Tire Service New Lexington OH

The most important service for your tires, and coincidentally one of the easiest, is a tire rotation. Tire rotations are not just about extending the lifespan of your vehicle, they are about ensuring your safety in less-than-ideal weather and driving conditions. Routine tire rotations are crucial to the health of your tire's tread. The treads are the lines on your tires that help remove water, snow, dirt, and mud from the tire's road surface, maintaining traction. Over time, the tread depth can decrease, taking the available traction provided down with it. Tires require rotating due to your vehicle's weight distribution. Most of a vehicle's weight sits on the front axle due to the location of the vehicle's engine and transmission, two of the heaviest components. This additional weight causes the front tires to wear down faster than the rear. During a tire rotation, a technician will switch the front wheels with the rear ones to maintain even tread wear and extend the life of all four tires. Here at Keer Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, our service team members recommend rotating your tires every 5,000 miles. The easiest way to do this is to simply have them rotated each time you get your oil changed. 

Equally as important as tire rotations are wheel alignments. While rotating your tires ensures the life of the tire's road surface, wheel alignments take care of the outer edges of the tire. In these portions toward the tire's side walls, you'll find little channels leading away from the main tread out toward the side walls. These channels are in place to whisk water, snow, and more away from the road surface. Misaligned wheels can cause these channels to wear down, leaving the sides of your tires bare and thus unable to remove road debris. There are three alignment specifications for your wheels, the first of which is toe. There are two specifications for your wheels' toe angles: toe-in and toe-out. Toe-in means the wheels are angled inward toward each other, while toe-out means they are pointed slightly away from each other. While you may be envisioning this as a dramatic image, it is only by a few degrees. However, both ways cause the tires to essentially drag down the road, which causes the tires to wear unevenly and decreases fuel efficiency by causing the engine to work harder. Next is camber, which comes in positive and negative specs. Positive camber means the top of the wheel is out further than the bottom, while negative camber means the bottom of the wheel is pushed out further than the top. This causes the edges of the tires to wear faster than the main tread, as more of the vehicle's load is falling on the edges. Finally, caster is the angle of the vehicle's steering axis. The manufacturer of your vehicle has a specific degree to keep the tires wearing evenly and keep the vehicle pointed straight. 

As we've tried to make clear, the most important part of a vehicle's tire is its tread. All tires come with different tread patterns. However, no matter the tread pattern, tread shares a common goal: provide optimal traction no matter the weather or terrain. The easiest way to check your tire's tread depth is with a tread depth gauge. To use this, push the gauge all the way out and stick it into a few spots in the tire's tread. The minimum recommended tread depth is 2/32 of an inch. If you don't have a tread depth gauge, a technician here in our service center will happily check your tread depth. You can also use a penny to check your tire tread. To do this, stick the penny upside-down in a few spots on the tread, if part of Lincoln's head is covered, your tires are still in good shape. However, if you can see all of Honest Abe's head, it's time for a new set of tires. If your tires are in need of replacement, the Keer Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram service center carries an array of tires from today's top brands, and we're confident to have the tire that fits both your needs and your budget. One of our expert service team members will happily assist you with finding the right tire. 

Your safety is important to us here at Keer Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. That's why the certified technicians in our service center offer an array of routine tire maintenance services to ensure you get the best life from your tire's tread. Use the contact form below this page to get in touch with our team and schedule an appointment to have your tires serviced or inquire about getting new tires. We look forward to hearing from you soon!