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Regular maintenance on tires is as important as an oil change. The best way to avoid an unexpected blowout while driving is to manually inspect your tires regularly. When inspecting your tires, look for:

Uneven Tread Wear

The three main reasons tires wear quicker than their rating or unevenly is underinflation, misalignment, and improper balancing. Uneven tread wear is as slight as one tread having a different tread depth than the other, a rippled pattern of high and low wear, or exposed steel wire. If the tire has a tread wear square such as many Cooper Tires, the vehicle owner can easily inspect the squares on the tire to see where the wear is at and if it is uneven from one side of the tire to the other. Wichita Tire Shop>>

Shallow Tread

Summer tires, winter tires, and all season tires are extremely different. The difference will be in the compounds that make up these tires and the amount of siping and style of circumferential grooves the tires have. Each will react differently when bald. The main effect is they will lack traction with the road, no matter what conditions you are driving in. Consider summer tires, which have none to very little siping, these tires whenbald skid and slide on the pavement. When tread depth is lower than recommended, tires are more easily damaged by road hazards. Minimally, tread should be measured to 2/32 of an inch (1.6 mm). This is across the entire footprint of the tire. You can easily use the edge of a penny tread depth everywhere on the tread face. Place the penny in the tread with Lincoln’s head facing the tread, if you can see all of his head replace your tires. Consider the Cooper CS5, which has a “tread wear indicators.” This box is strategically placed on the inside middle and outside of the tire allowing for tread height identification across the tread.

Road Debris

Stones, pieces of glass, metal (nails, & other sharp objects) and other foreign materials can easily wedge into the tread. Actively remove these objects from your tread. Be mindful, that removing a sharp object may result in a flat, so if you suspect it will, consider removing it at at a tire shop. Not removing these objects will cause them to be further pushed into the many layers of the tire, which further damages the tire.

Damaged Areas

The tire can have damage already. Cracks, cuts, splits, punctures, holes and bulges in the tread or on the sides of the tire can indicate serious problems, and the tire may need to be replaced. These are areas that need to be inspected by a trained professional.

Slow Leaks

Tires are not completely impermeable. Tires lose inflation pressure (about 2 psi or 14 kPa) each month. When a tire needs daily or weekly inflation, it’s a good chance the tire needs inspection for tire, wheel or valve issues that are leading to additional pressure loss, if necessary, repair or replace the tire.

Valve Caps

Replace valve caps when they are lost. Valve caps on the valve stems keep moisture and dirt out of the tire. A good rule of thumb is to have your valve stem assembly & caps replaced when you replace the tire. If during your inspection you see something suspicious, have it examined by your tire service professional. Pay attention to how your tire feels when you drive, as a rough ride may indicate tire damage or excessive wear. Vibrations and other driving disturbances, or other suspected tire damage need to be handled with caution. If you are driving, reduce you driving speed, drive with caution until you can safely pull over and inspect the tire for damage. Best practice is to install a spare tire if the tire has damage, in order to reduce the chance of irreparably damaging the tire or placing yourself in damage. Automotive Repair Wichita>>