Tag: Tire Repair

Most Important Car Maintenance

Basics of Car MaintenanceThe proper car maintenance of your car is one of the things that will ensure that you always will be safe when driving a car at high speeds as well as on local streets. The majority of accidents occur within 5 miles of a person’s home. Most people will have an accident at one time or another. Make sure that your car is in top shape from a maintenance and safety perspective. It will help you avoid those accidents and protect you from injury. Here is the following list of important things that you should always look for when you are driving your car.

Car maintenance

Check the air pressure of the tires. Glance at the tires whenever you go to get into inside the car. If they look a little low, check the tire pressure with a tire pressure gauge. Pay attention to your tire pressure warning system if you have one in your car.

Check the oil in the engine to make sure it’s at the proper level once per week. change your oil every three months or 5000 kilometers or 3000 miles.

Check all fluid levels including brake line level, power steering fluid level and window washer fluid level. Also any other fluids in your car such as the radiator fluid. Top up if needed with the proper fluid.

Whenever you start your car listen to the cars engine and whether it is making any strange noises. Also when you’re driving your car listen to the noise the car makes as it travels down the road. Listen for anything that is out of the ordinary and different from what you’ve experienced in the past. If you hear something, investigate before you drive your car further or have a mechanic look at it.

Check your lights, headlights, tail lights, signal lights, and your brake lights to make sure that all are in proper working order. You will need someone to observe the lights while you change them in the car, e.g. signal lights, brake lights, etc

Confirm that your license plate is on the car at the front and rear if applicable.

Oil changes

Have the oil changed in your engine at least once every 3000 miles or 5000 km.

Also check your tires for signs of abnormal wear and tear. If one side of the tire is wearing faster than another it could be an indication of front end alignment being required or tired not installed properly. You may want to have this checked out. Your tires should also be rotated and balanced on a regular basis, usually every 12,000 kilometers.

Also have the brakes checked on a regular basis to make sure that there’s sufficient lining on the brake pads. If you ever hear squealing coming from the brakes when the brake is applied, make sure you have your brakes serviced immediately.

Finally have your car fully maintained by a mechanic who verifies all of the things that are in the check list provided by the car manufacturer. This will ensure that your car is well-maintained and safe for your travel. You can never tell when you will need to avoid an accident and making sure that your car is always safe to drive will help to ensure you survive that accident.

Doing these basic things for your car maintenance routine will help ensure that you car lasts longer and avoid emergency break downs that can become very costly.


Tire Store

Tire repair, is it worth it or not to have your tires repaired when you have a flat? Never drive on a flat tire for any distance. Tires that have picked up a nail can be repaired easily. However if you drive on the flat tire for any length of time, you risk damaging the sidewalls. That means a new tire. In most cases the answer is yes. However there are some situations where you really have no choice. In these situations, you pretty much have to purchase a new tire instead of repairing the tire. You might have to replace all four tires, not just the one that was flat.

Tire Side Wall Problems

Any time a tire has a sidewall problem, all tire repair garages are going to tell you not to risk trying to repair the tire. In fact they will not repair the tire for you since they cannot repair the tire. They cannot provide any kind of warranty for their work. Driving on this type that has been repaired, if it can be repaired, is actually quite dangerous. If you have a sudden blowout on this tire, you could actually have an accident! Consumers in this situation will pretty much be faced with buying a new tire.

Tire sidewall problems occur from being hit from the side. This can be cause by many situations. But usually it is due to hitting the curb too hard. You may have damaged the rim and or the tire itself. There are lots of other situations that can cause tire sidewalls to give out. But if it happens to you, you can be sure that the tire will need to be replaced.

Tire Store – New Tires Needed

If your tires are well used and you get a flat tire, it may be time to buy new tires instead of trying to repair the tire. If the tire is bald, the tire repair store is not going to repair the tire for you since they cannot warranty the tire for you. This will trigger a new tire purchase as well.

If all of the tires are bald, or nearing the end of their life, you may want to replace all four tires rather than just purchase the single tire. All tires should be roughly the same in terms of mileage and they should all be of the same kind and make to ensure maximum efficiency and stability, especially when you are driving at highway speeds. Your tires must be the same make and model , they must be balanced and they must have the same tire pressure to ensure stability of your car at highway speeds.

The tire store dealer will not even sell you a set of different tires, nor will they install different tires on your car due to the safety issue. If you happen to find a tire store that will do this for you, they really do not care about your safety and are just interested in selling tires. Always make sure that the same make, model and age of tires are on all four wheels of your car.


Tire Repair

Tire Maintenance is CriticalTire repair, is it worth it or not to have your tires repaired when you have a flat? In most cases the answer is yes. However there are some situations where you really have no choice about repairing or not repairing your tire. In these situations, you pretty much have to purchase a new tire. Instead of repairing the tire. You might have to replace all four tires, not just the one that was flat.

Tire Side Wall Problems

Any time a tire has a sidewall problem, all tire repair garages are going to tell you not to risk trying to repair the tire. In fact they will not repair the tire for you. Since they cannot repair the tire and provide any kind of warranty for their work. They are doing this for your own safety as well as their protection. Consumers in this situation will pretty much be faced with buying a new tire to replace the one that was damaged. The tire has lost the strength it had in the side walls. It could blow out very easily even at low speeds as well as at high speeds which could be catastrophic.

Tire sidewall problems occur from being hit from the side. This can be cause by many situations. But usually it is due to hitting the curb too hard and damaging the rim and or the tire itself. If the rim is damaged, you may have to replace the rim as well. A tire side wall can also be damaged by driving too far on a flat tire. Even a few hundred feet can ruin the tire beyond repair. So take care about how far you travel on a flat tire. There are lots of other situations that can cause tire side walls to give out. But if it happens to you, you can be sure that the tire will need to be replaced.

A friend of ours had a flat on the highway. By the time he was able to slow down, change lanes safely and get to the side of the highway his tire was ruined. He had driven to far on a flat tire.

Tire Repair – Bald Flat Tires

If your tires are well used and you get a flat tire, it may be time to buy new tires for all four wheels instead of trying to repair the tire. If the tire is bald, the tire repair store is not going to repair the tire for you since they cannot warranty the tire for you. This will trigger a new tire purchase as well.

If all of the tires are bald, or nearing the end of their life, you may want to replace all four tires rather than just purchase the single tire. All tires should be roughly the same in terms of mileage and they should all be of the same kind and make to ensure maximum efficiency as well as stability when driving at highway speeds. Do not replace the flat tire with a different kind of tire since it is important to have all four tires exactly the same to provide maximum balance and comfort when you are driving.

Sometimes you can make a deal with the tire store when you are purchasing four tires from a dealer. Don’t hesitate to negotiate the best deal you can.


Tire Stores

Tire StoresThere are lots of tires stores that sell tires and the dealer were you purchased your car will also sell you tires. We have shown one such tire store which is a large national chain in Canada. They sell tires and many other items for cars, complete repairs and offer many household and sporting goods for sale. This is a full service chain with many parts and household items that consumers can purchase.

Car Dealers and Tire Stores

These tire stores and others have steel rims for those people who want to install snow tires on their cars without the need to change rims every year. For most people they will take the easiest approach. Some will go to their car dealer who will install the tires, balance them, and even store your summer tires during the winter. This is probably the most expensive place to purchase tires, even if they do store your tires.

Large National Tire Chains

Large tire chains such as America’s Tire specialize in selling and installing tires. They have a full selection of tires and offer really great service as well to their customers. Most of these companies will bundle installation, balancing, tire rotation and nitrogen filling of the tires for one competitive price. Larger chains will honor repairs all over the USA.

Chain stores that sell products of all kinds and have stores all over North American are often the best to consider, since not only do they bundle prices and services, they can offer warranty service in most major cities across the continent. If you have a warranty problem of some kind just drop into one of these stores with your receipt and they will look after you.

Tires and Extensive Travel

The writer travels extensively by car across Canada and the US. As a result we look for a tire store chain that caters to consumers in both countries and will honor warranties in both countries.  We have found that Costco is one of those stores that sell tires among many other things. They provide an excellent warranty and they honor their warranty across both countries wherever thee is a Costco store.

They provide free tire rotation, top up with air or nitrogen depending on what you use and of course the warranty across the continent. We have used this service and found it to be excellent with fast service and literally no waiting time.

If you are not a traveler, then you may not need this service and will be more comfortable with local tire store services. There are many such tire stores available and many will also be associated with  national services that will be advantageous to many consumers. When you are purchasing tires, it is important take into account this type of service as well as the overall price and warranty. Always make sure that you install the proper tires on your car to avoid any dangerous issues that can be created by installing the wrong tires on your car.

These tire stores also offer tires on sale as well. Paying close attention to flyers and web sites or checking in with the store once a week can usually save a few hundred dollars in the cost of four tires. It can be definitely worth the effort to save this kind of money.


Expensive Tire Repairs

Expensive Tire RepairsPurchasing a new set of tires for your car can be expensive. So it pays to take care of your tires and not have them prematurely wear down. Adding the cost of the tire replacement, balancing and even possible alignment of the car is expensive. These can be expensive tire repairs.  It can add anywhere from $500 to several thousand dollars to your car operating cost. Some low profile tires are very expensive. You should look after them as you would any other investment to avoid expensive tire repairs.

The best way to avoid expensive tire repairs is to take preventative steps that will keep your car and tires in the best condition possible.

Expensive Tire Repairs – Follow Regular Maintenance

The first thing to do is to follow the maintenance schedule as outlined in your owner’s manual, which among other things will tell you to make sure your tires are adequately inflated. Always be sure that your tires are properly inflated. This is especially important because tires with too little air, or too much, can result in excessive wear and may cause a blow out.

It is often recommended that tire pressure be checked during every visit to the gas pump. While this may seem like a lot, you won’t be sorry that you have kept your tires in the best shape possible. For reasons of both safety and the expense of new tires, this exercise is well worth it.

It also will recommend that you rotate the tires on a regular basis.  This will even out the wear and tear on your tires and avoid having to replace all four tires prematurely.

Listen to Your Car

If you notice unusual noises on your car, check with your owner’s manual for information. Quite often, noises are perfectly normal and there is no need for concern. Your owner’s manual will let you know whether or not a visit to the car repair shop is necessary. You can also consult with your service counter technician to determine if these noise are anything to worry about. They might even want to do a test drive to listen for themselves.

If you notice that there is a vibration on the steering wheel or to the car in general, your tires could be unbalanced and if left for too long a time may cause uneven wear on the tire. Don’t put this off, have them check the tires immediately. Sometimes a wheel balancing weight will fall off, particularly if you hit a curb or a bump in the road too hard.

When it comes time to have any work competed always get an estimate in writing. This includes rotating and balancing tires. A quality repair shop will be able to provide this information and should also be able to assure you that the repairs will not exceed 10% of a specific dollar amount as outlined in the estimate.

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Your Tires Condition counts

Your Tires Condition countsThe Automobile Club of Southern California has recently stated that as long as your vehicle has tires that are in good working condition, you would be able to have good fuel economy and extend the life of your vehicle as well. This is in accordance and with regards to the National Tire Safety Week which started just last April 23rd and would be continuing to the end of this week. The tire shown in this picture is definitely not in good working condition.  Your Tires Condition counts.

The front end needs to be aligned and maybe some tie rods replaced. This tire has severe wear and tear on the left hand side and the car probably pulls badly to the right as you are driving. Never mind about fuel economy, this driver needs to be concerned about the safety of his vehicle. He should be concerned about being able to stop quickly with out causing an accident.

Tires in Good Working Condition

So exactly what is “good working condition”? We have listed a few items that would be necessary for your tires to be considered in good working condition. They are as follows:

  • Proper tire pressure, not over and not under inflated
  • All four tires balanced properly
  • No cuts, tears or obvious damage to the tire
  • No premature wear and tear on one side of the tire or another
  • At least 1/8 of an inch of tread on the tires and this is considered low
  • Proper tires on the car, fitted for speed rating, size and width
  • Tire age is not more than 6 years

The National Tire Safety Week was launched so as to assist drivers in understanding the basic tire care. Aside from this, the fact remains that there is still that need for proper tire maintenance.

From research completed, the statistics have shown that around 85 percent of drivers do not actually check their vehicle’s tire pressure properly or even at all.

Engineer Steve Mazor who is the Auto Club’s principal automotive engineer states, “Not knowing the condition of your vehicle’s tires is equal to pouring money down the drain. Proper tire inflation is necessary to for safe driving and to reduce gas costs.”

Your Tires Condition counts – Under Inflated Tires

He continue-s, “Under inflated tires can cut fuel economy by up to two percent per pound of pressure below the recommended level. They can cause your tires to run hot and they can prematurely wear out as well.

After every fill up, motorists should walk around their vehicles and check tires for uneven or excessive tread wear and proper inflation. Drivers can refer to their vehicle’s doorjamb or glove box for original specifications or the manufacturer of the replacement tire for tire pressure.”

As per statistics that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has, nearly one out of every three vehicles on the roads and highways has a significant under inflated tire. Aside from this fact is that there are some 600 fatalities and around 33,000 injuries that happen every year. These are results of low tire pressure related crashes.

Make it a Habit

It is an easy habit to get into. Before you start the car every morning, take a quick walk around the car. Check the tire pressure by observation, and if a tire looks low, check it with a tire pressure gauge. Once a week use a gauge to check the actual pressure and top up if needed.

Never over inflate since the tire pressure will increase as you use the car at high speeds. After you have done this a few times, you will quickly be able to assess whether a tire is low or not.

Benefits of Tire Maintenance

Although we have focused on tire condition and checking the inflation of tires, there are two primary reasons to check your tires. One is to gain better gas mileage. Your car will get the best gas mileage if your tires are properly inflated and balanced.  In addition tires that are well maintained have less tendency to have a blow out. If this happens at high speeds, you might lose control of the car causing far more serious consequences.

Feel free to leave comments about tire maintenance etc, to help our readers avoid accidents and gain better gas mileage.


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