Take Care of Your Tires
You can learn a lot about a person’s knowledge of safe driving habits just by looking at his or her car tires. When you get behind the wheel in any season, are you confident that your tires can handle the weather and road conditions?
Steps
- Purchase a set of four identical snow tires imprinted with the mountain snowflake symbol. They need to be the right size for your vehicle and have a tread depth of at least 6/32-inch. Be prepared for the worst weather possible. In Northeast Ohio, that ranges from freezing rain, sleet and ice to inches (and sometimes even a foot or more) of snow. Although all-season radials may give you good performance under many conditions, they won’t give you the grip, braking and handling you need for winter.
- In the spring, you need to remove snow tires. Otherwise you're spending money unnecessarily. Because they are made with softer rubber compounds and deeper tread patterns, winter tires can be noisier than all-season tires and will wear down more quickly in warm weather.
- Don't use the “penny test” to check for tread wear.If you’re using the old penny test to make sure your tires are still good (which involves placing a penny into the groove of a tire and checking to see how much of Lincoln’s head is visible), you may be driving on tires that are both dangerous and illegal. In Ohio, tires that are down to 2/32-inch tread (top of Lincoln’s head) must be replaced immediately. Your chances of hydroplaning in the rain at highway speeds increase significantly and your car has virtually no snow traction. Instead, use the “quarter test” to check for tire tread depth. If you can see the top of Washington’s head at 4/32-inch, it’s time to start shopping for new tires.
- Don't replace a damaged tire with a tire that doesn’t match your other three. All four tires on your car should be as similar as possible. Otherwise, the performance and response of your vehicle will be affected, and you may even have difficulty controlling it – which could mean big problems the next time it rains or snows.
- Get large enough tires. Tires that are too small for your car mean the weight of the vehicle will be too much for them. Chances are your tires won’t be able to respond properly in an emergency situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXIhVoMt9m0&feature=player_embedded
