the tires' sidewalls on your vehicle with a rubber protectant can help extend the life of the tires. Tire maintenance includes taking care of the tire's condition, and the side walls are the most commonplace for a tire to dry out and crack. 

Putting a good rubber protectant on the tires keeps the rubber from drying out, and if the car is sitting unused, the protectant can make a significant difference in the tire maintenance for your vehicle.

For more information about tire maintenance, contact a local professional.

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