by Jonathan Shen

Created on: July 15, 2010   Last Updated: July 16, 2010

-Introduction-

Tires you put on your car are like shoes you wear on your feet; without them, a couple of possible signs may occur:  A)  Driving with just steels on may make you look like an idiot, and B)  The steel wheels may catch fire after rubbing on the concrete/tarmac even after a short time.  Taking care of your tires is part of taking care of the rest of your car; what happens if you have a blowout in the middle of nowhere, and there is no one you can get in contact with?  That would be a really big problem, then, wouldn’t it?  Here are a few ways that you can take care of your tires without having to break the bank on your wallet.

-Watch How You Drive-

The way you drive has a big impact of how your tires will be treated in the long run.  Accelerate smoothly and reasonably; no burn-outs or jackrabbit starts at every red light that you see on the streets.  Not only that the jackrabbit starts will dramatically reduce your gas mileage on your car, but they will also evidently wear down your tires.  Also, hard braking will wear down your tires noticeably.  Anticipate the yellow and red lights as you come up to them, and brake gently.  Drive sensibly, and your tires, your car, and your wallet will thank you big time.  Oh, and watch out for those curbs; snake into that driveway (meaning do a 30-degree angle turn to the left on your steering wheel then a right), and you will not end up with a worn side-wall on your tire with a curb-rash on the side.  You would not want to pay $70 for a 4-wheel alignment, now, would you? 

-Proper Air Pressure-

You know that rectangular placard on your driver’s side door where it shows the actual tire pressure?  It actually means something.  Filling up your tires to the correct air pressure will make your tires last longer, and your gas mileage will increase by at least 5%.  If your tires are under-inflated, they will wear down faster, but if you over-inflate, your will feel some vibration because of uneven wear; not due to alignment, though, remember that.  Don’t have an air compressor or air pump at home?  No problem.  Just go to your neighborhood tire shop, and have one of the guys put in air for you.  Make sure you tell them the amount of psi that is written on the placard on your driver’s door.  Normally, they will tell you to fill it up at 3 psi higher than what it will say on the placard,

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