Video: Tire Maintenance and Replacement

SAN FRANCISCO — Host, Sarah Rutan: To keep your car safely on the road, you’ll need to know how to properly maintain and care for your tires. Today we’re in San Francisco with Diamond Certified Expert Contributor Ricky Naguyo of Faxon Garage to learn more.

Diamond Certified Expert Contributor, Ricky Naguyo: In regards to tire inflation, a low tire pressure can decrease the life of your tires by 20 percent or more. Incorrect tire pressure can increase your stopping distance; which means, when you step on the brakes to come to a stop, it’s going to take you longer to stop the vehicle. Now, proper tire inflation can be found either in the driver’s door jamb or in your owner’s manual.

Now, most tires these days – actually, all tires these days are built with a wear indicator into the tread. This is a new tire, and the wear indicator is recessed inside. Now, as the tire wears, you start to compromise wet weather traction, and the tread goes lower and lower, and this indicator comes out of the tire or is at the top of the tire.

This old tire shows that here. Here’s the wear indicator of this old tire, and that wear indicator is at 2/32 of an inch. This is also where the manufacturer says it’s time to replace the tire, as well as your wet weather traction is compromised.

Now, if you’re replacing two tires, you want to put the two new tires in the rear of the vehicle. Why? Because a rear tire which loses traction can spin – can send the car spinning; whereas, losing traction in the front, you can keep your vehicle safe with the steering wheel.

Host, Sarah Rutan: To learn more from local top-rated companies, visit our Diamond Certified Expert Reports at experts.diamondcertified.org.