Admit it. You find it hard to care about your tires. Even with all the recent headlines, you still don’t check your tires’ air pressure. You don’t take the time to regard the depth of your tires’ treads. And, honestly, have you ever peeked at the placard in your driver’s side door (or maybe the glove compartment) to learn the correct air pressure for your personal vehicle’s rubber?
Don’t despair. Well-made tires are, in a word, tireless. What other parts of your vehicle slam into potholes, push puddles, pound the pavement mile after mile, and perform as intended? You think your brakes stop the car? Wrong! Your brakes stop the wheels that stop the tires that stop the car. And the steering? It’s the steering wheel that turns the shaft that turns the wheels.
that move the tires that make the car turn the corner! The tires are the only part of your car that touches the pavement and if the tires don’t roll, the car don’t go!
But, if treated with indifference, even good tires can go bad. Ponder just a few of the things that can happen to your tires in a typical day:
- Puncture (Who left the roofing nails in the driveway?)
- Impact (Like, when you can’t avoid that two bedroom-size pot-hole in the school yard.)
- Curbing (How was I supposed to get into that parking place, ANYWAY?)
- Overloading (We had to get the wrought iron lawn furniture to the lake house somehow!)
- Under-inflation (I thought my husband was keeping up with that!)
- Age (Even a good thing is not a joy forever.)
- Baldness (Forget Rogaine, they need to be replaced.)
To help insure that your tires perform at their peak, Michelin recommends that you check your air pressure and inspect your tires at least once a month. Of course, both male and female drivers are guilty of neglect. But women, if we can remember to pick up the kids, plan a meal and call for theatre tickets all in a single hour, we can certainly remember this simple task that, when it comes to how our cars perform, can make a huge difference.
