Every day, people drive to and from work in their vehicles, their primary means of transportation. With it being such a crucial thing that people need, they must take care of it. One of the ways that people can do is the tires on their car. Though a regular but not frequent thing that needs to be replaced, only a few know the importance of it, with the rest just doing it because they are told to by their mechanic, family, or friends. Tires are the only thing that makes contact with the road, making them a crucial part of being able to drive. It affects not just the vehicle's handling but the vehicle's safety, ride, and braking. If not taken care of properly, it can result in something like needing to replace more than just the tire or something more severe like a crash. However, these situations can be easily avoided by knowing a few simple things to look for.
One of the simplest things that one could check is their tread depth. This is important because the tread on the tire maintains traction on the road and allows it to shed water on wet roads. If you want the most accurate way of checking if your tread depth is good, you can get a simple gauge that can be picked up in most automotive/parts stores. Or you could do it with a quarter. You want to first insert the quarter into the tread with Washington's head facing down. If you cannot see Washington's head, your tires should have at least 4/32" of tread left, which is okay to use; you might want to consider looking for new tires soon, depending on how often you drive the car.
Another easy way of maintaining your tires and extending the life of your tires is to make sure they are at the correct pressure. Doing this prevents you from contacting the side of the tire on the road, which isn't designed to be driven on. It's good practice to check them about once a month because tires can be burped and lose air slowly over a long period of time. The pressure/air in the tire is measured in pounds per square inch(psi). When the car door is opened, you can usually find the proper amount of psi needed for your tire on the driver-side door jam. There are a couple of different gauges that you can use to check the psi. They are digital, dial, or pen/stick gauges. All you need to do is firmly apply the gauge to the valve stem to get the psi. AAA has one on their website here if you want a more in-depth step-by-step. They also provide a list of things that you need to look for, like over or underinflating the tire.
When your tires do get to the point of needing to be changed, it's good to know what tire is best for your vehicle. If you want to avoid figuring out what size tire you need, you can go to your local tire shop and ask what kind of tires would be best for you to run. If you want to avoid that, here is what you need to know when buying new tires. One of the first things you need to know is the tire size, which can also be found on the door jam with the recommended tire size. This usually looks like 225/45 R17. The first number represents the tire's width, the second is the aspect ratio, and the last is the rim diameter. Next, you need to figure out what kind of tires you want, for example, all-season or winter/snow tires. Deciding this depends on what conditions you usually drive in. If you are driving in the cold or snow, you'll want to get that kind of tire.
If you do these things, you'll be able to extend the life of your tires and ensure the safety you need while driving. After reading this, I hope you've better understood what you need to look for and do with your tires to stay safe.Smart Motorist
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