Express Car Care of Denver

"Denver's Best Auto Repair and Quick Lube"

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.

Smart Car Care for Denver Drivers: Selecting Tires

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Smart Car Care: Selecting TiresQuestion:  I need new tires.  How do I know which tires to get?

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

Function:  This is what your needs are for new tires, such as weather conditions, road terrain, temperatures, etc.

Most new family vehicles in Denver come with all-season tires.  They can be used all year long and do pretty well in most road conditions – but they aren’t ideal for all the extremes.

Winter tires have a more aggressive tread for handling snow and ice on interstates and they have a rubber compound that helps them have better traction as Denver temperatures drop below 45 degrees Fahrenheit.  They have better stopping and road-handling characteristics for Denver drivers than the all-season tires in winter weather.  Dedicated summer tires enhance  performance in warm weather for Denver drivers.

If you drive off-road, there is a spectrum of tires from all-terrain ( a good mix of highway and off-road capability) to dedicated off-road tires.

The key is to communicate with your Express Car Care professional what function you need, so you can get the right type of tire, load rating, speed rating and wear rating that works best for you.

Fit:  The easiest thing is to opt for tires in the same size that were installed by the vehicle manufacturer.  If you want a different size wheel or tire profile, be sure to work with your service professional so you can make sure that your new wheels and tires fit properly and don’t rub during bumps or turns.  It’s also important to make sure that important safety systems like anti-lock brakes, stability control and traction control aren’t adversely affected by the new tire size.

Value:  Note…. I didn’t say price.  The tire that meets all your needs AND has the warranty and tread life you expect will typically not be the least expensive option…but it may well be the best value for your tire dollar.

Express Car Care can help Denver auto owners with this critical automotive decision.  Give us a call or come in and see us.

Chilling in Denver with Winter Tires

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Chilling in Denver with Winter TiresThere’s more to winter tires than Denver drivers may think.  Those day of clunky, tractor-like snow tires are long gone in Colorado.  They have been replaced by high-tech winter tires with special rubber compounds and advanced tread designs.

In Denver winter temperatures, the rubber in summer tires becomes hard and inflexible and they don’t grip the road as well.  In contrast, winter tires use special rubber compounds that are more pliable when the thermometer drops below 45 degrees, giving you better road contact, so even if you don’t get much snow, winter tires will really add to your cold weather safety in Denver.

Winter tires may also use a micro-pore rubber compound that increases surface area so they can bite into ice and packed snow on Denver roads and highways.

The tread on winter tires needs to clear out water, snow and slush as the tire turns so it’s ready to take another bite when it comes back in contact with the road.  But summer tires can actually be dangerous because they get packed with snow, making them very slick, and your vehicle hard to control.  Winter tires have a lot of thin slits in the tread called sipes which help the tire grab ice and packed snow, providing extra traction.

Many new vehicles come with all-season tires which are great for a wide range of weather and road conditions, but don’t provide top performance in Colorado snow and ice.  For example, winter tires provide 25 to 50% more traction than all-season tires.  And all-season tires take up to 42% longer to stop than winter tires in slick road conditions.

For all these reasons, we recommend you put winter tires on all four wheels because it makes sense to have equal traction and handling at all four corners of your vehicle.  Uneven traction could result in loss of control for Denver motorists.

Your vehicle may be equipped with stability control, anti-lock brakes and traction control – all important safety systems for auto owners.  But in order to do their job you still need good traction.  Winter tires help you start, stop and corner when things get cold and slippery.

So when temperatures drop below 45 degrees, be sure you have a set of four winter tires for maximum performance in snow, ice and wet roads.  Your Express Car Care professional can help you find the right winter tire for your vehicle and driving needs in Denver.  Give us a call.

Answers from Express Car Care: Tire Tread Depth

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Question:

How can I tell when my tires are worn so much that they need to be replaced? Answers about Tire Tread Depth

Express Car Care Answer:

That is an important question for car owners.  As we discuss the matter, keep in mind that one of the essential jobs of your tire tread is to move water.  The channels in the tread act as passages for water to escape from underneath the tire.  The deeper the tread depth, the deeper the channel – and the more water that can be evacuated.

When enough water can’t be moved from underneath the tire, the tire can ride on the water – often called hydroplaning.  The tire is literally not contacting the road but rather is “floating” on the water, so there is little traction and the truck or car can slide.

So somewhere between a brand new tire and a bald tire lies the point at which the tire should be replaced.  Some governmental jurisdictions have a minimum tire tread depth requirement for auto owners – others do not.  So check the important laws where you live to learn the legal minimum.

Tire manufacturers are required to mold a tread wear bar into the tire.  This bar appears across the tread when the tire is worn down to 1.6mm ( 2/32 of an inch).  Drivers can easily do the quarter test ( they used to use a penny, but I guess inflation has affected everything).  Insert a quarter into one of the grooves with the caribou’s head pointing down.  If you can see the tip of the nose of this great northern animal, it is a sign of very worn treads.  That means it is high time to bid adieu to your tires.

Studies have shown, however, that there is an essential difference in stopping distances for auto owners in detrimental wet conditions with tires that have less wear.  For example, in controlled, wet conditions a vehicle with 3.18mm ( 4/32 of an inch) of tread traveling at expressway speeds was able to stop in about 85 feet ( 26 meters) less distance than the same car with tires with 1.6 mm ( 2/32 of an inch) of tread.  That could easily be the difference between a safe stop and hitting the vehicle in front of you.

New tires are a big ticket item for motorists so it’s natural to want to get as much value out of them as possible.  Just remember that a huge part of the value is the ability to stop safely in wet conditions.  You can speak with your Express Car Care technician for answers about tire replacement.

Burning Brakes

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Burning BrakesSummer driving in Colorado can be very challenging at times.  It is so important that we don’t forget what we learned about driving downhill on our steep mountain roads.  Heavy commercial trucks aren’t the only drivers that will experience burning brakes if they’re not careful.  We all need to drive in such a way that we aren’t relying on our brakes too much.  I see it all the time coming home from a mountain trip.  Drivers with their brakes lights flashing on and off all the way down the mountain.  Whether you are a long-time mountain driver or have recently moved to Colorado, it’s important to know how to drive safely in the mountains.  Two things are especially critical:  brakes and tires.

The brakes on automatic transmission, late-models sedans weren’t built to handle the constant braking required on the 7 to 8 percent grades of mountain passes.  This is the time to use your car’s transmission to keep your speed low enough to maneuver the hairpin curves that you’ll encounter during mountain driving and prevent those burning brakes.  Before heading downhill, shift into second gear.  Don’t shift into neutral.

Using your transmission to avoid overheating your brakes on  winding mountain roads is smart, but also has its challenges.  In summer, driving in second gear, will cause your car’s engine to reach higher RPMs and hotter temperatures.  So if you haven’t checked your coolant level, or changed it since winter, you should do it now or you might overheat.

Another thing to consider is under-inflated tires.   This will give you less control on the road, and that is never a good idea, especially on a road with no guardrail and a thousand foot drop below.  So check your tire pressure before you leave home.  Also tires without tread can cause problems, especially if you’re towing a load.  The tread helps your tires grab the road and turn rather than spin.

Be aware of gravel and rocks on the road.  Gravel will cause you to slide and perhaps lose control.  Rocks large enough to cripple your car can roll onto the road, so stay alert and free from distractions while you’re driving.  Wildlife is also a concern when you’re driving in the Colorado mountains.  They can dart into traffic in a moments notice.  So have your brakes and tires checked out before you hit the road.

Brakes Service

Oil Change

Suspension

Transmision Service

Engine Service

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