Do you know what tires fit your car? Here are some of the basic guide in choosing the right tires that fit for your car.
Know the Number of tires required. Ideally, to avoid handling problems that may arise, all four of your vehicle tires must be identical, failure to do so will result in possible problems of making your vehicle difficult to control due to unmatched tires.
1) Replacing only one tire. For instance, one of your tires is accidentally damaged and need to be replaced it’s a must that you replace it with the exact tire size, brand and speed rating as that of the others. Do not compromise safety against less expensive tire available.
2) Replacing a pair of tires. If it is necessary to replace a pair of tire on your vehicle due to damaged or worn out but the other two is not due for replacing because it still has a lot of thread dept remaining, you should replace the two worn-out tires that come as close as possible to matching the other pair not due for replacement. While identical new tires are ideal as a replacement, tires with the same size and type can also be used and also provide good results. However, it should be on the same category as you vehicle existing tires and must be installed on the rear axle of your vehicle.
3) Replacing a set of tires. If all of your vehicle tires wear out together, this can give a lot of freedom to choose the right tires that are best fitted for your vehicle and your usage. You can choose from a different variety of tires available in the market which can give you longer tread wear, a smoother ride or more handling depending on your requirement. Just review the tire category types and finding out the category description of your needs:
1) Know the right size required by your vehicle. Buying the right size of tire for your vehicle is complicated, especially if you are about to deviate from the original size that comes along when you purchased your vehicle. The tire size numbers are located on the sidewall of the tire similar to the one as illustrated. For example, as illustrated:
205 is the width of the tire measured from sidewall to sidewall in millimeter.
55 is the section height or aspect ratio measure from tire bead to the top of the tire in millimeter and is equivalent to 55% of 205.
Z is the maximum speed your tire is capable.
R is the construction and means that the tire is Radial construction.
17 is the sire of your wheel in inches.
2) Know the weight that it can carry. Your replacement tires should handle the weight of requirements of your vehicle. No matter how good your tire is if it cannot support the load of your vehicle, your tire will become overworked and can give you problems in the future. Your tire can carry can be determined from the load index also written on the sidewall of the tire after the tire size. In the below illustration the load index is 95 if we look on the tire table for load index, 95 means the tire can carry a weight equivalent to 1,521 lbs or 690 kgs.
3) Know the overall tire diameter. Tire diameter affects the accuracy of your vehicle speed data. A 3% diameter change is desirable if you are using cars or vans and 15% oversize tire can handle mostly by Pick-ups and SUV’s.
4) Know the tire usage. Every driving condition requires a different type of tire, determine what is the worst driving condition and the typical driving conditions you will encounter to select tires that meet your divers need which does not compromise your vehicle performance.
If your worst conditions and your typical conditions are similar, you’ll only need one set of tire. When you are living at the edge of Snowbelt and not frequently get snow, an all-season tire is best for you.
However, if you drive frequently trough snow all winter and your typical driving conditions is spending a weekend on the beach, consider choosing two sets of tire for your vehicle because both sets are design to master specific conditions they are designed for without compromising your driving satisfaction at the extremes.
How to tell if you need new tires
All tire have what it called "Tread Wear Indicator Mark" there is a triangle like an arrowhead which can be found on the sidewall of the tire similar as illustrated below.
The triangle points you the direction where the mark is located at the bottom of the tread patterns and is distributed all throughout the tire when the treads of the tires worn up to the marks then this indicates that you need to replace your tire. Knowing how to change a tire and how to choose the right tires that fit your car is necessary when replacing your tire.
