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Click on logos to see pictures and more information about tires |
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Tire types |
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Passenger |
Passenger tires often have whitewall styling and feature all-season tread designs. They are the most common replacement tire today. Standard passenger tires are available in 80-, 75- and 70-series sizes (the tire series is the same as its aspect ratio). |
| Compact cars | These tires are designed to match the nimble characteristics of the compact vehicle. |
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Touring |
Touring tires combine much of the bold appearance and responsiveness of performance tires with the ride quality, low noise, and longer wear of premium passenger tires. |
| Light truck | Light truck tires have a variety of different designs developed for different uses including highway, all- terrain, and off-road travel. |
| Performance | Performance tires provide greater traction and responsiveness than standard passenger tires. Almost all performance tires are speed rated. |
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Rotation |
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The wear rate on the front wheels of most front-wheel-drive cars is about two times faster than the rear tires. The majority of new cars sold are front-wheel-drive, and about 26 million, or 20 percent of the cars registered in the United States are front-wheel-drive. You know who you are ... Tires on light trucks should be rotated at least every 5,000 miles. Inherent top sway with these vehicles can cause accelerated 'cupped' wear if not properly maintained by consistent rotation and proper air pressure. With passenger tires you get a little more slack to work with but on the average 5,000 mile rotations are a good standard to go by. Proper rotation is almost as important as proper air-pressure. Of course, at Fairfield Tire Center Inc. free tire rotations come with your tire purchase. Whatever the vehicle, check tires periodically for early detection of irregular wear. If you see irregular wear, rotate the tires after determining the cause and correcting any misalignment, balance or contributing mechanical problem. |
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Balance |
| Out-of-balance wheels can rob tires of thousands of miles. For a
tire to run true, the combined weight of the tire and wheel assembly must be
distributed uniformly. A heavy spot in the tire and wheel assembly must be
counterbalanced by precision-made wheel weights.
Improper balance could lead to cupping and excessive wear of the tread at the heavy spot. The tread will eventually cup out to the point where the tire will not longer be usable. In addition, the constant bouncing of the tire will lead to excessive tire wear. Have your car's wheel alignment professionally checked every six months. |
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Tire and wheel assemblies can be balanced in two ways -- statically and dynamically. |
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Static |
static balance is most often used for purely cosmetic reasons and or wheel (alloy rim) shape. In this type of balance the wheel weights are applied to the inside edge of the wheel effectively hiding the wheel weights. |
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Dynamic |
dynamic balance is the more accurate of the two types of balancing. It uses both inside and outside edges of the wheel to bring a true balance. |
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When should you balance your tires? |
| 1. | when new tires are mounted on wheels for the first time |
| 2. | when used tires are installed on existing wheels after flat repair |
| 3. | any time the tire is dismounted |
| 4. | at the first sign of vibration or "shimmy" |
| 5. | when you spot unusual "cupped" or "scalloped" tread wear |
Note: Even if you aren't experiencing any problems, since balance is so important to the proper wear of your tires we would recommend that you have your balance checked at least once a year. Vibration can also be caused by mechanical problems and irregular tread wear can be caused by alignment. A professional diagnosis will reveal the true cause.
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Air pressure |
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Although it is often said to inflate your
tires to the Max. psi listed on the sidewall of your tire, this is an
error. The manufacture's air pressure recommendation is usually
the best air pressure setting, specific for the needs of your car.
Another common misconception is that the manufacture lists the pressure
that will help the ride fell smoother, not so. The manufacture's
specifications figure in the big picture, weight load, wear, performance
as well as ride. The manufacture's air pressure recommendation
can be found inside the driver's side door and (or) glove compartment. |
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| Reasons for air pressure loss | |||
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Spotting tire wear |
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This is a sidewall separation. If not replaced this can become a serious hazard. |
Deep scalloped wear across the width of a tire is caused by weak struts and (or) shocks. Also, out of balance tires can create a similar effect though the pattern is tighter. | Feathered toe angle wear is caused by misalignment. It can be easily felt by running your palm along the tread clockwise or counter clockwise. |
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Over-inflation wear and (or) improperly sized rims or tires. |
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| A compromised sidewall exposing its tire casing. Without the outer layer intact, this tire has much greater vulnerability and should be replaced. |
Alignment and (or) bad front end parts. This wear can include toe angle and (or) camber angle wear. **This type of wear can be easily missed when it is on the inside of the tire. |
Here is a separation in the tread itself. This will cause a wobble effect at lower speeds and a pull to one side. If not addressed, the tire can become a serious hazard. |
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Both outer edges worn smoothly is caused by low air pressure. |
This outer edge chopped pattern is caused by a lack of tire rotation which is usually accompanied by outer edge wear. |
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Speed ratings |
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The speed rating on a tire is not the maximum rate of speed a tire will withstand. Rather, it is the maximum amount of speed the tire will operate at before sacrificing performance. |
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Q=100 MPH, 160km/h |
U=124 MPH, 200km/h |
W=168 MPH, 270km/h (z) |
| S=112 MPH, 180km/h | H =130 MPH, 210km/h |
Y=186 MPH, 300km/h (z) |
| T=118 MPH, 190km/h | V=149 MPH, 240km/h |
Z=149 MPH, 240km/h |
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Temperature rating |
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The temperature rating in descending order, "A", "B", "C" (with "A" being best or highest rated) is based on an indoor, extended high-speed wheel test. |
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Traction rating |
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The traction rating, in descending order, "AA", "A", "B", "C" (with "AA" being best or highest rated) is based on wet skid tests on government specified concrete and asphalt surfaces. the comparative grade letters represent the tires ability to stop the vehicle on wet pavement. Cornering traction is not tested. |
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Tread wear rating |
The tread wear grade is a comparative rating based on the wear rate of the tire when tested under controlled conditions on a specified government test track. A tire graded 200 would wear twice as long on the government test course under specified test conditions as one graded 100.
It is actually incorrect to link tread wear grades with your projected tire mileage. The relative performance of tires depends upon the actual conditions of their use and may vary due to driving habits, service practices, differences in road characteristics and climate.
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Reading the sidewall |
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Shown here is the sidewall of a popular "P-metric", speed-rated auto tire. "P" stands for passenger, "215" represents the width of the tire in millimeters; "65" is the ratio of height to width; "H" is the speed rating; "R" means radial, and "15" is the diameter of the wheel in inches. Some speed-rated tires carry a Service Description, instead of showing the speed symbol in the size designation. The Service Description, 89H in this example, consists of the load index (89) and speed symbol (H). A "B" in place of the "R" means the tire is belted bias construction. A "D" in place of the "R" means diagonal bias construction. The maximum load is shown in lbs. (pounds) and in kg (kilograms), and maximum pressure in PSI (pounds per square inch) and in kPa (kilopascals). Kilograms and kilopascals are metric units of measurement. The letters "DOT" certify compliance with all applicable safety standards established by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Adjacent to this is a tire identification or serial number. This serial number is a code with up to 11 digits that are a combination of numbers and letters. The sidewall also shows the type of cord and number of plies in the sidewall and under the tread. The DOT requires the manufacturers to grade passenger car tires based on three performance factors: tread wear, traction, and temperature resistance.
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Here is the typical information on the sidewall of a light truck tire: |
**The other markings on the sidewall have the same meaning as described for the passenger car tire.**
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FAIRFIELD TIRE CENTER, INC. |
AEGEAN TIRE CENTER |
