Important Tire Maintenance for Your Car
Important Tire Maintenance for Your Car
Presented by Gary Miller CDJR
The tires of your vehicle are the one thing that connects you to the road and are also one of the most important safety features of your car. This makes taking care of your tires an easy way to ensure your safety on the road. The service professionals in the service center at Gary Miller Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram wanted to offer you a few tips on the most important ways to maintain your tires to ensure your safety and greatly extend the life of your tires. Continue reading to learn more!
Tire Pressure Checks
Checking your tire pressure is the quickest and easiest way to enhance your safety and the life of your tires. Overinflation and under-inflation can both cause harm to your tires. Under-inflated tires create a large, flat surface area that touches the road, causing premature, uneven wear to the outer edges of the tires. On the other hand, overinflated tires can cause the tire tread to expand, which creates uneven tire wear on the tire surface that contacts the road. It is recommended to have your tire pressure checked each month to make sure all are within the correct pounds-per-square-inch (PSI) specifications. You can find the correct PSI on the placard on the driver's door jamb of your vehicle or in the owner's manual. It's also imperative to check all four tires at the same time to ensure proper inflation in each tire.
Tire Rotations and Balancing
The most effective way to extend the life of your tires is to get regular tire rotations and balancing. Rotating the tires is so important because most of your vehicle's weight is in the front due to the location of the engine and transmission. This weight causes the front tires to wear down quicker than the back. It is advised that you rotate your tires approximately every 5,000 miles to take the tires from the front and put them on the back to keep the tread wear even throughout the whole life of the tires. This simple process will also extend the life of your tire and ensure you have good tread depth to keep you safe in all weather conditions. Tire balancing, which is recommended to be checked during each rotation, will prevent tires from cupping and becoming chopped, which creates a significantly uneven tire surface.
Wheel Alignments
It is just as important to protect the outside edges of your tires as it is to protect the road surface. There are little channels called 'sipes' on the tire surface's outer edge that whisk water away from the tire's road surface, giving you optimal grip in wet weather. There are three specifications that go into keeping your wheels properly aligned. The first is called camber, the verticle angle of your tires. Camber has two specs, positive and negative. Positive camber causes the bottom of the wheels to lean in while the top kicks out, while negative camber has the opposite effect. Next is the toe, which is the horizontal angle of your wheels. Toe-in angles the tires towards the center of the vehicle, while toe-out points the tires outwards. Although the angle is slight, the toe being out of spec will create a dragging effect, which will cause uneven wear and decreased gas mileage. The last alignment specification is caster, the angle of your steering axis. Every vehicle manufacturer has an exact degree of caster required to ensure even tire wear and optimize traction.
Give your tires proper care at Gary Miller CDJR
The highly-trained, certified technicians and mechanics at Gary Miller Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram have the skills and knowledge to ensure you get the best life out of your tires and stay safe on the road, no matter where your journey takes you. When you bring your car to the Gary Miller CDJR service center, you can be sure your vehicle is getting the best care possible. If your tires need replacing, one of our tire experts will advise you on the best tire to fit your car and your budget. We look forward to seeing you!
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Max payload/towing estimate ratings shown. Additional options, equipment, passengers, and cargo weight may affect payload/towing weights. See dealer for details.