Archive for the ‘Automotive’ Category

So you have decided to spend the extra money and purchase custom truck wheels and tires.  One of the best ways you can protect this investment is to make certain that the new tires are properly balanced.  This will not only provide you with a smoother ride, but it will reduce the occurrence of uneven wear, and will extend the life of your tires.  This is important to maintain throughout the life of your tires.  Some people do not pay attention to, or do not think that proper balance is really all that important.

But the tires and wheels of cars today, are supporting lighter and lighter vehicles as technology and design elements improve.  This is good for things such as reducing you fuel use, but actually, the older heavier vehicles smoothed out the ride, the weight suppressed the bumps and the jars from the road.  They put pressure on the suspension.  Tire technology too, while improving the responsiveness, has made the feedback from the road more felt by the driver and the passengers.

As a result of both of these components, even a slight imbalance will be felt in the modern cars of today.  This is important as well, for the high performance plus sized tires.   When new tires are mounted onto the wheels of your car, there are just two units that are joined, that weigh approximately forty pounds total.  These are units that are seldom perfect, and the precise distribution of weight is impossible.  Just one ounce of difference is all it takes to start your car to vibrating, causing damage to the wheels and the cheap rims, causing more wear and tear on the tires, and creating a very bumpy ride for the driver.

There are two kinds of terms used to describe the kind of imbalance you will experience, static and dynamic.  When the imbalance is static, your car will be affected vertically, kind of hopping down the road.  When the imbalance is dynamic, your car will wobble back and forth…horizontally.  Either way, this will not only be annoying, but could be a safety hazard as well.  The balancing of tires is an important step to maintaining the life of your tires and the over all performance of your vehicle.

With the economy still on the decline, it’s hard to rationalize buying an entirely new car if the one you currently own is still functioning (even if only minimally). Rather than shell out a lot of cash and take on a new car loan, many people are doing their best to maintain their cars by performing the proper upkeep. Even if you’re just looking for cheap tires, it still extends the life of your vehicle.

My first step towards taking car of my car is making sure the tires are up to par. Tire maintenance greatly affects the life of your car and can prevent major accidents from occurring. Get your tires aligned and rotated regularly to make sure you’re not wearing down sections of the tread. Even wear of the tread and sidewall are important to maintaining balanced handling.

Because my tires have been looking a little flat and I’ve driven about 20,000 miles on them, I got them checked out at an auto shop. They informed me that the tread was worn down too low, so I decided to move forward with purchasing a new set. I need a style that is good for long distance driving, can handle a little snow in the winter, and works with my SUV wheels. I’m looking for wheel and tire packages that offer me the most affordable price. When buying a package, I also avoid the hassle of trying to find the best matching rim down the road. Fresh tires and rims will make my car look revamped, almost like it’s brand new.