Abnormal Tire Wear: What is Looks Like, and How to Prevent it

The old "penny trick" is a common way of measuring the current depth of your car's tires. 2/32nd's is the depth in which it is recommended to purchase a new set of hoops, and is a measurement backed by government regulations. When you do in fact get a new set of tires, stretching your dollar the furthest means you need to be cautious, and take care of your new set of tires. In this week's blog post, we will show you examples of what abnormal tire wear looks like, and how you can be proactive in preventing this from happening!

Toe Wear- This is primarily caused by an alignment issue with the vehicle. The tire will show wear on one of the edges of the tire, but not the other. Have your vehicle's alignment done when getting your new tires, but also have it checked periodically to ensure the vehicle is properly aligned!
Camber Wear- The photo to the right illustrates both positive and negative camber. Essentially, one side of the tire is being stressed heavily, while the other side has minimal contact with the ground. To prevent this, an alignment should be checked and/or performed to ensure a neutral camber. Alignments can be completed at any local Bob Sumerel Tire location!
Center Wear - Over inflating your tires is the what causes center wear on your tires. Get in the routine of having your air pressure checked to ensure your tires are at the correct pressure. Your local Bob Sumerel can take care of this for you free of charge!
Edge Wear- This is the opposite of center wear, and is caused by having under-inflated tires. The majority of the stress is being put on the edges of your tires when they are under inflated, also resulting in poor handling.
Patch Wear- When a tire is not balanced properly, it is subject to "hopping" while on the road. Usually, these patterns are erratic and have no consistency with how they form. Any local Bob Sumerel Tire location will balance your tires with purchase, and can be checked periodically upon scheduled maintenance checks!
Cup Wear- These consistent bald spots in the tire usually stem from your shocks, struts, or stabilizer links going bad. A simple inspection can be done at any Bob Sumerel location to check to see if the suspension parts are holding up.

Something else to keep in mind is regularly rotating your tires, which is a free service at your Bob Sumerel Tire location with any tire purchase. By rotating your tires, you allow for the tread to be worn evenly, and preventing any wear from alignment/suspension issues. Simple checks can be done to see if your suspension is tight, or to see if your alignment on your vehicle is off. If your vehicle "pulls," or has abnormal shakes at highway speeds, contact your local Bob Sumerel for a complimentary vehicle inspection.

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6 Tips To Keep You And Your Loved One's Safe On The Road This Halloween

 Halloween is coming up in just a few days, and the driving safety and new tires experts at Bob Sumerel Tire Co. put together a list of safety tips for when you are driving this holiday.   Not only do these tips apply to drivers, but also to keeping your children safe this holiday.   

1. Make sure that you drive slowly when passing stopped vehicles.  The driver may be letting out children to go trick-or-treating.
2. Always be alert when driving.  This means eliminate anything in your vehicle that may distract you from the road including your mobile phone.
   
3. Be alert to children running across the streets to get to the next house.  A large majority of Halloween accidents are cause by not being alert.
4. Make sure to use your proper vehicle signals when dropping your children off or turning.  People around you need to know where your vehicle is going, and where you are at.   
5. Teach your children to look both ways before crossing the street.  If your child is too young to understand, then use it as an opportunity to get dressed up in a spooky costume and stretch your legs out trick-or-treating.
6. Make your children shine.  Give them flashlights or colorful spooky lights or glow sticks to help them be more visible at night.

Most importantly the new tires experts at Bob Sumerel Tire Co. would like to wish you a happy and more importantly safe Halloween this year!  Be sure to make your local Bob Sumerel Tire store your one stop shop for all things tires and service.

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4 Components Of Tire Technology Explained By Ohio's New Tire Experts

At a glance, a tire is simply an inflated piece of rubber stretched over a rim.  However, there is so much more to new tires than meets the eye.  The make of your tires can determine how well your vehicle can handle in different weather conditions, cornering, ride comfort, ride noise level, and many more factors.  Each of these factors is determined by the highly tested engineering that goes into each new tire.  The new tires experts at Bob Sumerel Tire Co. have laid out a list of explanations of some of the key engineering components that go into a tire. 

The Rubber
The rubber of a tire is actually made up of two key ingredients, the rubber and the filler.  These two are carefully balanced and varied across different tire brands to account for the performance of the tire in different weather conditions.  There are also different types of rubber used in different tires to achieve certain performance objectives for that type of tire.

Tire Cords
Fabric and steel cords are used in tires to help reinforce the rubber against the heavy loads that the tires are carrying.  Both types of cords are produced in highly controlled environments to ensure peak quality.  Tire cords can play a large factor in ride comfort and load capacity.

Bead Compnent
This aspect of the tire helps to anchor the body plies (made of fabric and steel cords) and lock the tire onto the actual wheel.  Bead components in all tires must be precise to ensure ride safety.

Tread and Sidewall
These components of the tire are made from a machine called an extruder.  The extruder simply shapes the rubber into the correct profile of either the tread or the sidewall.

So remember, the next time you are looking at new tires to buy feel free to ask your local Bob Sumerel Tire salesmen about these components.  They are committed to getting you the right tires at the right price no matter what.  Make Bob Sumerel Tire Co., home of the lowest drive away tire price guarantee, your one stop shop for all things tire and service.

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