I've found that many ladies are reluctant to ask about tires. They tell me that they don't know anything about the subject.
Ladies, you know more about buying tires than most men! You see, tires are just like buying shoes for yourself. A man goes into a shoe store, points to the shoe and asks for his size. But a woman considers a lot more that just size.
Let's start here. When you need tires for your vehicle, check the driver's door or door jam for the tire information sticker. It has lots of information you need. Let's say that printed on the sticker is 225/60R16V. Here's what that means:
Think of 225 as the shoe length, 60 as the width and 16 as the heel size. Okay, so far so good. But here are the things that men don't get:
COLOR: Of course, tires are black but the sides of some tires are not completely black. Besides black wall, some tires come in wide white wall, regular white wall, pin stripe white wall, gold and white stripes, solid white letters or white letters with a black inside (called outlined white letters). Occasionally, you can find tires decorated with red or blue stripes!
MATERIAL: The upper part of shoes can be leather, plastic, and fabric. I've seen shoes with the uppers made of mostly metal! Tires have strings of material (called cord) imbedded in the rubber for strength. There's nylon, rayon, polyester, Kevlar (the material in bulletproof vests) and even steel.
SOLE: Shoe soles can be made of leather, rubber, plastic and even paper. Like shoes, the tread (the part of the tire that touches the road), is made of different materials. Sure, all tires are rubber but there are many different types of rubber. Some wear like iron but have little traction. Others wear quickly but grip the road tenaciously. Technology has brought us new forms of rubber that get a bit sticky on wet pavement and, just like special rubber soled shoes, these materials help to prevent slipping.
SOLE SURFACE: Keep in mind that the bottoms of the soles aren't always smooth. Running shoes have a pattern for improved grip and cushion where dress shoes are smooth on the bottom. Some shoes have special soles for rock-climbing. All tires (with the minor exception of those made specifically for drag racing) have a pattern molded in. This is called the tread pattern. Tire tread patterns come in an endless number of designs. Just like the bottom of soles, some designs are better on dry pavement, others better on loose surfaces like gravel or soil, a few would excel on snow and ice. And, yes, there are even special tread designs that excel at climbing rocks! Look at a few tires. I'll bet you'll be able to figure out which tread designs would be quieter than others and which ones would be better on loose material rather than pavement.
BUDGET: Can you afford Gucci or does Pay-less fit your wallet better? Or how about something in between. When shopping for tires, you'll quickly see that a little more money buys a much better tire.
If you've been paying attention, you noticed that there is one little thing I left out… that letter “V” in my size example that I gave in the beginning. That letter is properly called the speed rating… but it's a lot more complicated than that. By law, tires must not fall apart at the maximum speed that your vehicle can attain. (Of course, only an idiot would drive that fast!) But, to keep the “higher speed” tires from flying apart (exploding from the centrifugal force) they have to have stronger and stiffer sides.
As best as I've been able to figure out, vehicles that require stiffer tires have softer springs, otherwise every crack in the road would jar your kidneys. Putting a soft tire on a vehicle with a soft suspension system is a recipe for disaster. If you had to swerve suddenly to avoid an accident, you're liable to loose control. If the accident investigation shows that the wrong tires were installed on your vehicle, you'll get sued, your insurance company will get sued, the manufacturer of the car will get sued, the maker of the tire will get sued, and I'll get sued. You can be sure that we won't sell you the wrong tires because we don't want to be sued!
So you see, ladies, buying tires is the same as picking out a pair of shoes. And if you think we know tires, ask us for a recommendation. Unlike the shoe store, we carry Gucci, Pay-less and everything in between all in one place.
So, when your vehicle needs new tires, come to Clearview Tire and Auto Service, our car, light truck repair shop and tire store in Hopkinsville for the area's largest selection of tires. That's another reason so many people say “TAKE IT TO CLEARVIEW!”