Tire Safety

byGhostH1

131 followers

7 years ago

Hello today we will be discussing certain aspects of Tire safety. Tire pressure, the amount of tread and the overall general appearance of the tire.

Tire pressure:

Tire pressure is the volume of air in side of the tire, a greater volume of air means greater tire pressure.

Always follow the tire pressure guidelines on the tire not on the owner’s manual for the automobile those are suggestions. They suggest that for a better ride you lower the air pressure in your tires by up to 5 PSI, some also suggest by doing this in the winter you will increase your footprint with and get better traction on slippery surfaces. Both of those points of view are true but the tire was manufactured and designed to run at certain pressure. Typically, if you do not follow the guidelines set by the manufacturer the warranty on the tire will be null and void if there is a situation.

The tires that I use are a little different from most passenger vehicles my tires are eight ply 22.5 low profile which means there semi truck tires. Tire inflation to me is very important as each tire runs between $400 and $700 depending upon placement on the vehicle. If I have my pressure incorrect my tire will wear unevenly and it will not last as long as they should. Having low tire pressure also makes a vehicle unsafe because two reasons first the breaking response is slower because the sag in the tires also the tire lets the vehicle float by floating I mean if you have a low rear right tire and you move the steering wheel left to right quickly going down the road it will feel like the rear end is sliding around on you even though you have not lost traction that is because the sidewall of the tire giving. This is true on any type of vehicle

Tread life:

Everyone knows what a brand new tire looks like it usually has very deep tread and it’s got those little nipples on the side that stick out everywhere from when they molded it. As a tire gets used and worn down the tread is slowly worn off little by little. Most vehicle manufacturers would like you to replace your tires when there is 2/32 of tread depth left to them. Take a penny turn it upside down so Lincoln is standing on his head put the penny between the tread runners, does the tread cover the very top of his head or can you see it? Can you see the top of Lincoln’s head than you need to replace those tires. They do make a tire gauging device that will tell you exactly how much tread you have left on your tires but the penny is a much cheaper route and yes it gives you the depth of 2/32.

What affects tread life there are 4 real simple things.

1 tire inflation

2 wheel alignment, that would also include worn down steering and suspension parts.

3 too much power to your wheels causing them to spin

4 the type of surface that you are driving on

Tire Safety:

There are a good many things that would dictate that a tire is no longer a viable safe usable Tire, we have already discussed tread depth you have other things beside the depth of tread that can be going wrong with the tire it could be scallops it could be wearing inside or outside or in the center of the tread so those areas are gone you could have bulges in the tread or in the sidewall that would make it unsafe to use on a vehicle the sidewalk could be weather cracked you could also have debris in the tread or the sidewall nail possible Bolt or a piece of metal almost anything

I would recommend that you look at your tires and gauge them for air pressure at least once a week that way you stay ever Vigilant so that what roles you down the road will not put you in a ditch or leave you stranded nobody wants that call in the morning because they have a flat tire or worse yet the cars pitched into the ditch because they had a blowout at freeway speeds on a curve and the car rolled Tire safety and knowing what to look for is very important.

Tools Needed:

This is very simple do you need a few things to let you know if you have bad equipment

Eyes you need your eyes to look at the tire to see if it’s worn, if it’s got scrape marks on or if it’s got cuts on it and yes you can sometimes visibly see if a tire has low of air pressure.

A tire pressure gauge with steel-belted radials sometimes it is difficult to tell if your tire is low on air pressure

Last but not least if you think you need new tires grab that Penny and shove Lincoln’s head into the tread, if his head starts to disappear you have some tread life left, but chances are if you think you need new tires you probably do.

Conclusion

Ultimately our goal is to make it to where we want to go safely and efficiently if you’re running with the proper air pressure in your tires you will get the best mileage for your vehicle if the tread is good you will have enough traction to keep you on the road and safe. There are many ways to personalize the appearance of your tires you can get paint to fill in the lettering. There are cleaners and conditioners for the sidewall and to also make them glisten and shine.

I hope this quick post as giving you the basic information. So that you know a bit about what to look for and how to take care of your tires properly

Happy Motoring

Sincerely Ghost.