Car Care: How to Maintain Your Tires

The terms rim and wheel are generally used interchangeably, although in the Midwest the term wheel is more likely to mean the actual rubber tire itself than the rim that the tire is seated on. More often than not, though, the term tire and wheel are used interchangeably, and the word rim is reserved by itself.

When buying a tire, you need to keep in mind several things. Just because a tire fits on a rim doesn't mean it is rated for that vehicle. You need to look at speed ratings, wear ratings, and load capacity before you put new tires on your car or truck. A 3/4 ton truck with tires with a low load rating will find itself in big trouble when it gets loaded up with a bed full of gravel. The tires won't last, especially at highway speeds. And that can spell disaster.

If you're interested in getting larger rims for your vehicle, consider getting lower profile tires as well since that will maintain the overall diameter of the tire, and you're speedometer and odometer will still have the correct readings. And remember, a larger diameter tire means better gas mileage but slower starts and less torque on the ground. A truck that pulls a lot of heavy loads will want to think before putting too large a tire on as it will decrease their towing performance. Cars will have a similar problem, especially performance cars where getting off the blocks is a concern.

When buying new rims, remember that there is some value to your old rims. They are not really consumable like tires or break pads are. Rims are generally considered usable for the lifetime of the vehicle that they're on. The actual tire itself is the part that you should be concerned about. As the tread wears down and the grooves become more shallow, the life of the tire is depleting. At a certain point, the tire will not only have poor traction, but be dangerous to drive as well. To avoid uneven wear on front wheel drive vehicles, tires should be rotated every 10,000 miles so that even wear is achieved.

Proper rotation means moving the front tires directly back to the rear, and exchanging the rear tires with the front on opposite sides.

Remember, your car or truck can have all the power in the world, but if it's not properly transmitted to the ground through the tire, it's all worthless.

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Allen provides cheap tire information at his cheap tire shopping blog.

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