The spring season is not only the perfect time of the year to clean out your closets, it’s a great time to have a thorough auto maintenance check performed. Having your tires checked is extremely important part of this process, especially if you intend to take trips this summer. Following are a few tire safety basics every vehicle owner should be aware of.
- Examine Tire Tread: Take a close look at the tread on your tires. If the tire tread does not appear to be wearing evenly, there are often other challenges causing the problems. Uneven wear usually indicates that the tires are not balanced, that there is a challenge with the vehicle’s alignment, or that the tires are not properly inflated.
- Maintaining The Right Tire Pressure: Although the sidewall of the tire offers a tire pressure recommendation, that number is generally the maximum pressure that the tire can handle. A better indication of the proper level is found in your vehicle’s owner’s manual.
- Sidewall Information: Many owners are not aware of the wealth of information located on the sidewall of the tire, but awareness of that information can be extremely helpful. The sidewall tells owners the size of the tire, the load rating, the wear rating, temperature, traction rating, and the date of manufacture. Two important things to note–first, the higher the wear rating, the longer it should take to wear the tires down, and second, total service life is generally ten years from the date of manufacture (regardless of how long the tire sat in inventory).
- Replace Two or Four At A Time? Most experts advise vehicle owners to either replace all four tires at the same time, or to replace two tires on the same axle. When replacing two, mount the two new tires on the rear axle for better stability.
In business for 55 years, Allan Block Insurance is constantly working to keep you and your family safe, and that safety includes assuring that your vehicle also carrier quality auto insurance coverage with sufficient coverage limits. As the largest independent agency in Tarrytown, our agents are able to work with a number of top quality carriers to locate the best (and most affordable) policy for your insurance needs.
