Express Car Care of Denver

"Denver's Best Auto Repair and Quick Lube"

Simple Answers About Selecting Tires

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Question:  I need new tires, but how do I know which tires to select?

Express Car Care Answer:  Let’s look at selecting new tires in light of three factors:  Function, Fit, and Value.

Function:  This deals with what your needs are for new tires.  Weather conditions, terrain, temperatures, etc.

New family vehicles sold in Colorado come with all-season tires.  They can be used all year long and do pretty well on average road conditions – but they aren’t ideal in extreme conditions.

Winter tires have a more aggressive tread for handling snow and ice and they have a rubber compound that helps them have better traction as temperatures drop below 45 degrees Fahrenheit/ 7 degrees Centigrade.  In Colorado winter weather, that means better stopping and road-holding characteristics for driving than all-season tires.

Dedicated summer tires enhance warm weather performance driving.

If you drive off-road in the foothills and mountains around Denver, there is a spectrum of tire choices, from all-terrain ( a good mix of highway and off-road capability) to dedicated off-road tires.

The key to selecting tires is to discuss the function you’re looking for with your tire professional, so you get the type of tire, load rating, speed rating and wear rating you need.

Fit:  The easiest thing is to select tires in the same size that were installed at the factory.  If you want a different size wheel or tire profile, be sure to work with a professional that can make sure that your new wheels and tires fit properly and don’t rub when your vehicle bumps or turns.  It’s also important to make sure that safety systems like anti-lock brakes, stability control and traction control aren’t adversely affected by the new tire size. ( The computer may need to be recalibrated in order to make the necessary adjustments.)

Value:  Notice I didn’t say price.  The tire that meets all your needs and has the warranty and tread life you expect will probably not be the cheapest option – but it may well return the best value for your tire dollar.

Your friendly and helpful Express Car Care service adviser is ready and willing to discuss the options with you before you make this automotive decision.

Question on Tire Wear

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Express Car Care Question:  My name is Dan. The tires on my vehicle wore out early and I had to replace them.  What can I do to make my tires last longer?

Express Car Care Answer:  Dan’s problem, premature tire wear, is a very common problem for Denver drivers.  Here are several suggestions on ways to lengthen your tire wear:

First, tires lose air pressure over time, so check the tire pressure at least once a month and fill them up as necessary.  A sticker on the driver’s side door jamb has the recommended tire pressure listed for your vehicle.

Another suggestion for lengthening tire wear is tire rotation.  Tire rotation is an important step in increasing the life of tires.  Your front tires take the brunt of stopping and steering forces, so they wear out faster than rear tires.  They should be rotated regularly so that all four tires are allowed to wear more evenly.  Talk to us at Express Car Care if you’d like more information on tire rotation.

Out of balance wheels can also cause a tire to wear out too fast. If you feel a vibration in your seat or steering wheel when you’re driving, you may have a wheel out of balance. It’s important to have your wheels balanced properly so the tires wear as evenly as possible.

Finally, a poor wheel alignment and worn or damaged suspension can chew through a tire very quickly.  Ask your friendly pros at Express Car Care to have your tires inspected for signs of premature tire wear.  Your technician will be able to pinpoint the cause and take care of it.

These are just some simple steps you can take to prevent premature tire wear.  Give us a call and let us know how we can help.

Tire Rotation & Balancing Answers

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Question:  How do I know when I should get my tires rotated and balanced?

Express Car Care Answer:  The interval for tire rotation could depend on a recommendation from either the tire manufacturer or the vehicle manufacturer.  The background question for drivers is “why do tires need to be rotated?”

Front tires wear differently than the rear tires because steering wears the shoulders faster up front.  Rotating the position of the tires allows for more even wear among all the tires.   The suspension set-up on certain vehicles may also affect the relative wear between the front and rear tires.  There are several tire rotation patterns and your knowledgeable Express Car Care professional will make sure that you get the correct pattern for your particular vehicle.

Wheels and tires are not perfectly balanced due to slight variations in the manufacturing process and the placement of tire pressure monitoring sensors.  So weights are strategically placed on the wheel to ensure that the tire spins true.  When a wheel is out of balance it is essentially bouncing thousands of extra times as you drive.  This can result in an uncomfortable vibration for drivers in the steering wheel or through the seat.  An unbalanced tire will also wear more quickly and it’s also punishing on your shocks and struts.

Drivers should have their wheel balanced if they detect a vibration or uneven wear.  A wheel balance check every year is a good idea.  Because tires cost so much in our area, it’s a great idea to do everything you can do to make them last as long as possible.  Proper inflation, regular tire rotation and balancing are the keys to long tire life.  The team at Express Car Care can check your tires for signs of uneven wear and diagnose and correct the problem.

Simple Answers About Winter Tires

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Question:  What is the benefit of winter tires?

Express Car Care Answer:  This is a really good question.  Most new vehicles in Denver come with all-season tires that work pretty well in winter conditions that many drivers may encounter.  First, let’s talk about the things that dedicated winter tires do really well, we’ll touch on all-season tires, and then you should have enough information to help you in your tire selection.

The first thing to take into account about winter is fairly obvious, it’s cold.  The rubber compound used in summer and all-season tires gets a bit hard when the temperatures drop below 45 degrees Fahrenheit or 7 degrees Centigrade.  Winter tires, on the other hand, stay more pliable when the thermometer takes a dip.  This means better dry road traction in the cold.

Ice and snow is the next thing drivers need to consider during the winter.  Some drivers live where there is a lot of snow, a lot of the time.  Extreme winter condition snow tires have a tread design that cuts into and expels deep snow for maximum traction.  These tires have a mountain and snowflake icon on the sidewall of the tire.

If you live in an area where the ice and snow are more moderate, you can still benefit from having winter tires.  Their tread has many small “cuts” called sipes that really help them get a grip on ice.

Now, all-season tires are a year-round compromise between high summer performance and high winter performance.  They just don’t perform as well in extreme conditions as the tires that are dedicated to either summer or winter driving.  For example, winter tires offer 25% to 50% more traction than all-season tires.  And studies have shown that all-season tires can take upwards of 40% longer to stop than winter tires.  This could be enough of a difference to prevent getting stuck or getting in an accident.

So what’s the best tire for you?  Talk to  your service adviser about the conditions you drive in throughout the year and how important performance is to you.  For many drivers that put a premium on handling performance, dedicated summer tires in summer and dedicated winter tires in winter are what they need to satisfy their performance needs.  Other drivers don’t have that same need and all-season tires work well for them.

Whatever you choose, winter tires or all-season, we are ready to mount them for you, come on in and see us.

 

Tire Pressure Monitoring System

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All new cars and light trucks in Denver since 2008 have come equipped with a tire pressure monitoring system, or TPMS.  The tire pressure monitoring system detects when a tire becomes under-inflated and lights up a warning light on the dashboard.

So what’s the big deal for drivers?  Well, underinflated tires can be a real safety concern.  First of all, they don’t handle properly and that can lead to an accident.  Second, underinflated tires can overheat and cause the tire to come apart, which could also lead to an accident.

Government regulations requiring TPMS systems aim to reduce accidents in Colorado and save lives, a very worthy goal.  There are also positive environmental effects because underinflated tires are fuel wasters – they lose 1 percent of their fuel economy for every 3 pounds of pressure below ideal.  So proper tire inflation can save you a tank of gas a year.  Your tires will also last longer so you won’t have to replace them as often.

There are two kinds of TPMS systems.  So called, direct systems have a battery powered sensor in each wheel that measures tire pressure.  The sensor sends a signal to a receiver that illuminates the warning light if pressure is low on a tire.

Indirect systems use a computer program to detect underinflation by measuring wheel rotation speeds and other data.

Drivers will have to replace TPMS parts as they wear out.  Obviously, the batteries in the sensors will run out someday.  Road salt and grime can damage sensors too.  The system needs to be reset when you rotate or change your tires.

Because the TPMS system is so important to your safety, you should make the repairs when they are needed.  Also remember, a tire pressure monitoring system is no substitute for regularly checking your tire pressure – at least once a month is recommended.

Tire Service in Denver

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For most people buying tires can be a big deal, so play it safe and consult with your friendly and knowledgeable tire professional about the proper size, type and grade for your driving needs.  He can help you balance load requirements, performance, durability and cost.

It’s always best to replace both tires on the same axle when purchasing new tires, in order to keep the rolling diameter as close as possible.  Drivers with four-wheel drive vehicles should replace all four tires at the same time because they can run into problems if the tires have different rolling diameters due to wear or different types of tires.  Four-wheel drive vehicles should have all tires very close to the same rolling diameter to avoid binding and wheel hop between the front and rear axles.

Tire manufacturers also recommend that if you are buying just two new tires that they be installed on the rear for safer slippery road traction – regardless of which wheels drive the vehicle.  Express Car Care has you covered for all of your tire service in Denver needs including tire repair, tire mounting, and wheel balancing.

Rotate Your Tires

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Rotate Your TiresTire rotation is an important maintenance duty that extends the life of your tires and ensures safe driving.  Let’s take a look at this simple and effective procedure.

The main reason to rotate your tires is because the front and rear tires wear differently.  Think about it, parallel parking, three-point turns, with each turn of the steering wheel there is pressure put on the front tires.  This is even more true for front-wheel drive vehicles.  Resistance causes friction, friction produces heat.  The result?  The front tires will wear quicker than the rear.  Because of this, it’s necessary to rotate your tires front-to-rear several times during their life cycle.

The best indicator that it’s time to rotate your tires is uneven tread wear.  If you look closely at your tires, is the inside or outside of one tire showing more wear than the other?  Because the weight of a car isn’t evenly distributed to all four corners, uneven tread wear is unavoidable.  Most engines are located in the front of the vehicle and since the engine is the heaviest thing in it, the front tires carry more weight.  All of these factors contribute to the front tires wearing out faster than the rear tires.  When we rotate the tires, each tire is being moved to a different corner of the car to make it possible for them to wear more evenly.  Other indicators that the tires need to be rotated are poor handling when braking your vehicle, or poor tire traction in wet or slippery road conditions.

A general rule of thumb for rotating tires is every 3,000 to 7,000 miles.  But your vehicle’s manufacturer’s manual will have recommended rotation times.  Keeping a log of when you’ve had tire rotations can help you stay up to date.  Keep the log in your glove compartment for a quick and easy reference.

The Myth of Cheap Tires

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The Myth of Cheap Tires New tires are a big ticket item for most drivers.  You’re not only concerned about the price, but you want to know that it’ll be a long time before you need to buy new tires again.

There is also the safety aspect to be concerned about as well.  Tires do a lot of work – they carry the weight of the vehicle, you and your passengers around.  They need to be up to the task.  So don’t buy into the myth of cheap tires doing a good job.  You want to be sure that the tires you choose hold the road and provide good traction.  Drivers who carry heavy loads or tow a trailer need high load tires to be up for the job.

At Express Car Care, we think it’s important that drivers understand the effect of price on a tire’s performance and durability.  Every major tire brand sold has what’s known as Tier 1 tires.  These tires are well-engineered and very high quality.  Comparable tires are usually in the same price range from brand to brand.

Stepping down in price you come to Private Label tires.  Some large tire store chains carry tires with the chain’s own brand.  It’s important to know that most private label tires sold in the area are built by the same Tier 1 brands – so they are a quality product.

The lowest priced tires on the market are Tier 3 tires.  These tend to be imported from other countries and don’t always have the same strict quality standards that Tier 1 and Private Label tires have for them.  Since you get what you pay for, you can’t expect a Tier 3 tire to deliver the same performance and durability as the others.  But  sometimes the budget only allows for a Tier 3 tire, that’s alright, because it’s safer to be driving on new tires rather than pushing your old tires beyond their limits.  But it’s good counsel to buy as much tire as you can afford, because it will be much less expensive in the long run.  Your tires are the only part of your vehicle that touch the road.  You’re only as safe as your tires are well built. Cheap tires are a myth.  Buy value – not price.

Tire Tread Depth

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Tire Tread DepthToday’s Express Car Care article discusses the effect of tire tread depth on braking.  When we talk about stopping power, drivers tend to focus on brakes.  But our tires are where the rubber meets the road.  So having good brakes isn’t always enough.  Every motorist has to have tires with enough traction to translate braking power into stopping power.

Let’s focus on stopping in wet weather conditions.  In order for a tire to have good contact with the road, it has to move the water out of the way.  If it can’t move the water, the tire will actually ride on top of the thin film of water.  This is called hydroplaning.  We want our customers to know that if you hydroplane you won’t be able to stop as fast and if it’s really bad, you can actually spin out of control.

So how does a tire move water?  It has channels for water to flow through.  Look at a tire and you’ll see channels that run around the tire and channels that flow across the tire.  They’re designed to direct water away from the tire so it can contact the road better.  These channels are called treads and the deeper the tread, the more water it can move.  A brand new tire has very deep channels or tread and can easily move a lot of water.  As the tire wears down, the tread becomes shallower and can move less water.  When it wears down enough, it can seriously affect your ability to stop on wet roads.

That is why it’s so important for drivers to replace the tires on their vehicles when they get worn.  Consumer Reports and other advocate groups call for a standard of 3/32 of an inch and have studies to prove it.

You might have seen the wear indicator that’s molded into tires.  When tires are worn 3/32 of an inch, the tread wear bar is visible.  So the recommended standard has twice the tread depth as a completely worn out tire.  This little bit of added tread makes a big difference in your stopping power.

If you’re curious about your tire tread depth, just insert a quarter into the tread.  Put it in upside down.  If the tread doesn’t cover George Washington’s hairline, it’s time to replace your tires.  We’ve recommended this before only using a penny, but the times have changed and a penny shows only half of the suggested amount for tire tread depth.

Give us a call of come in and see us if you have any more questions.

 

 

 

Tire Rotation & Balancing

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Tire Rotation & BalancingYou can make your tires last longer with regular tire rotation and wheel balancing.

Let’s start with tire rotation.  In normal driving around, your front tires wear more on the shoulders because they handle much of the cornering forces in turns.  Front-wheel drive vehicles have even more force on the front tires.

We rotate the tires so that all of the tires do some duty on the front end as well as getting a little break on the back end.  That way, all four tires wear more evenly over their life and last longer.

For most vehicles, tires are rotated front to back.  Some manufacturers recommend a cross rotational pattern that includes the spare tire, and some high-performance vehicles have different size tires on the front and rear and may even have uni-directional tires that can only be on the left or the right side of the vehicle.  Your service adviser at Express Car Care can help you sort that out and will perform the right tire rotation for your vehicle.

Your tire manufacturer will have a recommendation for how often you should rotate your tires.  It’s usually somewhere around 5,000 to 8,000 miles.

Let’s move on to wheel balancing.  That’s when there are heavy spots on the tire and wheel that cause it to wobble.

Balancing adds weights to the wheel to balance it out.  We are talking about very small weight differences.  Variations in the tire and wheel manufacturing can cause a slight imbalance.  the valve stem, and now the tire pressure monitoring sensors in the tire, also play into the equation.

Even small differences can cause annoying vibrations at speed:  the wheel is essentially bouncing a bit as it goes down the road.  For example, at freeway speeds, an out of balance wheel can be slamming into the road 14 times a second.  That’s annoying and can cause your tires to wear out more quickly.

If a front wheel is out of balance you’ll feel the vibration through the steering wheel.  When it’s a rear tire, you’ll feel the vibration through your seat.  If you’re getting bad vibrations from your vehicle, bring it in to see if it’s a balance issue or something else.  You should balance your wheels whenever you get a new tire or remount a tire, as when it’s been removed for a flat tire repair.

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