Tips On Tires And Tire Pressure

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Tips On Tires And Tire Pressure

We know that all tires rotate. But we're talking about another kind of rotation — rotating tires to different corners of the car and maybe even reversing the direction in which they turn. Directional tires have to stay on the same side of the car. Directional tires often feature arrows on the sidewall to show the proper direction.Many tires are rotated front-to-back and side-to-side, but some tires are directional, which means they're only supposed to turn in one direction. They have to stay on the same side of the car. Directional tires often have arrows on the tire's sidewall to show you the direction in which they should turn.

If you're not sure which kind of tires you have, check with your mechanic. You should do this service only if you can do it for $20 or less. The financial benefit of rotating tires is that you'll increase the useful life of the tire. But if you pay more than about $20, you'll probably wipe out any savings you might have gained.

Instead, simply ask your mechanic to rotate your tires when they're already off your car for another service, such as a brake repair. That way, you won't have to pay extra.

You wont cause a disaster if you do not rotate your tires. However you surely will be increasing the life of your tires if you rotate them. This is because of the simple reason that by rotating you ensure that your tires wear evenly.

No catastrophe will strike if you have not been able to perform this activity.You will be able to run a few miles lesser than what your tires would have run had you rotated them.

Dos and Donts:

• Do try to rotate tires as part of good practice.
• Don't balance your tires when you rotate them. Always keep this in mind that Tires in balance continue to stay in balance even If you're having your tires rotated. Balancing of tires is not dependent in anyway on rotation.
• Never pay that extra cash and end up getting a balanced tire rebalanced. Rebalancing your tires is to be done only if you experience vibration.
  
  

Tire Pressure

Tire pressure tells you how much amount of air is in your vehicle's tires. The measure is given by pounds per square inch. You should make it a practice to check the tires' pressure with a pressure gauge, at least once in a month. Checking tire pressure is strongly recommended because the right amount of air in your car tires is an important safety issue.

You may be surprised to know that apart from the brakes, the tires are the most important safety devices on your car. If you do not maintain the correct tire pressure, there are many ways in which you will feel the pinch. First of all incorrect tire pressure will affect your ability in properly cornering as well as braking. Besides, not having the right pressure in your tires adversely affects the car’s stability.

The extreme case is when due to incorrect tire pressure the tire fails and totally destabilizes your vehicle. As a result, you could lose control of the vehicle leading to a serious accident.

Good practice recommends that you frequently keep a check on tire pressure. The right amount of tire pressure contributes towards better comfort, fuel economy and tire life.

Always maintain the recommended tire pressure. If the tire pressure is too high, then your car will bounce a lot on the road. This is because the tire contact surface with the road is less. As less of the tire touches the ground, it causes tires to bounce. As a consequence your car bounces as well.

When your tires are having perfect air pressure they are firmly planted on the road and you are able to enjoy a smooth ride without any bumps.If you want to increase your ride comfort then keep an eye on tire pressure. Remember improper tire pressure means traction suffers and so does your ride comforts. If you want that no fizz spills on your shirt then mind your tire pressure.

In case you have too low tire pressure then obviously you will have a lot of surface in contact with the road which translates to increased friction between the road and the tire. This not only results in shortening tire life as they wear out prematurely, but also to cause overheating. Overheating often leads to tread separation that could cause the car to go out of control resulting in an accident. The easiest way to know if your tires are low in pressure is to check if you hear your car tires squealing when cornering.If you do hear them making the sqealing sound then you can be pretty sure that they are low in pressure.

There are certain things you cannot assume when it comes to tire pressure. For instance you cannot assume that since your tires are not leaking hence logically speaking there is no need for you to check tire pressure. The fact is that you need to check the tire pressure even if your tires are not leaking. This is because Tire pressure also depends on temperature. Therefore as the outside temperature changes air pressure too changes. This is why good practice recommends that you should always keep a tab on tire pressure in frequent intervals.

As a thumb rule you can consider that Tire pressure decreases by about 1 pound per square inch for every 10-degree drop in outside air temperature. Imagine how dangerous it would be neglect tire pressure checks:

If your tire pressure was checked in July, when it was 80 degrees outside, and then only in January with temperatures of minus 20, your tires are underinflated by 10 pounds!

Keeping a tab on air pressure or locating right data is not at all a tedious task.You don’t even have to search through your car manual to verify what is the right tire pressure you ought to keep for a smooth and safe ride. Generally you will find the tire pressure data on the drivers door post. If you do not find it there then look in the glove compartmment or the gas filler door.

Never check the the pressurelisted on the tires if you want to know the tire pressure you should maintain .The pressure listed on tire is the maximum pressure allowed. The maximum allowable air pressure is not the recommended pressure for that tire when used on your vehicle. The recommended pressure is always lower than the maximum allowable air pressure.


Tire gauge

Check the manufacturer's recommended tire pressure with an accurate tire gauge. Do not use those fancy pencil-style gauges. These are extremely inaccurate and misleading. Choose some Analog, dial-type gauges or digital gauges to check tire pressure.

When to check?
Always check the tire pressure when the tire is in cold condition. This means to check your tire pressure when your tires are at ambient air temperature. Avoid checking tire pressure immediately after you have driven your car more than a few miles. Let the tires idle for some hours and then run your check.You can check tire pressure any time of the day, as long as the tires have been idling for a few hours. However your tire pressure will be accurate enough if you drive to the gas station a few blocks away to get the pressure checked.

Check all four tires
Always check all four tires. This alone guarantees stability and therefore safety to your vehicle.Do not forget to check the pressure of the spare tire. It is your best bet in case a need arises warranting tire change.

Check your tire pressure even if your tires look fine. Radial tires can be deceiving (they're sneaky little guys). They may look fine even when they're down 10 pounds of air — or overinflated by 10 pounds. So don't trust your eyes — use your gauge.

DISCLAIMER: The contents of this article are not necessarily the official views of, nor endorsed by, the owner of HondaClub(com).

[AP1fun]

Also, make sure your tires are not stagered* when you rotate them.

*Stagered means that the rears are wider than the fronts. The S2000 and NSX have wider rear tires making it a bad idea to rotate them.

Keeping an eye on your tires is a good way to keep your vehicle safe and it saves on replacing the tires. Keep the alignment in good check. Remember that Mario Andredy (sp) says himself to check your tire pressure at least once a month. A good time to do it is while your filling up the tank.

[TJ213]

also make sure that you don't used a different size spare on the back of the s2k, its bad for the LSD

[AP1fun]

LSD won't come on unless the tires try to spin.

HOWEVER TJ raises a good point. With a RWD car if you blow a rear take a front off and move it to the back and use the spare to turn with. Using a spare on the back is a bad idea.