Do You Need New Tires?
Tires are one of your vehicle’s most important safety features. Excalibur Auto Repair mechanics fully inspect your tires as part of every maintenance service. During our tire service inspection, we check:
- Tread depth: is around 11/32 inch when new. Less than 6/32 inch is time to consider replacement. 2/32 inch is dangerous.
- Damage: blisters, bulges or cracks on any surface of the tire
- Uneven wear: excessive wear on some of your tires could indicate an alignment issue, or faulty/worn suspension components.
If you do need to replace your tires, we can help! We sell all leading tire brands and manufacturers, and we will help you figure out the best tire options for your vehicle, driving conditions, and budget.
For normal city driving, you don’t need the most expensive tires, but you might not want the cheapest ones either. We can help you find the balanced combination of wet traction, ride comfort, low noise levels and treadwear rating that works best for you and your vehicle.
Tire Service Recommendations
- Ensure proper inflation – monthly
- Rotate Tires – every 6,000 miles
- Alignment – every 12,000 miles
- New Tires – every 40 – 50k miles
Tire Care
To make your tires last as long as possible:
- Keep your tires properly inflated. Over and under-inflation both make tires wear out more quickly.
- Make sure your wheels are properly aligned.
- Rotate rotate rotate! Especially if you have a front-wheel-drive vehicle – your front tires carry most of your vehicle’s weight, and take most of the load in braking, cornering, and fast starts. Most manufacturers recommend rotating your tires (front-to-back and sometimes left-to-right) every 6,000 miles.
Tire Balancing
When new tires are first fitted to their wheels, they are measured and tested on a balancing machine. Corrective weights are applied, if necessary, to ensure the wheel + tire system rotates perfectly smoothly, at very high speed.
How Often Should Tires Be Balanced?
New tires should always be balanced when they are first attached to your wheels and vehicle.
If you’ve had your tires for a while, and you notice an unusual vibration while driving, you might have one or more tires out of balance. Vibrations can also be caused by a bent wheel, damaged tire, loose or damaged brake components, worn suspension parts or bearings. A professional technician can correctly diagnose the vibration and determine whether re-balancing your tires or a different repair will fix it.
Tires which are *slightly* out of balance do not necessarily cause vibrations or represent a significant safety issue. But one or more unbalanced tires can make your suspension components or the tires themselves wear out more quickly.
To get the best value and longest life for your vehicle, get your tires balanced every couple years if you mostly drive on smooth pavement, more frequently if you do a lot of driving on rough roads.
Wheel Alignment
Wheel alignment is a series of measurements and adjustments to a vehicle’s wheels and suspension. Proper alignment ensures that the wheels are precisely parallel to each other and precisely perpendicular to the ground. Good alignment helps your vehicle travel straight and true – not pull to one side.
