Choosing the right tires for cars and trucks is far more important than one may think. Surely, the vehicles are bought for their engines, horse power capabilities, design, and many more. Yet, tires are as important as all of the mentioned above factors. After all, they are the ones responsible for the grip on the road and overall road safety (provided they are chosen wisely). So, it is surprising how many drivers neglect their tire capabilities and shop for cheap rather than appropriate goods. That is why we decided to pay your attention to some of the most important things to weigh over before buying new tires. As you will see below, tire size, which is but one of the obvious technical conditions, is not even included in the list – we take it for granted that you will have to consider the size anyway. Instead, we would like to pay your particular attention to some of the following things:
Durability of tires for cars and trucks
Everything, including a tire, has an expiration date. Tire tread life can differ significantly depending on manufacturer, type, speed limitations, materials used in the production, and so on. Each tire manufacturer indicates the product tread life in the model number. However, you should note that these numbers presuppose artificial testing conditions and may differ from the actual tread life in reality. Yet, the basic concept is pretty simple – the higher the tread life score is, the longer your tire will last. Generally, you should not try to save on durability, as buying new tires every year or two is much costlier in the long run.
Weather considerations
Depending on your region, you should think carefully about the tires you really need. Even though it is advisable to have two sets – for winter and for summer, there are certain regions where the temperature remains the same throughout the entire year, and such advice obviously loses its relevancy. However, it does not mean that if temperature variations in your state are scarce, you should buy anything you see. At least, you should consider precipitation, as different tires perform differently on wet and dry roads.
Tire speed limitations
It is really amusing, but most drivers tend to buy tires with high speed limitation limit. In practice, law regulations prohibit driving at 195 miles per hours, so buying a tire with speed capability as high as this is simply a waste of money. Higher speed limit does not presuppose higher durability, or better material. It merely presupposes speed limit, so think twice before buying. The most reasonable thing to do would be to buy tires with the real-life speed limit and save your money. As it was already mentioned, you should better overpay for tread life.
Load capacity: tires for cars and trucks
Load capacity is very important, especially for freight trucks. Whereas most passenger cars are characterized by the same load capabilities (more or less, of course), most tires for trucks can have polar different characteristics, which should better be taken into account. Take your time to make all of the necessary calculation and choose the upper real-life load limit. Similar to speed limitation, there is no need to overpay – stick to the actual, real figures.
Sound
Seemingly the same tires might still have amazingly different characteristics in terms of noise. It would be impossible to give some universal advice here, as there are too many brands, models, and sizes to cover. Yet, after you have chosen several models, sound consideration should be the last question you ask. If you are shopping with a professional consultant, he might be able to help you and offer valuable information about each brand/model behavior on the road.
Shopping for tires with CARiD
Finally, there is no need to go to an on-site store to get some professional consultations. Most online automotive shops, including CARiD have a professional support team that will be glad to answer all your questions online. Here, at CARiD, we have a wide selection of tires for cars and trucks from major international brands, such as Michelin, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Dunlop, BFGoodrich, Continental, Nexen, Falken, Goodyear, and many more. The full assortment of goods is available at https://www.carid.com/tires.html In conclusion, we would like to stress that quality and durability considerations are far more important than brand. Surely, solid brand reputation can (and most of the times really is) a good indicator. Yet, sometimes it is better to carefully analyze the features you actually need and buy a less popular brand than overpay for a name and buy goods that are not customized to your particular needs.