Tires and Tire Safety
Text by Emily K. Alberts With
summer
around
long. To extend the life of your tires,
if the alignment is altered. These newer
underway, there is a lot riding on your
miles. If something feels off when you
are on all sides, and the car’s alignment
the corner and vacation planning tires. Improper inflation pressure and out-of-spec alignment conditions can
cause tires to wear out prematurely, so you want to be sure your tires are in good shape before logging any major miles this vacation season.
“The general rule of thumb
you should rotate them every 5,000 are driving, such as the car pulls to the left or right, you may want to check the
than flat, so there will be some natural
all-season tires should last somewhere
here, the roads are crowned rather pulling toward the edge.”
Alignments are usually covered
using synthetic oil, some folks can go
pothole) heading back in to check your
an oil change,” says Kin Jennelle,
production manager of Collision Plus
in Blacksburg. “Your tires can’t wait that 42
NRV MAGAZINE
On average, people drive
between 12,000 and 15,000 miles a year,
for three months, so if you run into some
7,500-10,000 miles before needing
will alter the detection sensitivity.
alignment. Keep in mind that around
is to check your tires with every oil change, but nowadays, with more cars
systems can detect how close vehicles
traffic trouble (and say, hit a curb or alignment might be advisable. Jennelle also warns that if you drive a newer
vehicle with driver assist technology,
the radar will need to be recalibrated
May/June
which means average, good quality,
between three and five years or 45,000 miles. Commonly, new tires come with a
tread life or mileage warranty, meaning
the manufacturer will replace the tires at a prorated value if they wear out (fail
inspection) prior to their advertised lifespan.
. . . continued on page 46
2022
