You know the importance of car maintenance, but how do you maintain your tires? There are a few things you can do to get the most out of your tires in Kansas City, providing you with a more comfortable, safer, and more efficient ride.
Tire Pressure
The number one thing you can do to prolong the life of your tires is to make sure they’re properly inflated. An underinflated tire can begin to wear unevenly, reducing grip and rubbing away your tire while it should still have plenty of life left.
The tread, the part of your tire that makes contact with the road, is much thicker and more robust than the sidewall, the area between the tread and the wheel. But an underinflated tire can put the sidewall in contact with the road, which not only wears your tires away faster, it also reduces your grip. It’s a safety issue.
To reduce this risk, check your tire pressure regularly. Visually inspect your tires every few days and be ready with a tire gauge if one looks low. You can reference your car’s factory recommended tire pressure via a sticker on your driver’s door sill.
Alignment
Wheel alignment is the science of making sure all your wheels are pointing exactly where they need to be. If your car is out of alignment, it may pull to the right or left, rather than driving straight naturally. If your front left wheel is pointed a few degrees outward, an alignment term called toe, it’s rubbing more than it needs to be against the road. Rather than rolling true, it’s “dragging” along. That means more friction and more tire wear.
There are several factors of alignment other than toe, including caster & camber, and incorrect settings can all lead to accelerated tire wear.
Season
We’ve covered this in greater detail before in other blogs speaking to all-season tires, winter tires, and snow tires, meaning that yes, tires have different seasons. Summer tires are specifically formulated to stay grippy but durable during the summer heat, while winter tires remain soft in colder temperatures, when summer tires would harden.
While most tires on the road today are all-season tires, which maintain a happy medium between summer and winter compounds, if you have summer tires on during the winter, or vise-versa, they’ll wear faster than they should.
Driving Style
This one is pretty obvious. The more aggressively you drive, the faster your tires will wear. High-speed cornering, burnouts, and quick braking maneuvers might be fun, but they do take their toll on tires. There’s a reason race cars have pit stops to get new tires.
Keeping an Eye on the Road
Kansas City, we know potholes, don’t we? The perpetual menace of the roads, these tire munchers appear all year long, but especially in the winter. If you can safely dodge a pothole, do it. Some potholes are deep enough to seriously damage your tires, and sometimes, your wheels. You can protect them with an attentive driving style and a sharp reaction time. This also goes for curbs and random road debris.
Whether you’ve gotten the most out of your tires and you’re ready for a new set, or you want to add a set of winter wheels, to your tire strategy, Zohr can take care of it. Our tire replacement service is one of a kind and brings mobile tire replacement technicians to you. You order online, then we arrive the same day or the next day at your home or office and change your tires while you get on with your life. No smelly waiting rooms, no wasted time. Start shopping now!
How to Choose All-Season Tires for Snow and Ice | Zohr
