Proper Tire Maintenance, Protect Your Investment And Save Money
Proper Tire Maintenance, Protect Your Investment And Save Money
Posted on August 6, 2024
Tire Maintenance
It is important to take care of the tires you purchased for your vehicle since they’re constantly being worn down. Maintaining your tires will increase their life, and end up saving you time and money in the future.
Always make sure to have the correct tire pressure based on your vehicle, this ensures a smooth ride and proper contact patch of the tires tread. Under-inflated tires will create more heat and wear the inner and outer edges of your tires. Over-inflated tires will reduce the amount of tread that is in contact with the road. This will decrease the amount of control you have while accelerating, braking, and cornering, in addition to only wearing the centre of your tires tread.
Your vehicle’s tire pressure rating can typically be found inside the drivers door or in the owner’s manual.
Balanced tires
Properly balanced tires will allow for better ride quality, especially at higher speeds. If your wheels are unbalanced you will feel a vibration as the vehicles speed increases. When the tires are unbalanced this causes the wheels to “bounce” off the road, decreasing the life of your tires as well as suspension components.
Rotate tires
Rotating your tires at regular intervals will greatly increase their lifespan. The front tires undergo more wear since they steer the vehicle. Tires should be rotated every 10,000km or at every oil change, whichever comes first.
Vehicle alignment
Aligning the steering system of your vehicle plays a big role in the life of your tires. A misaligned vehicle will quickly destroy a set of tires, costing you time and money. View our post on vehicle alignment for more information.
Condition of suspension components
Worn out suspension components such as shocks, struts, and coil/leaf springs can cause your vehicle to ride poorly over bumps, or while at highway speeds. When these components aren’t working properly you will have less control of the vehicle and the wheels will move a lot more due to imperfections in the road. This movement will wear down your tires quickly, reducing their lifespan.
Appropriate tires for the season
Changing your tires based on the season will not only allow you to have more control of your vehicle, but it will also increase the lifespan of both sets of tires since you will switch between them every 6 months.
It is important to switch your tires at the correct time in the season. For example, you should never run your snow tires during summer conditions, this will cause them to wear down rapidly since they are made of a softer rubber compound.
Proper storage
Properly storing spare tires is important to their lifespan. Clean the tires before storing them to remove any dirt or chemicals that could cause the rubber to harden or crack. Make sure they are out of direct sunlight, elevated off of concrete floors, and wrapped in waterproof bags.
400 Chrysler offers tire storage starting at $89.95 per season, contact our service department for more information on storing your tires.
