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Tire safety is a very important part of maintaining your car. If you notice that your tires are worn or you feel a shake or wobble in your steering wheel do not ignore it. These seemingly minor problems could cause you to have a fatal car accident.
If your tires are worn, you should carefully inspect their wear pattern to determine if you have normal wear and just need to replace the tires, or if the wear is abnormal and requires a mechanics attention. If the tread wears evenly across the surface of the tire then it is normal wear. If edge or center appears more worn then you have reason to be concerned. Check for even tread wear by using a tread depth gauge, or by sticking a penny into the tread grooves. The tread depth gauge is the most accurate way to determine tread wear. If the tread is worn down to 1/16th of an inch, or if you can see the top of Lincoln’s head, then the tire needs to be replaced. Some tires contain a built in tread wear indicator. These will appear as smooth bars that only show when the tread is 1/16th or less.
Front and rear tires wear at different rates depending if your car is a front or rear wheel drive. Whichever end is powering the vehicle will wear at a faster pace. This is considered normal as well. Another consideration for deciding if wear is normal is the habits of the driver. If someone tends to take corners at high rates of speed, this will cause the edge of the tire to wear down more rapidly than the centers. If you rotate your tires every 8,000 miles this should help to even out the wear pattern and make it easier to determine if there is a mechanical problem.
Abnormal tire wear can be a result of a suspension problem, the car may be out of alignment, a faulty tire or because your tires were not properly inflated. The best way to identify abnormal tire wear is when the edge of the tire is extremely worn, but the rest of the tire shows little or no wear. This means that the tire was leaning to one side or the other when being driven. This can be very serious as it can be caused by a suspension that is not aligned, a bent strut, or a multitude of other internal damage. Many times this is caused by damaged caused in an accident that was not properly identified and repaired. A mechanic should thoroughly inspect the vehicle to determine what parts need to be replaced to fix the problem.
If you run your hand over your tire and it feels smooth one direction and rough the other, your tires are “toeing” in when you drive. This is also a serious problem. The most common causes are that the car is out of alignment, bent steering linkage or arms or worn tie rod ends or idler arms. This is also a case where a mechanic should be called in to identify the problem.
If the center of the tire is worn more than the rest of the tire, check your tire inflation. Generally this type of wear is caused by over-inflation. Conversely, if the edges of the tires are more worn, your tire may be under-inflated. Check your owner’s manual to find out what the recommended inflation is for your particular vehicle.
Driving on tires that are worn greatly increases your chance of getting a flat tire or a blowout and is especially dangerous when the roads are wet. If you feel a wobble in the steering wheel or a shimmy in the rear of the vehicle with no evident tire wear, the steel radial belt may be separating. This can cause a blowout and should be checked by a mechanic.
You should inspect your tires monthly in good light. This will include feeling the surface of the tire and testing the tread depth. Make sure that the tires are rotated every 8,000 miles. Following these simple steps should allow you to get the best performance from your vehicle and prevent unexpected problems from endangering yourself or others.
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