Buying Tires shouldn't have to be hard
Thursday 24 March 2011
Out of all the original equipment parts on your car or truck, tires are most likely to wear out first. This only stands to reason as they are the only part that is constantly in contact with a varying textured surface under a verity of climate conditions. So knowing when and how to replace them will be a need to know situation sooner or later.
Ok, so it's time to replace your car's tires. Are OEM (original equipment manufacturer) tires what you should replace with? Let's investigate that question just a bit. How long did the OEM tires last? Did you get sufficient mileage out of the tires? Did they perform well in all the conditions you subjected them to? If you answered yes to all these questions, then replacing your tires with tires of a like kind and brand as were on it from the factory will probably be a good choice.
If you didn't answer yes to all the above questions, then there might be a need to investigate the purchase of a tire that better suits our particular driving needs. It isn't as difficult as it might seem, especially with so much information provided by different tire manufactures available on the internet today.
Let's say you are not satisfied with the mileage you got from your OEM tires. You only got 35,000 miles and you feel they should have lasted longer. If you can honestly say that your driving habits were not such that caused excessive and accelerated tire wear then you may want to investigate buying a tire with a better tread wear expectancy. This will mean doing a bit of research to determine which tires will have a longer tread life then what you have. Compare the tires you now have to other tires available. Most manufactures will rate their tires in several different categories, one of which should be tread wear.
Achieving longer tread wear requires tons of research, on the part of the manufacture to come up with the proper hardness of rubber compound. The hardness of the rubber is what will, in most cases provide for a longer tread life. But in going with a longer tread life, the manufacture must also consider that using a harder rubber will decrease the overall traction of the tire. So they must find the perfect balance between traction, stability and wear. They do the hard work for you. You only need look carefully at the data they provide to determine if a tire will meet your tread life expectancy.
The next question to answer is "Did they perform well in all the conditions you subjected them to?" If your answer to this question is no, then you may again want to look for an alternative to the manufacturer equipped tires you now have. For this you need to determine under which conditions did your current tires not meet your expectations for performance? Was it highway driving at higher speeds, was it on wet or snowy roads, or was it some other condition where they didn't meet your satisfaction?
Where surface conditional changes such as snow and rain are the performance issue, it may be that a simple tread design change is needed to meet your operational need. Tread design is one of the most important aspects of a tires overall design. It is after all, to coin a cheesy cliché, where the rubber meets the road.
Again, most tire manufacturer will rate their tires as to how well they perform under varying conditions, all you need do is find a tire that performs well for the condition you find yours lacking in. Let me stress, to determine a tire that better meets your need, it is always wise to find the manufacturer rating for the tires you now have for comparison to those you might prospectively purchase.
The next area where you may have concerns might be the overall handling of the tires you now have. This would be things such as corning, or stopping performance. It might be your OEM tires have a tendency to squirm a bit too much under certain conditions. Handling issues are generally determined by doing a fine balancing act between the other two areas, tread hardness, tread design, and sidewall construction. Again manufactures will rate the tires they make in the area of overall handling.
The sad fact is that there is no magic tire that will perform to the highest standard in all arenas. But armed with what you know about the tires you have, and the information you can easily find on the internet from tire manufactures, you should be able to easily find tires that will satisfactorily meet your particular driving need. If it all seems a bit too much for you, and you know a trustworthy tire dealer, you can present your tire concerns to them and they should be able to meet your need.
There is one more thing to consider if you let the dealer suggest your tires. Deal with a tire dealer who sells more than just one or two brands of tires. Choosing a dealer who sells multiple brands will avail you to a broader range of tires for them to better select one that will work well for you.
Ok, so it's time to replace your car's tires. Are OEM (original equipment manufacturer) tires what you should replace with? Let's investigate that question just a bit. How long did the OEM tires last? Did you get sufficient mileage out of the tires? Did they perform well in all the conditions you subjected them to? If you answered yes to all these questions, then replacing your tires with tires of a like kind and brand as were on it from the factory will probably be a good choice.
If you didn't answer yes to all the above questions, then there might be a need to investigate the purchase of a tire that better suits our particular driving needs. It isn't as difficult as it might seem, especially with so much information provided by different tire manufactures available on the internet today.
Let's say you are not satisfied with the mileage you got from your OEM tires. You only got 35,000 miles and you feel they should have lasted longer. If you can honestly say that your driving habits were not such that caused excessive and accelerated tire wear then you may want to investigate buying a tire with a better tread wear expectancy. This will mean doing a bit of research to determine which tires will have a longer tread life then what you have. Compare the tires you now have to other tires available. Most manufactures will rate their tires in several different categories, one of which should be tread wear.
Achieving longer tread wear requires tons of research, on the part of the manufacture to come up with the proper hardness of rubber compound. The hardness of the rubber is what will, in most cases provide for a longer tread life. But in going with a longer tread life, the manufacture must also consider that using a harder rubber will decrease the overall traction of the tire. So they must find the perfect balance between traction, stability and wear. They do the hard work for you. You only need look carefully at the data they provide to determine if a tire will meet your tread life expectancy.
The next question to answer is "Did they perform well in all the conditions you subjected them to?" If your answer to this question is no, then you may again want to look for an alternative to the manufacturer equipped tires you now have. For this you need to determine under which conditions did your current tires not meet your expectations for performance? Was it highway driving at higher speeds, was it on wet or snowy roads, or was it some other condition where they didn't meet your satisfaction?
Where surface conditional changes such as snow and rain are the performance issue, it may be that a simple tread design change is needed to meet your operational need. Tread design is one of the most important aspects of a tires overall design. It is after all, to coin a cheesy cliché, where the rubber meets the road.
Again, most tire manufacturer will rate their tires as to how well they perform under varying conditions, all you need do is find a tire that performs well for the condition you find yours lacking in. Let me stress, to determine a tire that better meets your need, it is always wise to find the manufacturer rating for the tires you now have for comparison to those you might prospectively purchase.
The next area where you may have concerns might be the overall handling of the tires you now have. This would be things such as corning, or stopping performance. It might be your OEM tires have a tendency to squirm a bit too much under certain conditions. Handling issues are generally determined by doing a fine balancing act between the other two areas, tread hardness, tread design, and sidewall construction. Again manufactures will rate the tires they make in the area of overall handling.
The sad fact is that there is no magic tire that will perform to the highest standard in all arenas. But armed with what you know about the tires you have, and the information you can easily find on the internet from tire manufactures, you should be able to easily find tires that will satisfactorily meet your particular driving need. If it all seems a bit too much for you, and you know a trustworthy tire dealer, you can present your tire concerns to them and they should be able to meet your need.
There is one more thing to consider if you let the dealer suggest your tires. Deal with a tire dealer who sells more than just one or two brands of tires. Choosing a dealer who sells multiple brands will avail you to a broader range of tires for them to better select one that will work well for you.
source : http://www.articletrader.com/automotive/buying-tires-shouldnt-have-to-be-hard.html
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