Tire rotation rotate - 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 Club Cab

The largest vehicle expense short of a catastrophic mechanical failure can be the purchase of tires. After spending anywhere from a few hundred dollars to upwards in the thousands for tires why not protect your investment? Many tire stores offer packages for road hazard situations which usually covers tire repairs and lifetime rotate and balance as well as proration of the tire if tire becomes unrepairable.Ask your tire dealer what their road hazard packages cover? Some tire dealers even offer lifetime alignment or extended alignment service packages.

One of the most common cause for tire failure is improper inflation.Underinflated tires can cause excessive flexing of the sidewall causing the rolling resistance to increase (friction) and can not dissipate heat the way it was intended.This can lead to blow outs or tread separations.Overinflated tires can wear out the center tread and allow to much pressure to build up and cause a tire to blow out. Most vehicles have a placard in a door jam or glove
box that states what manufacturer suggests what the air pressure should be set to.If unable to locate the placard the owners manual contains the same information.This is what the air pressure should be set to.Tires have a maximum pressure printed on the sidewall this is more to advise what the tire can handle not a guideline for inflation.

A long term sign of an under inflated tire is inner and outer edge wear this causes the tire to not roll evenly across the road surface and puts the vehicles weight on the edges of the tire. An overinflated tire will
cause the the center tread of the tire to wear out.

You purchased a tire rated for 60000 miles and it only lasted for 30000? The reason for this is usually due to lack of tire rotation so the drive tires end up wearing out faster then the non drive tires. Proper tire
maintenance is the key to longevity of your tires.Most importantly proper tire pressure.Most manufacturers recommend tire rotations between 5000-7500 following this will maximize the life of your tires.Tire rotation
procedure can vary from a front wheel drive (FWD), rear wheel drive (RWD),all wheel drive (AWD), or four drive (4WD) your owners manual should tell you the best way to have your tire rotated for your vehicle. At one time it was suggested to never cross rotate tires due to damage occurring this is no longer the case. Advancements in tire technology has changed this so cross rotating is now a regular practice. There are some exceptions such as performance rated directional tires designed to only be mounted one way on the vehicle left or right side these can
only be rotated front to back.Some vehicle are now stock with different size front and rear tires so rotating
really is not an option.

After your tire replacement or rotation an alignment is a large a key to tire longevity and avoiding premature tire wear. In a perfect world there are no pot holes in the roads or curbs to hit but we all know that is not reality.These things can easily cause one of the alignment angles to go out of specification drastically reducing tire life. I mentioned earlier that some shops offer a lifetime or an extended alignment service plan this
is definitely a great option depending on what your intentions with the vehicle are.This can save you you a lot of money in the long run.About once a year or every 12000 miles you should have the alignment checked and set if needed even sooner if you commonly are hitting potholes and curbs.

Following these simple rules will allow you to get the maximum mileage from your tires.