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What every driver should know about tires
Underinflation of tires, according to studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, is the leading cause of tire failure and, therefore, tire-related
automotive accidents. In short, keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure is
integral for the safety or yourself, your passengers, and other drivers on the road.
There are several reasons tires lose pressure. Tears in the tire wall or punctures are
obvious causes of "slow leaks," but ambient temperature can also cause changes in tire
pressure as well. For example, if you live in Los Angeles where it is 68 degrees and
drive up into the mountains where it is 33 degrees -- a journey of about 1.5 hours -
you can expect a 4.4 psi pressure drop by the time you reach your destination.
Why? It's typical for tires to lose pressure at approximately 1 psi for every 8-degree
drop in temperature. On top of that, tires regularly lose 1 psi per month as well.
Most of us simply "eyeball" our tires and don't add air until we see a visual difference.
This method is not reliable and if fewer people used it as a guide for proper inflation,
there'd certainly be fewer accidents as well. In most cars, trucks, and SUVs, the
recommended tire pressures are printed on a label in the glove box, on the driver's
manual, or on a sticker adhered to the doorframe.
Keep a gauge handy and use it regularly. Doing so will not only keep you and your
occupants safer, but will also improve your fuel economy.
It's also important to have your tires rotated and inflated to the proper pressure about
once every 6,000 miles unless the manufacturer of your vehicle suggests otherwise. Uneven
wear on tires can also lead to underinflation.
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Some new vehicles now have warning systems to alert drivers of tire pressure loss as a
part of their active safety packages. For example, Isuzu's Ascender SUV - known for its
upgraded safety features - has a Tire Pressure Monitoring System that instantly warns the
driver of a significant pressure loss. Isuzu's pickup truck line employs the same
technology.
The second leading cause of tire failure is overloading a tire. This happens often with
owners of pickup trucks and SUVs. Just because your vehicle can contain a heavy load
doesn't mean your tires can support the same amount of weight. Be sure to check maximum
load weights and speeds before attempting to haul or tow a heavy load.
Be sure to also use the proper tire for the conditions you're driving in. While it may
seem more appropriate to use snow tires on dry roads than regular tires in heavy snow
and ice conditions, it's not. Dry roads cause escalated wear of snow tires and reducing
traction. It's best to use the proper tires in the proper environments and when the
season changes, change your tires as well.
"All-season" tires may seem like the most convenient answer, but keep in mind that while
they may be adequate in all weather conditions, the nature of their design to do so,
keeps them from performing excellently in one specific condition. And because they are
not perfectly adapted to any specific weather condition, they may wear more quickly than
specialized seasonal tires would when used in the conditions they were designed to
function the best.
About the Author: Thomas Rodriguez. Looking for the right 4x4 SUV? Isuzu has you
covered... Our {a href="http://www.isuzu.com/get_a_quote.jsp"}SUV Prices can't be beat!
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