Do you like to shop for shoes?

When buying a running shoe, is quality important?

Does durability matter as long as the shoes look fabulous?

Would you rather have one pair of long lasting shoes or two pair of lower quality shoes at the same price?

Is the warranty important when buying tires?

When you choose new tires, what’s the most important factor for you?

You know, buying tires is a big deal. It’s a big ticket item so you know you’ll be spending a lot. You’re not only concerned about the price, but you want to know that it’ll be a long time before you need to buy new tires again.

And of course there’s the safety aspect as well. The tires do a lot of work – they carry the weight of the vehicle and you and your passengers. They need to be up to the task. You want to be sure they hold the road and provide good traction. If you carry heavy loads or tow a trailer, the tires need a high load rating to be up for the job.

As a tire professional, I think it’s important that people understand the effect of price on a tire’s performance and durability. When I was a kid, my dad had a saying. He said, “Pay twice as much and buy half as many.”

Dad applied that to a lot of things. He thought that one high quality suit would last longer and look better than two cheap suits. The saying really seems to hold true when it comes to shoes and boots.

I buy high-quality work shoes because I spend a lot of time on my feet. They’re more comfortable, have important safety features like steel toes and non-slip soles – and they last at least twice as long as cheap shoes. I feel I get very good value for my money.

I apply the same thinking to tires. The major tire brands that you’re familiar with are known as Tier 1 tires. These tires are well-engineered and very high quality. Comparable tires are usually in the same price range from brand to brand.

Stepping down in price you come to private label tires. Some large tire store chains carry tires with the chain’s own brand. It’s important to know that most private label tires are built by the same Tier 1 brands that you are familiar with – so they are a quality product. You can ask your tire professional who makes their private brand.

The lowest priced tires on the market are Tier 3 tires. These tend to be imported from China or South America. Since you get what you pay for, you can’t expect a Tier 3 tire to deliver the same performance and durability as the others.

So let’s say you need new tires. You’ve determined the features you need. So you have several options, including price options. Now, you’ve probably heard the term “it’s a 40 thousand mile tire” or “it’s a 60 thousand mile tire”. Simply put, the manufacturer warrantees the tire for “X” number of miles. If that’s important to you, look for the warranty.

What’s the difference in the tires with higher mileage warranties? It’s the rubber compounds and the amount of tread material. As you might expect, you’ll pay more for the longer-lasting tire.

Now the cheapest tires you can find won’t have a manufacturer’s mileage warranty or if it does, it’ll be relatively low. That brings us back to dad’s saying. If you buy the cheapest Tier 3 tire you can, you will likely go through two sets in the time it would take to wear out one set of good quality tires. And the good tires won’t cost twice as much, so you’ll end up paying more per mile driven with the cheap tires.

Hey, I realize that sometimes the budget will only allow for a Tier 3 tire. I make them available for my customers who need them because I would rather see them driving with safe, new tires than pushing their old tires beyond their safety limits. But I always counsel my customers to buy as much tire as they can afford, because it will be much less expensive in the long run.

Your tires are the only part of your vehicle that touch the road. You’re only as safe as your tires are well built.

Buy value – not price.

With the recent focus on improving fuel economy, we’ve been told how important it is to maintain our tire pressure.

We all know that tires wear out, but we want to make them last as long as possible because they’re fairly expensive to replace. In addition to saving gas, properly inflated tires last longer. Under-inflated tires will wear out more quickly.

Some people wonder if there is benefit to adding a few extra pounds of pressure when they fill up their tires. But actually, there isn’t. In fact, there are very good reasons not to over-inflate your tires. For one, the middle of the tread will wear unevenly because the full tread is not contacting the road properly. That also adversely affects your handling.

Every vehicle has a sticker on the driver’s side door jamb that tells you the manufacturer’s recommended tire pressure. This recommendation is an integral part of the vehicle’s suspension tuning. A lot of engineering actually goes into the recommended tire pressure, so it’s important to follow it.

What else do we need to know about tire maintenance? Tire rotation and balancing are very important. Let’s start with rotation. Because the front tires handle the brunt of turning forces, the shoulders of the front tires wear more quickly than the rear tires. We rotate the tires so that they all get to do some duty on the front and they’ll all wear evenly over their life.

For most vehicles, front tires are rotated to the rear and vice versa. Others recommend a cross rotational pattern. Some vehicles use an asymmetrical tire so those tires need to stay on either the right or left side – it’ll say which on the tire. Some high performance cars have asymmetrical tires and different sizes on the front and rear. These can’t be rotated at all. Your owner’s manual will have details for your car.

How often should you rotate your tires? Your owner’s manual will have a recommendation. Your service advisor can do a visual inspection to let you know if it looks like it should be done. The interval is typically around 5,000 miles.

You know, some people don’t think new tires need to be balanced. What they aren’t taking into account is the wheel. Between the wheel and the tire – even a new tire – there’s enough variation to require balancing.

When you add the valve stem and tire pressure monitoring sensors required on new cars, balancing is definitely in order. When a tire’s out of balance, it’s actually hopping down the road. You’ll feel the vibration through the steering wheel if a front tire’s out of balance and through your seat if it’s a rear tire.

Proper wheel balance promotes tire life and increases safety. Historically, lead weights have been attached to the wheel to bring it into balance. Lead gives some environmental concern, so steel weights are starting to be substituted.

Also, always use the same size tire on an axle. Different size tires on the front or on the back can lead to some real handling problems. And tire manufacturers recommend that when you get two new tires, they be installed on the rear because that’s where you need the most traction to avoid spinning-out.

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Are your tires worn out? What is the standard? How can you tell?

While there may be legal requirements where you live, there are safety concerns that go beyond meeting minimum replacement mandates.

2/32 is the depth of the tire tread wear indicator bars that US law has required to be molded across all tires since August 1, 1968. When tires are worn so that this bar is visible, there’s just 2/32 of an inch – 1.6 millimeters – of tread left. It’s that level of wear that’s been called into question recently.

We’re referring to Consumer Reports‘ call to consider replacing tires when tread reaches 4/32 of an inch, or 3.2 millimeters. And the recommendation is backed by some very compelling studies.

The issue is braking on wet surfaces. Most of us think of our brakes doing most of the work, but if you don’t have enough tread on your tires, the brakes can’t do their job. When it’s wet or snowy, the tread of the tire is even more critical to stopping power.

Picture this: you’re driving over a water covered stretch of road. Your tires must be in contact with the road in order to stop. That means that the tire has to move the water away from the tire so that the tire is actually contacting the road and not floating on a thin film of water.

Floating on the surface of water is called hydroplaning. So if there’s not enough tread depth on a tire, it can’t move the water out of the way and you start to hydroplane.

In the study a section of a test track was flooded with a thin layer of water. If you laid a dime on the track, the water would be deep enough to surround the coin, but not enough to cover it.

A car and a full-sized pick-up were brought up to 70 miles per hour, or 112 kilometers an hour and then made a hard stop in the wet test area. Stopping distance and time were measured for three different tire depths:

• New tire tread depth
• 4/32 of an inch
• 2/32 of an inch

So what happened with the 2/32 tires on the car? Get this – when the car had traveled the distance required to stop with new tires, it was still going 55 miles an hour. Stopping distance was nearly doubled to 379 feet and it took 5.9 seconds.

Wow! That means if you barely have room to stop with new tires, you would hit the car in front of you at 55 miles an hour with the worn tires.

Now, with the partially worn tires – at 4/32 of an inch – the car was still going at 45 miles an hour at the point where new tires brought the car to a halt. It took nearly 100 feet more room to stop and 1.2 seconds longer. That’s a big improvement. We can see why Consumer Reports and others are calling for a new standard.

Of course, stopping distances were greater for the heavier pick-up truck.

How do you know when your tires are at 4/32 of an inch? Easy. Just insert a quarter into the tread. Put it in upside down. If the tread doesn’t cover George Washington’s hairline, it’s time to replace your tires. With a Canadian quarter, the tread should cover the numbers in the year stamp.

You may remember doing that with pennies. A penny gives you 2/32 to Abraham Lincoln’s head. The quarter is the new recommendation – 4/32.

How do people feel about replacing their tires earlier? Well, tires are a big ticket item and most people want to get the most wear out of them that they can. But do you want that much more risk just to run your tires until they are legally worn out? For us, and we would guess for many, the answer is “no”.

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So, everyone knows how great helium is – you know, party balloons, squeaky voices. But a lot of people still haven’t heard about the benefits of nitrogen for your tires, and how it can help your tires.

Nitrogen has actually been around for a long time in the commercial sector, but it’s just starting to catch on for private vehicles.

Why nitrogen in your tires? Air is air, right? Actually, it turns out there is a difference…

The heart of the matter is maintaining proper tire inflation. When your tires are properly inflated, they last longer, handle better and more safely, and they save money at the gas pump. The problem is that tires filled with regular air can lose a pound and a half of air pressure every month. This just happens as the oxygen in the tire seeps out. So if you don’t check your pressure for a month or two, well, you can be significantly low – low enough to actually affect your handling, shorten tire life and waste money at the fuel pump.

How does nitrogen help? Regular air contains about 78% nitrogen. Nitrogen is the largest molecule in air. It’s dry and non-flammable. Air also contains 21% oxygen, which is smaller and seeps out of the tire three to four times faster than nitrogen.

So, a tire filled with nitrogen will take about six months to lose as much pressure as regular air does in just one month. So it’s more forgiving for those of you who don’t check your pressure every week.

Also, when oxygen is at higher temperatures – like those inside your tire when you’ve been driving for awhile – it oxidizes the inside of your tire. Getting the oxygen out of your tire means that it’ll last longer.

Who’s using nitrogen? Well, let’s start with NASCAR and Indy. These racers like nitrogen’s ability to maintain consistent tire pressure and reduce tire temperatures under very demanding conditions. The US government requires all commercial aircraft to have nitrogen in their tires. NASA and the US Military use nitrogen. The mining industry has been filling those “humongous” tires with nitrogen for years. And semi trucks and trailers are starting to use nitrogen extensively.

You may have heard some detractors of nitrogen. But the studies and white papers from tire and vehicle manufacturers demonstrate that the technology really works.

In fact, a prominent consumer research group did a study where they filled some tires with air and some with nitrogen and stacked them outside for a year. They observed that the nitrogen filled tires did hold their pressure better, but they couldn’t see the economic benefit. But that particular test has very little to do with the real world. Most tires are actually holding up cars and they also get driven around and do a lot of work. So if nitrogen helps them last longer, saves gas and gives safer handling, it’s worth considering.

So, when are your tires actually worn out?  This is a question a lot of us ask ourselves.  For many, the answer is when they no longer pass a safety inspection.  But waiting that long can have a serious impact on your safety.

The U.S. Federal government doesn’t have any laws for tread depth, but 42 of the states, and all of Canada, do have regulations.  They consider two-thirty-seconds of an inch to be the minimum legal tread depth.  Two other states, including California, consider one-thirty-second to be the minimum and six states have no standards at all.

Since 1968, U.S. law has required that a raised bar be molded across all tires.  When tires are worn enough that this bar becomes visible, there’s just 2/32” of tread left.  But does that older standard give you enough safety?

Well, Consumer Reports issued a call to consider replacing tires when tread reaches 4/32”.  And the recommendation is backed by some very compelling studies. Now before we go into the studies, you need to know that the big issue is braking on wet surfaces.

We tend to think of the brakes doing all the stopping, but you also need to have effective tires to actually stop the car. When it’s wet or snowy, the tread of the tire is critical to stopping power.

Picture this: you’re driving over a water-covered stretch of road. Your tires actually need to be in contact with the road in order to stop.  That means the tire has to channel the water away so the tire is actually contacting the road and not floating on a thin film of water – a condition known as hydroplaning. When there’s not enough tread depth on a tire, it can’t move the water out of the way and you start to hydroplane.

This is where the studies come in.  We think you’ll be surprised.  A section of a test track was flooded with a thin layer of water.  If you laid a dime flat on the track, the water would be deep enough to surround the coin, but not enough to cover it.

A car and a full-sized pick-up truck were brought up to 70 mph and then made a hard stop in the wet test area.  Stopping distance and time were measured for three different tire depths. First, they tested new tires.  Then tires worn to legal limits.  And finally, tires with 4/32” of tread were tested – this is the depth suggested by Consumer Reports

When the car with the legally worn tires had braked for the distance required to stop the car with new tires, it was still going 55 mph.  The stopping distance was nearly doubled.  That means if you barely have room to stop with new tires, then you would hit the car in front of you at 55 mph with the worn tires.

Now with the partially worn tires – at the depth recommended by Consumer Reports –  the car was still going at 45 mph at the point where new tires brought the car to a halt.  That’s a big improvement – you can see why Consumer Reports and others are calling for a new standard.

Now without going into all the details, let us tell you that stopping the truck with worn tires needed almost 1/10 of a mile of clear road ahead to come to a safe stop. Obviously this is really a big safety issue.

The tests were conducted with the same vehicles, but with different sets of tires.  The brakes were the same, so the only variable, was the tires.

So, how do you know when your tires are at 4/32”?  Well, it’s pretty easy.  Just insert a quarter into the tread.  Put it in upside down.  If the tread doesn’t cover George Washington’s hairline, it’s time to replace your tires.  With a Canadian quarter, the tread should cover the numbers in the year stamp.

Now you may remember doing that with pennies.  But a penny gives you 2/32” of an inch to Abraham Lincoln’s head.  The quarter is the new standard – 4/32”.

Tires are a big ticket item and most people want to get the most wear out of them that they can.  But do you want that much more risk just to run your tires until they are legally worn out? For us, and we would guess for many, the answer is “no”.

Well, Mr. Washington, let’s go out and look at my tires.

Most folks have had a flat tire. You know it’s inconvenient and a pain. Our tires are important. Keeping them in good working order isn’t just a big safety issue – it also has a financial impact. With high gas prices, we’ve all heard about the importance of keeping proper tire pressure to save on gas. In addition, proper inflation promotes even tread wear so your tires last longer.

There’s another danger to under-inflated tires. Low tire pressure puts added stress on the structure of the tire itself, causing it to break down prematurely. Also, under-inflated tires generate more heat which also reduces tire life. So get those slow leaks fixed quickly – don’t just keep airing them up every few days. You want to avoid serious tire damage.

Tires can also be damaged by road hazards. Punctures, cuts and impacts on curbs or potholes can also cause damage that could lead to tire failure. Sometimes, it’s something that a visual inspection would reveal. Take the opportunity to check your tires when you’re gassing up. Look for slashes, missing chunks, nails or screws in the tread or just uneven wear. Of course check the air pressure too.

Now tire damage can be on the inside where you can’t see it until it’s removed from the wheel. Such damage could come from a severe impact, driving on a flat or even just low pressure. Some punctures can cause internal damage that are too severe to be repaired. So, if your tire professional wants to take the time to remove your flat from the rim and inspect the inside before repairing it, he’s just following good procedure.

Now some tires just can’t be repaired. A puncture may be too large to plug. Also, the puncture could be in a location that’s not safe to repair like in the sidewall or outer portion of the tread. So called run-flat tires should not be repaired because their design is such that internal damage can’t be detected by a visual inspection.

It is also important that repairs should only be done by a qualified tire specialist. You can buy self repair kits – save those for emergencies, like when you’re off-roading and need a quick fix so you can hobble back to civilization and get professional help. If you need to use a repair-in-a-can product, remember it’s a temporary measure only and your tire needs to be properly repaired as soon as possible.

Here are some other considerations: Repairing a flat may void your tire manufacturer’s warranty – just something to keep in mind. Also, if you repair a speed rated tire, you should not use it in any motorsports or operate it above legal speed limits. Your tire professional will repair your tire whenever it’s safe to do so and he’ll advise you when it’s better to replace it. So watch those curbs and keep the air – on the inside.

Tires do a lot of work:  They transfer engine power and braking forces to the road; they handle steering control; and they cushion all those bumps and jolts.  They also support the entire weight of the vehicle, including you and your passengers. With such critical work to do, you want your tires to do their job well.  And since replacing tires is fairly expensive, you want them to last as long as possible.

There are three keys to long even tire wear:

1. Proper tire inflation
2. Proper wheel alignment
3. Regular tire rotation and balancing

The front tires on a car take the brunt of the steering forces.  As they push through turns, the shoulders of the front tires wear down more quickly than the rear tires.  Rotating front and rear tires allows them to all wear at about the same rate. That’s especially true of front wheel drive vehicles whose front tires steer, and put the power to the road.

SUVs and pick-ups, especially four wheel drives, also tend to wear their tires more unevenly than cars because of their suspension and drive train set-up. Your owner’s manual will likely contain a schedule for tire rotation.  It’s usually every 5,000 miles or so.

Also, there are different rotation patterns for different vehicles. Your service center will know which is right for your vehicle.  That brings us to wheel balancing.  When wheels are balanced, they spin on the axle evenly.  When they are out of balance, they wobble a bit.  That makes the tires wear unevenly and may transmit a vibration to the car.  Your service technician puts weights on your wheels to balance them out so that they turn true and smooth.

Tires are a big investment for any vehicle.  They’re critical for keeping you safely on the road.  The cost for regular rotation and balancing is more than made up in extended tire life.  And, can you really put a price on your safety and that of your passengers?

When winter approaches, we break out the sweaters, coats, boots and mittens.  We want to be ready for winter conditions.  Your vehicle needs to be ready for winter as well.  The last thing you want is to get stranded out in the cold.  You need your vehicle to be safe and reliable.  It’s a good idea to get caught up on any neglected maintenance items anytime – but the stakes are higher in the winter.

There are some specific things that we need to do to have our vehicle ready for winter. The most obvious is having the antifreeze checked.  If the antifreeze level is too low, it can’t properly protect your engine, radiator and hoses from freezing.  If your car does not seem to be making enough heat to keep you warm, your antifreeze level may be low or you could have a thermostat problem.  Get it checked out.  If you are due for a cooling system service, now is a perfect time to have it done.

In the cold months we always worry about being able to stop in time when it’s slick out.  The first thing to remember is to slow down and allow yourself plenty of room to stop.  Of course, you want your brakes to be working properly.  A thorough brake inspection will reveal if the pads or any other parts need replacing.  Check with your service consultant to see if it is time to replace your brake fluid.  It accumulates water over time which really messes with your stopping power.

It is a really good idea to have your battery tested.  A battery’s cranking power really drops with the temperature.  If your battery is weak in the fall, it may not be up to winter.  There is nothing like a dead battery in a snow storm.

Which leads us to an emergency kit.  You should always have a blanket or something to keep you and your passengers warm if you get stranded.  If you will be venturing away from civilization, pack more items such as food and water to help you survive.  Keeping at least half a tank of gas is a good precaution if you get stuck and need to run the car to keep warm and it will help keep your gas lines from freezing up.

Winter always makes us think of our windshield wiper blades – usually during that first storm when they aren’t working right. That’s why it’s a really good idea to replace your blades in the fall before the winter storms.  If you live where there’s a lot of snow and ice, you might want a special winter blade that resists freezing up.  And be sure to have enough windshield washer fluid.

The final thing to consider is your tires.  Any tire can lose pressure over time – up to one pound every six or eight weeks.  For every 10 degrees the temperature drops you lose another pound of pressure.  So if it was 80 degrees outside when you checked your tire pressure two months ago and now it’s 40 degrees out, you could be down 5 pounds of pressure. That’s enough to be a real safety issue and it wastes gas too.  You may need special winter tires as well.  Your tire professional can help you find the right tire design for your expected road conditions.

If you’re getting winter tires, it is always best to put them on all four wheels.  If you are only getting two, have them put on the rear – even if you have a front-wheel drive or four-wheel drive vehicle.
This is a very important safety measure recommended by tire manufacturers.  Sliding or fish-tailing on ice and snow is a matter of not having enough traction at the rear end.  That is why your newest tires should always be on the rear.

Some of us just love tires. All those little rubber hairs on new tires and the smell is wonderful. We live in a great time for tires.  No matter how you drive, where you want to go or the look you’re after; there is a tire for you.

The same is true about wheels. The hardest part is choosing from the thousands of wheels available.

We may not be able to help with that, but we can help you get some things in mind before you consult with your tire professional.  Let’s start with function and think about how you drive.

For example, maybe you have a large SUV but you don’t drive off-road, so an off-road tread isn’t important.  Also, because you are not out bouncing over rocks, you don’t need a high profile tire to protect your rims. So that means you can probably go with the low-wide look.

If you have a winter season with rain and snow or if you find you need better ice and snow performance, they make great, high-performance snow tires that won’t make it look like you are driving a tractor.

There really are a lot of options for any given vehicle.  You will find it very helpful to have a discussion like this with your tire pro when you need new tires.  You can find the best solutions for your driving needs and to make improvements in ride or handling.

Picking a wheel that is the same size as what you are now running is pretty simple. But, it gets trickier if you want to upsize.  Just get some help when you go bigger.  All that tire and wheel still needs to fit in the available space.  You do not want your tires to rub when you turn or hit a bump.  You also need to make sure your brakes and suspension bits will fit with your wheel of choice. It doesn’t matter how great your car looks if it’s not drivable.

Taller, wider wheels and tires probably weigh more than your stock shoes.  And it’s “unsprung” weight – that has a big impact on brake performance. The upsized shoes increase rotational inertia – if you go too big you may need to upgrade your brakes to compensate.

Another possible problem is an inaccurate speedometer. This happens because the number of rotations can change with the new wheels.  Fortunately, speedometers and odometers are all controlled by the engine computer; so it is simple to get it reprogrammed and compensate for the bigger tires.

No matter what you are after: low cost, long life, high performance, traction or stunning good looks, your wheel and tire professional can help you identify your needs and give you a custom fit.  With all the options available, you don’t have to compromise.  There is a tire out there with your name on it!

You know you need new tires, but you’re not sure what type. You look at a tire to get the size: 225, 50, R, 16, 92, H.  All the way to the service center you keep repeating it over and over. You even say it over in your mind while waiting in line. Then you get to the counter and the manager asks what size you need. Then your mind goes blank.

Tire size can be confusing. There’s so much on the side of the tire, and it’s hard to keep straight.

Even though there’s a lot on a tire – if you know what it all means, it’s actually more helpful than confusing. Let’s start with the size number.

For example, let’s say a tire reads: 225 50 R 16 92 H.  The 225 part is the width of the tire in millimeters – the width between the sidewalls of an inflated tire with no load. The 50 is the aspect ratio – the ratio of the sidewall height to the tread width.  Off-road tires will have a higher number and high performance tires will have a lower number.
The R signifies it’s a radial tire. And 16 is the rim or wheel size in inches.

The 92 is the load rating index – it’s the load carrying capacity of a tire.  The higher the number, the more it can safely carry.  Your empty vehicle can be safe with a lower number, but you’ll need a higher rating if you routinely haul heavy loads. The next letter is the speed rating.  Not all tires are speed rated.  The ratings generally follow the alphabet: the further up the alphabet, the higher the speed rating – with the exception of H – it comes between U and V (don’t ask why).

There’s a lot of fine print that you probably need a magnifying glass to read.  But there are a couple of other large print items of interest.  One is the tread type: highway, mud and snow, all season, severe snow, etc.

And then there’re the Uniform Tire Quality Grading System markings. The first is a tread wear index.  100 is the base line – a lower number is poorer and a higher number is better.  All things being equal, a tire rated 200 would wear twice as long, on a government test track, than one rated at 100. These wear grades are only valid within a manufacturer’s product line – you can’t compare with other manufacturers.  And it’s important to note that a lower rating might be just what you want – a high performance, sticky tire has a softer rubber compound and won’t wear as long, but boy, will it take those corners.

The next is a traction grade.  This measures the tire’s ability to stop on wet pavement in government tests.  A – the best, B – intermediate, C – acceptable.

Temperature grade measures a tire’s resistance to heat build up in government tests.  A, B and C – from best to acceptable.

It’s safe to go with the original equipment recommendations that came on your car.  But if you want to make adjustments, you’ll now be better equipped to communicate with your tire professional.