Tire Education
Tire Sidewall Markings
Tire and Loading Information
To locate your vehicle's proper tire size and proper tire pressure (PSI), open the driver's door and locate the
"Tire and Loading Information" sticker on the door frame.
Tire Maintenance Checklist
Check tire pressure - Maintaining proper tire inflation pressure will help extend the life of your tires while minimizing fuel consumption.
Check tire tread - Tires with little to no tread will lose their grip. Check your tire tread at least once a month to ensure they are safe enough to drive.
Rotate your tires - Rotating your tires helps prevent irregular wear, which boosts your tires' longevity and increases fuel efficiency. Rotate your tires every 6,000 to 8,000 mi/10,000 to 13,000 km.
Tire balancing and wheel alignment - Balancing your tires makes sure they roll smoothly, providing a comfortable ride while minimizing vibration. Wheel alignment makes sure your vehicle and tires run in a straight line.
Matching replacement tires - Make sure when you purchase replacement tires that they are the same size as your original tires and have an equal or greater speed rating and load capacity. Matched tires ensure optimal performance and safety.
Keep an eye on the spare - Regularly make sure your spare tire is in good shape. Remember to check the tire inflation on your spare tire at least monthly.
Watch your driving habits - Your driving habits are some of the most significant factors that impact your tires. Speeding up too fast and braking too hard can all take the life out of your tires. Driving steady and controlled on the road will do wonders for your tire longevity.
Alignments
There is a dirty little secret in the auto industry: it’s the “Toe and Go” alignment. This refers to a really fast yet inadequate technique of only adjusting the toe on an alignment and nothing else. Even though the same equipment is used a lot of times, not all alignments are the same.
This is common practice because it's fast, it fixes the most common problems felt by bad alignment (such as the car pulling), and less qualified people can do it. The problem is that it doesn’t fix problems like uneven tire wear that will void your tire mileage warranty. It also doesn't address erratic handling or reduced braking caused by improperly adjusted camber. This is why all the alignments, including our free alignments at Vermont Tire & Service are complete and use ALL available adjustments to make it right. Our alignment technicians are the best in the business, each with over 20 years of experience.
So, what is an alignment anyway?
Your car has many suspension parts that all work together to not only cushion your ride but also drive the wheels and allow you to turn. It also keeps your wheels straight. This last function is where the need for an alignment comes in and many variables need to all be checked and adjusted during the alignment for everything to be right. Below are the three main components of a good car alignment.
A vehicle that is aligned properly, will:
- Handles correctly
- Achieves optimal fuel efficiency
- Maximizes your tire life
If a vehicle is even slightly out of alignment:
- Tires wear out faster
- The vehicle may pull or wander to one side
- Uses more fuel
- Unnecessary wear and tear
Toe
Toe is what is most commonly thought of as alignment. This controls if the tires are pointed in the same direction going down the road. Misalignment in the toe is also most noticeable to the driver because, if the wheels are pointed towards or away from each other, the problem can feel like poor balancing as the tires fight each other. This can also show itself in drifting if the tires are pointed more in one direction than the other. In time, this will cause the tire to “chop” leading to the tread look serrated.
Camber
Camber is the adjustment that ensures that wheels are aligned vertically. Race drivers use a negative camber, which angles the wheels towards each other, to improve their grip on corners. The downside of this is that when going straight
Caster
Caster is least understood by the common driver. Caster refers to how straight up and down the steering and suspension assembly are. If one wheel has a more positive caster than the other, that wheel will pull toward the center of the vehicle.
Tire Balancing
Tire balancing is a tune-up for your wheel-tire set. It makes sure that weight is evenly distributed around the entire circumference of the unit. The common symptoms of out-of-balance tires are uneven and faster tread wear, poor fuel economy, and vibration in the steering wheel, the floorboard or the seat that gets worse at faster speeds.
Imbalanced tires are easily corrected, but the work is precise. It’s done by attaching small weights, just fractions of ounces, to the wheel.
How do wheels get out of balance?
Everyday wear on tires will contribute to imbalance. Normal manufacturing imperfections are also a cause: Tires and wheels don’t have precisely equal weight distribution. They’ll be slightly heavier in some spots. Just half an ounce in weight difference is enough to cause a vibration when you’re driving.
When to get tire balancing done:
-You feel vibration in the steering wheel, the floorboard, or your seat.
- You get them rotated, generally every 5,000 miles.
- At the very least, every two years. Yearly if you drive on rough roads.
- You get a flat and repair the tire. - You buy any new tire(s).
- A weight that used to be on the rim, falls off.
- You notice uneven tire wear.
Vibration when underway could be caused by an imbalanced tire and wheel assembly or something else — a bent wheel, a damaged tire (which won’t be fixed by balancing), worn suspension parts or other aging components. If you feel a vibration, don’t wait to get it diagnosed. You’ll head off other problems — and enjoy a smoother ride — when your tires are well balanced.
Tire Repair
Driving on an improperly repaired tire is dangerous. It can not only further damage the tire but can also allow its strength to deteriorate over time. An improperly repaired tire driven at high speeds may suddenly fail, causing loss of vehicle control.
Continuing to drive on a tire with a slow leak may allow moisture to seep around the object and into the tire. This will reduce the probability that the tire can be repaired properly because the moisture will ultimately reach the internal steel and fabric cords used to reinforce the tire and possibly cause rust and loss of strength.
Many places that advertise free tire repairs or cheap tire repairs use what is commonly referred to as a “plug”. The plus is essentially a rubber cord soaked in rubber cement. Back in the bias tire days, this was the main way to fix tires because they not only had short life spans to begin with but there also wasn’t any metal in the tire. Modern radial tires (which do contain steel bands) should NOT be fixed this. Be aware that if the tire is fixed with a plug, it avoids the manufacturer’s warranty, and the tire is considered ruined. Many less reputable tire and repair shops still use this technique because it's fast and cheap. Using plugs on road-going tires is actually becoming illegal in certain states. With this method, the tire doesn’t even need to be taken off the car to be plugged. This method is by no means proper, since damage often occurs inside the tire as well.
According to the RMA (Rubber Manufacturers Association), the following must be included in a proper tire repair:
- Repairs are limited to the tread area only.
- Puncture injury cannot be greater than 1/4 inch (6 mm) in diameter.
- Repairs must be performed by removing the tire from the rim/wheel assembly to perform a complete inspection to assess all damage that may be present.
- Repairs cannot overlap.
- A rubber stem, or plug, must be applied to fill the puncture injury, and a patch must be applied to seal the inner liner. A common repair unit is a one-piece unit with a stem and patch portion. A plug by itself is an unacceptable repair.
At Vermont Tire & Service, Inc., all of our tire repairs are done the proper way. This means the tire is taken off the car. It is then also taken off the wheel and inspected inside and out. The damaged area is cleaned and prepared and a two-piece patch and plug is installed on the inside of the tire. The plug portion fills the puncture hole reducing the possibility of the tire's steel cord rusting over time while the patch reinforces the injured area. This is the proper, legal way to repair a tire that won’t void the warranty and will keep you and your family safe on the road for miles to come.