Express Car Care of Denver

"Denver's Best Auto Repair and Quick Lube"

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.

Tire Rotation and Balancing

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

Let’s start with tire rotation.  In normal driving around Denver, 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 should 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.  Now, we are talking about very small weight differences.  Variations in the tire and wheel manufacture 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 also cause your tires to wear out more quickly.

If a front wheel’s 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 vibes 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, like when it has been removed for a flat tire repair.

At Express Car Care in Denver, we install quality NAPA replacement parts.  To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com

Chilling In Denver With Winter Tires

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Chilling In Denver With Winter TiresThere is more to winter tires than Denver drivers may think.  Those days 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, so your vehicle will be hard to control.  Winter tires have a lot of thin slits in the tread which help the tire grab ice and packed snow, providing extra traction.

Many new vehicles in Denver come with all-season tires which are good for a wide range of Denver 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 conditions.  For all these reasons, the tire experts at Express Car Care in Denver 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 safely systems for Colorado 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 Denver roads.  Your Express Car Care professional can help you find the right winter tire for your vehicle and driving needs.  Give us a call @ 303-691-2760 or come in and see us.

High Altitude and Your Tire Pressure

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High Altitude and Your Tire Pressure

Want to know the two biggest factors that can affect your tire pressure here in Denver? Temperature and altitude.

While there are many things we all love about living in the Mile High City, when it comes to your tires, they aren’t nearly as excited. We can go from 90 to 30 degrees in days. You can go up and down thousands of feet in altitude in a matter of hours. And one of the biggest things that keeps you safe as you head out on your journeys is your tires. Which means your auto maintenance routine should begin at the bottom.

Standard tire pressure depends on the size of your tire and the weight of your car. The best way to determine what your tires’ correct pressure should be is to look in your vehicles manual. Keep this number in mind as our temperature varies greatly, or you travel thousands of feet in direction over a short period of time. Tire pressure is measured in pounds per  square inch (psi) and can be measured easily at your local gas station or with a gauge you can buy at any auto supply center. As a guide, air pressure at sea level stands at 14.7 psi.

An increase in temperature causes the air in tires to expand. Likewise, cold temperatures have the opposite effect, reducing air pressure and causing tire to flatten. As a result, tires filled at one temperature could no longer be correct as the temperature changes. And here in Colorado, temperature change is something that can happen quite rapidly, going from winter to summer temperatures in a matter of days. Meaning your tires can quickly be over or under inflated – impacting the way your tires will wear.

When a car changes altitude, the external air pressure around it changes. The level of pressure in a tire is created from the relationship between the air in the environment and the air inside the tire. Climbing higher in altitude means the air offer less resistance, which creates a higher level of pressure within the tire itself. To keep your tires perfectly balanced, pressure should be adjusted while you are at higher altitudes and again when you make your descent.

A tire without the correct tire pressure is harder to control and creates unnecessary wear and tear on the vehicle. Whether they are over or under inflated, the tires will not be able to properly grip the road, which results in longer stopping distances. Not only does your car have to work harder, your tires do too.

To ensure your tires are at their optimal level, stop by today.

Best Tires For Snow

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Well, here it is, the first snow of the season, and it certainly won’t be the last!  Since we live in a state where the winters are very unpredictable, sometimes we have a lot of snow and other times, not so much.  We need to make a smart decision about which are the best tires for us.  All-season tires or snow tires, which do we choose?

Driving in the snow can be the biggest challenge that a driver will ever face.  If our vehicles aren’t equipped with the best tires for snow, we could be in real trouble.  We are driving with less daylight and colder temperatures, as well as in snow, slush, and ice.

Most tire experts, including Tire Rack, say that only dedicated snow tires will actually improve your vehicle’s grip in winter conditions.  All-seasons tires are intended to provide traction in a wide variety of weather conditions but have fallen short in their performances during tests on ice and snow.  An inexpensive snow tire has proven to perform better in ice and snow tests than an all-season tire.

Many of today’s vehicles are also equipped with anti-lock brake, traction control and stability systems that help them get more from their tire’s potential.  But none of these aids actually causes traction, traction is provided by the tires, and snow tires provided better traction than all-season tires.  Although the all-season tire performed well, in driving situations with four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive vehicles the snow tires had a distinct advantage.  The results were especially striking during braking and cornering.  Snow tires improved performance by as much as 20%.

Narrow snow tires are better for driving on ice and in the snow.  They are better at cutting a path through the snow and slush.  It is always best to use the tire size that has been specified for your vehicle.  This information can be found in your owner’s manual or on the sidewalls of the tires that are already on your vehicle.

Once you have decided the best tires for you, make sure you buy four tires.  It was once a common practice to install just a pair of snow tires in the rear of a vehicle, this isn’t recommended now because of all the advanced technology that has gone into the new designs of snow tires.   Putting snow tires only on the rear tires can cause unpredictable handling and could be dangerous.  So don’t scrimp when it comes to your safety!

 

Rotating Tires

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If you are interested in getting the maximum life from your tires, whether you do the job yourself or have it done by an auto repair shop, rotating your tires regularly is very important.  Rotating tires evens out the way the tires wear and when it is done properly can extend the life of your tires, as well as improve the way the car handles sudden stops and turns. 

The best indication that it’s time for rotating your tires is when you notice an uneven tread wear.  When you look closely at your tires, is there more wear showing on the inside or outside of one tire more than another?  Uneven tread wear is unavoidable since the weight of a car isn’t distributed evenly to all four corners.  Most engines are in the front and because the engine is the heaviest thing in the car, the front tires carry more weight.  This means that the front tires will wear quicker than the rear. This is the reason it’s necessary to rotate the tires, front-to -rear several times during the life of your tires, to equalize tread wear and maximize their life.   This is what we mean when we recommend “rotating tires”. Tires will develop wear patterns as they age.  Some of these patterns are caused by the suspension system and the alignment of each car, this is why the tires are kept on the same side of the car when they are rotated.  By rotating the tires,  moving each tire to a different corner of the car, then each tire wears more evenly and the life of the tires is extended.  Other indications of a needed tire rotation are:  noticing trouble handling your car when you are braking, or if your tire traction isn’t good in slippery or wet road conditions.  These are all signs you should be aware of and not ignore.

The general rule for how often to rotate tires is every 3,000 to 7,000 miles, but your vehicle’s manufacturer manual will also have their recommended times.  If you are in the habit of changing your oil every 3,000 miles, you can also pair the tire rotation with your oil changes and rotate the tires every other oil change.  You can also maintain a log or spreadsheet to help you keep track of when you perform tire rotations, this will help you stay up to date and keep your car running smoothly.  If you store the log in your glove compartment, you’ll have a handy reference with you.

For all of your Denver Auto Repair needs, trust Express Car Car.  Call (303) 691-2760 or stop by our shop today.

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