Tire Service in Okarche, OK

Perhaps one of the most overlooked parts of your car is your tires. However, those four pieces of rubber are one of your vehicle’s most important parts. Without them, nothing else on your car really matters. That is why taking care of your tires is vital. Here’s more on the importance of good tires:

With just a few minutes of maintenance every month, you can prolong the life of your tires, get optimum efficiency from your car, and improve its overall handling.

How to Properly Maintain Your Tires

One aspect of good tire health is maintaining proper pressure. While most vehicles now are equipped with automatic tire pressure monitoring systems to alert you when your tire pressure it too low, your efficiency and handling can already be affected before that warning goes off.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, having properly inflated tires can increase your fuel efficiency by up to 3.3 percent. Under-inflated tires have more rolling resistance, which means they require more energy and fuel to move. On the other hand, over-inflated tires reduce overall performance because there is less rubber touching the road.

Whether over-inflated or under-inflated, improper air pressure puts unneeded stress on your tires and can cause uneven wear. Additionally, tires with uneven tread can potentially cause accidents.

To make sure that your tires are at the proper pressure, simply use an air pressure gauge. You can check within the driver’s door jamb to see what the recommended air pressure is for your car. It is best to check the pressure often when the weather is cold.

Unscrew the cap from the valve stem, touch the gauge to the stem, and push down for a second to let a little air escape. After that, read the pressure markings. You can repeat this again to ensure accuracy. Add air as needed.

Another aspect of tire health is tread depth. Have your tires rotated routinely to ensure even wear and replace your tires when the tread is at or below 4/32nds of an inch. This is another simple way to ensure your tires are in top shape.

Types of Tires: Which is Right for You?

Tires are an extremely complex car component, with strict standards and a range of types and manufacturers to choose from. If you thought tires were just a bit of inflated rubber, you couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, aside from tire maintenance like rotations and pressure checks, you should also be careful to select the right type of tire.

Types of tires vary depending on manufacturer, but there are some basic categories that you can find. They are seasonal, performance, off-road, and truck tires. According to Tire Rack, there are important distinctions to make between each category.

Seasonal tires are all-season, winter, or summer tires. Winter tires have special compounds so the tires don’t get hard in freezing temperatures, as well as treads to add grip and divert water and slush. Summer tires are made for hot temperatures, and their tread design can reduce wear without sacrificing grip. All-season tires have a bit of everything, but they don’t excel in any particular climate.

Performance tires are made for the track. They can handle high-speed competition, and they often develop more gripping power as they heat up. There are also wet track tires for when it rains, autocross, and drag-racing radials for quick acceleration.

Off-road tires are made for the mud, sand, dirt, and snow. Most come with thick treads and durable components—great for off-road trails but bad for the street. They’re also made to better distribute weight, and some have special grooves to grip rocks and other obstacles. Off-road tires are often made for low-speed driving.

Truck tires may also be called towing or payload tires because many are made for high-pressure situations. Trucks that add thousands of pounds in payload need tires that can withstand the weight without exploding or cracking. There are various seasonal truck tires, as well as SUV and light pickup tires, but most do relatively the same job.

These are just the basic types of tires. There are endless subcategories that you should also consider. Just be sure to get tires that best fit your needs. No matter what you’re looking for, you can find it at Carter Chevrolet.