Tire Shop Tips for Tire Maintenance
The tire experts at Lamb’s Tire & Automotive know how important it is to maintain your tires. Regular tire maintenance can not only help ensure you get the longest life from your tires—it can also help keep you and your passengers safe on the road.
Five Things to Know About Tires
Many auto problems are caused by neglect. The good news is that by knowing the following, you can protect your tires and keep your major repair bills to a minimum.
1. Your Tires Will Wear Out Eventually
Tires are made of rubber, which wears out. The tires on your vehicle are the one part of the car connected to the road. Their tread eventually wears down, and that makes the car harder to stop. At that point, everyone in the car, as well as others in the cars around you, are in danger. The result could be a blowout on the road, which can be deadly.
A simple visual inspection of your tires can remedy this. Check monthly for normal wear, uneven wear, and foreign objects in the tires. This is your responsibility as the owner of the vehicle.
2. Cars Out of Alignment Spell Trouble for Tires
Your car’s wheel and tire assembly is subject to a lot of regular wear on the road. It can be knocked out of alignment by hitting curbs, potholes, or from an accident. It also happens when a part of the car associated with the suspension becomes worn.
As you inspect the tires, pay attention to bald spots. Even though the rest of the tread on the tire may look normal, bald spots usually mean a wheel has come out of alignment. Tires don’t wear out unevenly unless the car’s alignment is off.
Other clues that your car needs realignment are:
- The car drifts to one side
- The steering wheel remains out of position after turning
- The steering wheel vibrates
- The tires squeal
Have our mechanics check it out so you won’t experience unnecessary tire wear.
3. Bad Shocks Affect Your Tires
Bad shocks cause tires to have choppy wear on the edges. This goes back to that visual inspection you need to do each month. If a car’s struts or shocks become worn or damaged, flat spots develop on the tire tread.
The tread can also develop flat spots if your car sits in one place without moving for a period of time. A simple solution to prevent this from occurring is to drive the car periodically.
4. Squealing From Your Tires Isn’t Normal
On the other hand, Your chance of becoming involved in a serious accident increases if your tires are underinflated, and overinflation causes its own tire problems as well. This problem is easy to fix. Simply make sure your tires have the correct pressure. If you’re not sure how to do this, or don’t know how to add (or remove) air from tires, ask for help! Come to Lamb’s and we will assist you.
Tire tread wear that is ignored also results in squealing tires. By the time your tires squeal, you may already need to replace them. Poor front-end alignment can cause squealing, too.
This is good news because you can prevent it all!
5. Vibrations Mean Tire Trouble
It can be unsettling to have your steering wheel suddenly begin vibrating wildly as you merge onto a highway and increase your speed. You may not associate vibrations with tire problems. But tires that are out of balance can cause these vibrations, so get to Lamb’s as quickly as you can for an inspection and possible tire balancing.
The Basics of Rotating and Balancing Tires
No, they aren’t the same thing. Rotating tires and balancing them are different actions taken to the wheel and tire assembly. However, they both need to be done to keep your tires in good condition, so let’s find out more.
Tire Rotation Is Critical
The tires on your car wear differently at each position. Left in their original positions indefinitely, the wear will increase until the tires are no longer safe to drive on.
Uneven tire wear is especially true when comparing the front and rear tires. As you do your visual inspection each month or so, you will see evidence of this. The fastest and most effective way to deal with this is to have the tires on your car rotated on a regular basis. By scheduling routine maintenance for your tires as well as the rest of your car, you will prevent as much of the wear as possible. This means a longer life for each tire, plus you will be sure that your vehicle is stable on the road.
A logical question to ask is: how often should the tires be rotated? Make sure you read the tire warranty thoroughly so you know how often tire rotation will be required. Then discuss this with your Lamb’s tire specialist for their input.
General recommendations about rotating tires say that tires should be rotated at first 5,000 miles. This is because new tires wear more quickly due to their deeper tread. After that, a rotation every 6,000 to 8,000 miles is adequate. Add this service to your other routine maintenance visits, like an oil change. It won’t harm your tires if they get rotated more often than necessary, but there will be damaging uneven wear if you ignore or forget to have this done.
Tire rotations are done by removing the wheel and tire assembly and moving it to one of the other three positions in the assembly.
Tire Balancing Is Important, Too
Balancing the tires is different from rotating them, but the two actions are related. As tires experience wear, the driver will begin to feel the imbalance. There may be a vibration in the steering wheel, which means the front tires are out of balance. If the vibration is felt in the seats, the rear tires are unbalanced.
There are several consequences to ignoring these vibrations. Fuel consumption can go up, and one or more new tires may be needed sooner than necessary. Plus, if a worn spot on the tire wears completely through, a blowout can result. If this occurs at a high speed, passengers may be injured or killed as the car loses contact with the road and the driver loses control of the car.
Tires are balanced by removing the wheel and tire assembly and using computerized equipment to locate exactly where the imbalances are. Then, small weights are attached to the rims of the wheel to correct the imbalance. The wheel and tire assembly are then remounted on the car.
Lamb’s Tire and Automotive provides top-of-the-line tire sales and maintenance, in addition to other auto repair services. We can assist with tire maintenance, diagnosing a tire repair issue, and choosing new tires when needed. Lamb’s is your one-stop tire shop for all of your needs.
Lamb’s Tire Services
Tires are a big investment and regular maintenance makes sure that they will last as long as possible.
Lamb’s tire maintenance includes:
- Checking the tire tread for wear
- Tire rotation to even out natural tread wear
- Checking the spare
- Tire balancing
- Wheel bearing inspected
- Wheel and tire alignment
- Tire pressure checked
- Checking Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS)
Ask a Lamb’s tire specialist to recommend a schedule of maintenance checks that can help ensure your tire warranty is protected.
