Tire Shop Guide to Tire Safety for Drivers

When you’re thinking about your car’s safety features, tires probably aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. Even so, your wheels are responsible for protecting you and your passengers. A good set of tires can easily support the weight of your vehicle while keeping a firm grip on the road underneath, but lower-quality wheels will have trouble turning and stopping as you’d expect.

Are you planning to buy a new set of tires or wondering whether or not your older tires are still safe to drive on? Either way, you’re in luck — this is our comprehensive guide to tire safety for drivers in the Euless, Texas area. Here, you’ll have an opportunity to learn about tire safety ratings, how aging affects the reliability of your wheels, tips on finding a tire shop Euless residents trust, and much more.

How US Tire Safety Ratings Work

Not all tires are created equal in terms of quality, so you’ll want to know what you can expect from a new set of wheels before buying them. In the United States, many tires receive performance ratings from the federal government through what is called the Uniform Tire Quality Grading System. These ratings, which can be found on the sidewalls of passenger tires sold in the U.S., measure wheels in terms of their:

Treadwear

A tire’s treadwear grade expresses how quickly its treads will wear out. The higher this rating is, the longer you should be able to wait before buying a set of replacement tires.

For treadwear ratings, a control tire receives a grade of 100, and other tires are assigned ratings based on how they stack up. If your tires have a treadwear grade of 200, their treads should last twice as long as those found on the control tire.

Traction

Traction ratings are used to communicate how effectively tires can stop on wet pavement. This system’s traction ratings are “AA,” “A,” “B,” and “C” — the higher the rating, the shorter the distance a tire needs to stop in these conditions.

Temperature

Finally, temperature grades indicate how well a tire can resist heat. Using tires for extended periods in high temperatures can potentially result in tread separation and blowouts, but wheels with high-temperature grades will be less likely to suffer from these issues. Tires can receive temperature grades of “A,” “B,” or “C.”

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Are Your Aging Tires Safe?

As anyone who’s tried to stretch an old rubber band knows, rubber can easily crack as it ages. When this happens in a tire, the steel belts in its tread will start to separate from the wheel as a whole. Exposure to heat and insufficient tire maintenance will make this process occur sooner than it usually would. 

Between cracking rubber and tread wear, the average tire’s useful service life falls somewhere between three and five years — and trying to use your tires longer than that could result in severe consequences. As a result, it’s always good for drivers to know when their wheels were manufactured.

Assuming your tires were made after the year 2000, their age will be expressed in the form of a four-digit code. The first two digits in this code represent the week when your tire was made, while the last two indicate the year it was manufactured. For example, a tire with a DOT code of 0717 was produced in the seventh week of 2017.

What To Know Before Buying New Tires

Since tires don’t last forever, you’ll need to visit a tire shop to buy replacement wheels every few years. At that point, you’ll be responsible for finding tires that fit your vehicle in terms of their physical size and intended use case.

Before committing to one or more new tires, take a look at the sidewalls of your current wheels. There, you’ll find information on what type of tires you’re using, the tread width of these tires, and much more.

Additionally, you’ll want to think about your driving habits, the weather in your neighborhood, and what surfaces you tend to drive on. When you know what your priorities are, you’ll have no trouble finding the perfect set of tires for your own situation.

Consider These Popular Tire Varieties

Once you’ve considered the factors described above, you’ll be ready to visit your local tire shop to buy a new set of wheels. Some tire varieties that are worth considering for your vehicle include:

• All-season tires. These tires provide exceptional performance on wet and dry roads alike. While they don’t handle winter weather very well, that shouldn’t be a problem for Euless residents.
• Summer tires. As their name implies, summer tires are another excellent choice for warm-weather driving. These tires are known for their ability to deliver top-notch traction.
• High-performance tires. People who own luxury vehicles such as sports cars need tires capable of performing at the same level. High-performance tires definitely fit the bill — they’re designed to function similarly to racing tires. The only catch is that these tires tend to wear out faster than “standard” wheels.
• All-terrain tires. Are you a fan of off-roading who also wants to drive on paved roads? If so, you can’t go wrong with all-terrain tires. These wheels have deep treads that can contend with muddy surfaces without being too deep to work well on dry pavement.

Protect Your Tires With Maintenance

Even a high-quality set of tires won’t last forever, but without regular preventative maintenance, the life span of your wheels will be shorter than expected. That means it’s in your best interest to keep up on different tire maintenance services like:

Tire Balancing

If all four of your tires aren’t extremely similar, they won’t be able to work in unison like they’re designed to. As part of this, you’ll want to ensure your tires weigh precisely the same amount. That’s always the case for a set of new tires, but the weight of your wheels can change as they wear out over time.

When they become unbalanced, tires can start to wear abnormally. To avoid this outcome, tire balancing service is a must. The mechanics handling this task will analyze the weight distribution on your tires and install tiny weights to bring everything back into balance.

Wheel Alignment

The angle of your tires matters much more than you might think. When this angle is off by even a single degree, your tires could encounter issues ranging from reduced fuel efficiency to uneven wear.

Fortunately, getting wheel alignment taken care of at a nearby tire shop will help you avoid this situation. While providing this service, mechanics will make minute adjustments to your vehicle’s suspension. That will change the angle at which your tires meet the road, bringing your wheels back into alignment before you know it.

Tire Rotation

Depending on their position on your vehicle, your wheels could wear out faster or more slowly than you might expect. To avoid uneven tread wear and other problems, you’ll need to take care of tire rotation on a regular basis.

Tire rotation doesn’t require the same level of precision as wheel alignment and tire balancing — this service simply involves moving each of your wheels from one spot on your car to another. But because you’ll need to follow the correct rotation pattern for your vehicle’s drivetrain, it’s still best to leave this work to the professionals.

The Importance of Tire Repair

Taking care of tire rotation, wheel alignment, and tire balancing can go a long way toward keeping your wheels in good shape. That said, these services can’t prevent your tires from encountering trouble on the road. When that happens, you may need tire repair to get your wheels back in shape.

Not even skilled mechanics can fix every damaged tire. Here’s what you should know about your odds of getting tire repair while dealing with:

Puncture Damage

Tires with puncture damage can often be repaired, but the size and location of your puncture will determine whether or not this is a possibility for you. Fixable punctures are typically smaller than a quarter-inch in terms of diameter. Along with that, they can’t be located in the sidewall or shoulder of a tire.

Sidewall Bubbling

Bubbling in a tire’s sidewall can be caused by everything from hitting a pothole to traveling on a flat tire. In any case, this form of damage is both highly concerning and completely unfixable. Tires suffering from bubbling could blow out at any moment, so they need to be replaced ASAP.

Damage From Car Crashes

If you’ve been in a car accident, you know that situations like these can affect any component in your vehicle — and that definitely includes your tires. When your wheels get cut or have their treads separated in a collision, you’ll need to buy replacement tires.

Prepare for Road Trips With Our Tire Safety Checklist

While a summer road trip can be an exciting way to spend time with friends and family, an unexpected blowout (or any other tire problem) can make your journey much less enjoyable. Before you hit the open road, take a minute or two to:

1. Check Your Tire Pressure

Without sufficient air pressure, your wheels won’t be able to keep you safe while driving. Underinflated tires can wear out more quickly than expected and have an increased risk of blowing out. Since tires gradually lose pressure over time, it’s wise to check your tire pressure regularly and fill them with air as needed.

2. Inspect Your Tread

Checking your tread depth doesn’t require expensive equipment — all you need to perform this test is a standard U.S. penny. Start by putting your penny upside-down into the grooves of one of your tires. If you can still see the top of the president’s head, your tire must be replaced immediately.

3. Look at Your Sidewalls

When you hit curbs, potholes, and other obstacles, your tires’ sidewalls could suffer from bulges and cuts as a result. This form of damage can’t be repaired, so be sure to check for sidewall problems before your road trip and replace any tires that have developed these issues.

Can Used Tires Protect You on the Road?

There’s no denying that used tires are cheaper than new wheels. Because of that, this approach to tire replacement can be tempting for Euless drivers aiming to save on auto maintenance. Along with that, giving these tires a new lease on life comes with environmental advantages (though this certainly isn’t the only way to recycle used wheels).

But even though installing used tires can come with some benefits, taking this approach to tire replacement isn’t a good idea. The fact is that used tires simply aren’t as safe as new tires. Even if they still have a decent amount of tread depth left, these tires won’t be able to compete with a fresh set of wheels in terms of traction — so they’ll do a worse job keeping you safe on wet roads.

While businesses selling new tires must make an effort to meet federal standards, that hasn’t traditionally been the case for used tire sales. Because of that, you probably won’t get useful information on the history of your “new” tires — or know whether or not their previous owner took good care of them.

As if that weren’t enough, the cost savings that come with purchasing used tires might not be as dramatic as you’d think. By definition, these wheels have already been on the road for a while, meaning they’ll need to be replaced sooner than brand-new tires would. Taking all of this into account, investing in a high-quality set of new tires (and saving money with online coupons) will always be your best option.

Visit the Tire Shop Euless Counts On

Are you an Euless resident searching for a “tire shop near me”? If so, you shouldn’t just choose a random shop in the area for tire maintenance, repair, or replacement work. Instead, you should look for a local tire shop that offers advantages like:

• Skilled mechanics. Since many forms of tire maintenance require absolute precision, these tasks need to be handled by ASE-certified mechanics. People with this level of certification aren’t just talented — they’re some of the best workers in the entire industry.
• Nearby locations. The trick to finding a “tire shop near me” is finding shops that offer locations throughout the region. That way, you’ll be covered no matter where you are in Euless or North Richland Hills.
• A great selection of tires. Only name-brand tires can consistently deliver the reliability and safety you deserve. Because of that, your tire shop of choice should offer products from brands such as Michelin, Goodyear, and Bridgestone.
• Service quotes. No matter what type of auto service you need, you shouldn’t have to guess how much it will cost. Instead, look for a shop that will tell you what to expect in the form of a service quote.

At Parra Car Care, we offer all of these benefits and many others. To get the tire maintenance, repair, and replacement services you need, set up an appointment at your nearest Parra Car Care location today!

Frequently Asked Questions