Things To Consider When It Is Time To Replace The Tires On Your Car
Understanding your car's tire sizes and requirements is vital when you are ready to replace them with a new set. Modern vehicles include the tires on them in the suspension system engineering, so having the tire shop replace them with an equivalent tire is critical to preserving the car's ride and handling.
Tread Depth
You should replace the tires on your car once the tread wears enough that the wear bars on the tread are even with the tread itself.
The tire shop tech can measure the tread depth with a depth gauge that will give them the depth at several places on the tire to determine if they need replacing or not. If the tread is wearing thin, you may experience issues with traction and handling in wet weather, and the vehicle can quickly become challenging to drive.
If the tread is worn enough to see any polyester or steel threads inside the rubber, the tires are extremely unsafe, and they need attention right away.
Tire Size
Getting the right size tires for your vehicle is not hard. The tire size is located in several easy places for you to check. The inside of the driver's door has a sticker near the latch mechanism that lists the tire size and air pressure requirements.
If the sticker is missing from the door, you can consult your owner's manual, which should have an entire section dedicated to the tire size, the air pressure, rotating them, and when you should service them. The tire shop will also have access to this information, and for most cars, you can find the details online if you can't get it anywhere else.
The vehicle may have had several tire sizes available based on the wheels used, so if you have a steel wheel and there was also an aluminum wheel as an option, use the one you currently have as a guide. Once you know what size tire you need, the last thing to consider is the tread pattern.
Tire Tread Patterns
Tire tread patterns are made for different uses, but most typical all-season tires have a pattern that will shed water, work well in light snow and limited traction situations, and right comfortably on the road. You can try and match the pattern of the original tires on your car, but it is not critical that they are precisely the same.
Talk to the tech or the service advisor at the tire shop about the options available in the tire size you need. There will often be several different price levels of tires that have similar tread patterns to your original tires, making it easier for you to match your new tires to your budget range.
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