The tires that are mounted on your vehicle are the only thing between you and the road. Where rubber meets asphalt is the only support your multi-thousand pound car or truck has in order to operate safely. That means the entire load – the car, you, the kids, grandma – depend upon a very small footprint for mobility and performance. Luckily, today’s tire technology provides for safe, long lasting serviceability when used as directed by the tire manufacturer.
Most of us don’t stop to think much about tires, as long as they’re not flat. While the occasional nail may happen to puncture a tire, in order to maintain a safe course while driving it is very important to follow a couple of general rules in order to get the longest ife and best performance from your tires.
Tire Pressure:
Correct tire pressure is the amount of air that will inflate a tire to its desired capacity for safe, regular use. Tires are all rated differently so it is important to know what the specification is for the tires on your vehicle. To ensure proper tire inflation, each tire’s PSI (pounds per square inch) rating can generally be found on the side of the tire. The PSI level of each tire – including the spare (which may have a different rating from the other tires on your vehicle) – should be measured with an air pressure gauge on a regular basis.
If there is too little, or too much air pressure in one or more tires it can drastically affect several aspects of how your vehicle operates, and performs. From the simple, such as a loss of fuel efficiency, to catastrophic, such as a blow out. Having the correct level of inflation in each of your tires will ensure things like getting the best gas mileage, and also helps your tires last longer, which are both beneficial to your wallet.
Tire Tread:
Besides maintaining the proper air pressure in each of the tires another important factor to keep an eye on is the depth of the tread on each tire. Each tire has several grooves that run parallel to the tire surface. As time goes on, this is the part of the tire that will wear down. While each tire manufacturer has different ratings on tread depth for different tires and tire types, each of them all have one thing in common. There will come a day when the depth of those grooves becomes too shallow. When that happens the tire or tires need replacement.
When water accumulates on the road during wet conditions, which is so common during the monsoons especially, tire tread is designed to allow water to be expelled from beneath the tire and prevent hydroplaning. The tread also affects the tires traction on a dry road, helping your vehicle with braking more briskly, provides for smoother acceleration, maximum fuel economy and the ability to take corners tighter . Tire tread depth is essential to a well performing tire and the safety of you and your passengers on the road.
