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Show CAR CARE Special Oct. 22. 2008 • Page 3 Driving safely is where the rubber meets the road Copley News Service The next time you are tooling down the highway in excess of 60 mph, it might be good to keep in mind that your continued well-being depends on a 4-inch-thick cushion of air encased in rubber. That's right. Your automobile tires are really no more than four balloons stretched tightly over steel wheels. If one blows out 60 mph, you and your car could be spinning out of control. Next to your brakes, there might be no part of your automobile more important to your safety than tires. If you think about it, choosing the right tires for your driving conditions and maintaining them correctly could be the difference between life and death. RIGHT PRESSURE To be safe, you should check the air pressure in all your tires, including the spare, at least once a month. Not only will keeping your tires correctly inflated keep you safer, it will save money by increasing the tread life of your tires. Rotation is necessary because of the uneven wear characteristics of each wheel position on a vehicle. Front tires, the ones that turn, tend to wear faster than rear tires. Rotate tires at the vehicle manufacturer's recommended intervals, or at 5,000 TO 7,000 miles if not specified. A healthy habit many people follow is to rotate their tires with every oil change. HOW TO CHOOSE Buying replacement tires for your automobile can be confusing. Tires come in a wide variety of sizes, styles and prices, and the numbers and letters denoting these things appear to be in secret code. The Consumers Union, the nonprofit publishers of Consumer Reports Magazine, offers the following tips for buying tires: - Read the fine print. The warranties manufacturers provide for their tires are prorated; the more miles on the tire, the less credit you get on a replacement. Most tire warranties only cover damage resulting from regular use and don't cover damage resulting from potholes or other road hazards. - Know your tire's size. To find the size and type of tire recommended by the manufacturer of your vehicle, check the placard in the doorjamb or glove compartment, on the fuel-filler door, and in the owner's manual. Take a P205/55R16 94V tire for example, the "P" prefix denotes a passenger-car tire. LT is the designation for tires that should be fitted only on light trucks. Some tires omit either prefix. The "205" is the tire cross-section width in millimeters, and "55" is the ratio of sidewall height to cross-section width - in this case, 55 percent. The "R" means radial-ply construction. And 16 is the wheel diameter in inches, The number "94" corresponds to the tire's maximum load capacity. The letter "V is the speed rating indicating the maximum sustained speed. - Shop around. Tire prices can vary widely by region, retailer, or even by the changing price of the raw materials used to produce them. - Check independent tire dealers, online or mail-order stores, tire chains, car dealerships, department stores, and clubs. Be sure to ask whether the price includes mounting, balancing, and new valves, which can increase total cost. Buy fresh. Look at the sidewall of a tire for a designation beginning with DOT, for Department of Transportation. The last four digits of the designation indicate the week and year of manufacture. For example. "3305" means the tire was made during the thirty-third week of 2005. Avoid tires that are more than a few years old. - Winterize wisely. Buy and install winter tires in sets of four to maintain balanced handling and for secure grip when starting and stopping. Winter tires have a mountain-snowflake sym- bol on the sidewall. It indicates that they passed an industry test for severe snow use. TIRE REPAIR While it is expedient to address a slow leak by repeatedly filling the tire with air, you must keep in mind that tread punctures or penetrations left unrepaired can cause irreversible tire damage. What's more, an improper repair can damage the tire and will void the warranty. Bridgestone/Firestone offers these guidelines on their Web site (www.tiresafety.com) for determining whether a damaged tire can be repaired: - Never repair a tire worn below See TIRES, next page American, Asian & European Built Vehicles FOREIGN & DOMESTIC AUTO REPAIR James Porter • Ron Stagg 502 W 1400 N • Logan JECH-HET Professional • Specialize in Volkswagon, Subaru, Infiniti, BMW & Audi • Excellent service for you and your car! » Now performing winter checks and maintenance! 435-752-1246 ASz |