Five Tire Maintenance Tips
Posted May 1, 2023
Tires are often an overlooked item for vehicle maintenance, but are critical for the proper operation of your car and essential to driver/passenger safety. Far too many poorly-maintained tires are leading causes of car accidents every year. Poorly-maintained tires can even make it hard to drive and cause a drop in gas mileage. Here are five tire maintenance tips that will hopefully help you stay safely on the road:
1) Routine Tire Inspection. Every time you get in and out of the car, whether it is to just get gas or park, it’s important to do a quick physical inspection of your tires. Look for things like uneven wear, bulges, bumps, or items protruding from the tire itself such as nails or other debris. If you see any of these, bring the car in quickly to an auto repair shop to have the tires checked by a professional.
2) Monthly Air Pressure Check. An easy inspection item for your tires you can do yourself is to check the tire pressure monthly. Each car and tire is unique so you will have to check your vehicle owner’s manual as well as the technical specifications right on the tire itself.
3) Uneven Wear Check By A Professional. Tires that are unevenly worn may be a sign that your alignment needs correcting. This can cause poor gas mileage and even lead to driver fatigue and tires not lasting as long as advertised on their warranty. Often, an alignment check and balance will fix this. You can even use what is known as the “penny test” to see if the tire’s tread is worn too thin.
4) Tire Balance & Rotation. A brand new tire can disturb the balance among the remaining older tires. A proper tire balancing/rotation can fix this and make sure that there will continue to be even wear and proper handling and steering.
5) Spare Tire. An all too often a forgotten maintenance item is checking the spare tire. Checking it for proper inflation as well as making sure you have the correct jack, lug wrench and other safety items required to safely change the tire should be a regular occurrence.
If you have any further questions regarding tire maintenance, be sure to give our ASE-certified technicians a call at 303-347-1010!
Categories: Car Care Tips
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