With so much happening inside a vehicle internally, some seemingly more minor details might get left out of vehicle maintenance. So, you’ve filled up with oil and gas– the engines, brakes, transmission, suspension, and shock systems all seem in place. Without either knowing how long the vehicle has gone on the same set of tires or actually inspecting their condition, it can be easy to forget about them altogether so long as they’re continuing to revolve down the road and get you to where you need to go. Tires can go a long time without proper maintenance, but that can be dangerous, as problems then occur suddenly.
There are maintenance steps to take before the time comes to get a whole new set of tires altogether.
In order to avoid ripping tread, or imbalances, you should have your tires rotated and aligned every 50,000 miles. You also want to make sure your tires have the proper amount of air in them each time you set out, especially if you’ve been covering a lot of ground with shifting landscape– it can be difficult to discern how much wear might’ve accumulated. We’re well aware how much big kinds of weather or textures– snow, gravel– affect tires, but remember that subtleties on the road can as well. Each pothole touched by a tire or rock run over affects the vehicle’s performance.
In the winter, chains on tires can provide extra traction in the snow, but they also wear down roads pretty badly and different states have different laws concerning them, so be aware of those rules. Tires, the vehicle’s feet, are nothing to mess around with. Without proper alignment, air, or tread, they could present major problems that leave the vehicle immobile or cause accidents. Always keep a spare and know where the repair shop is.