FACTS ABOUT TIRES

[Music] in the 20s touring in a gas buggy was a wonderful adventure full of excitement fun and flat tires tires didn't last very long either 2,000 miles if you were lucky roads were rough many unpaved cars smaller slower lighter tires were different tall and skinny with narrow treads these tires couldn't stand up to the constant flexing since then tire makers made many innovations new compounding methods new designs and new materials for the tire court but research continues for even better materials with greater durability [Applause] [Music] today the life of a tire is about 20,000 miles compare that with the 2000 miles of the 20s but even now hard use can cut tire life panic stops cut 10% off tire life Jackrabbit starts another 20% if you hit a deep bump a rock a chuckhole you can knock out the front end alignment or the wheel balance this will shorten tire life even more rough handling can bruise the reinforcement chords of your tires maybe a blowout now or maybe just weakening now but failure 500 miles from now hey Frank bring the t-bird in what kind of driving do you usually do sustained Turnpike speeds are just too slow around town kind of stuff what's that got to do everything you buy the tire to fit the need all tire seems pretty much the same today so what's a quality time no it's a better made tire stronger it'll stand up to rougher treatment and that makes it a lot safer [Music] ever see a jet set down for a landing at 150 miles per hour those babies aren't carrying sandbags either the responsibility for a hundred sixty five lives rides on those tires and strong as they're built those tires are only good for about 150 landings you know that's only about a hundred miles but it's enough to wear them out from the intense friction and heat the black marks on the runway are actually streaks of melted tire rubber you see heat is what hurts a tire most racing tires of the strongest car tire is built 197 miles per hour down the straightaway 147 miles per hour on turns with racing tires its heat again that does the damage but here the heat is caused by the flexing of the tire cord as a result of the terrific speeds heat is the tire killer heat from the flexing of the tiger the danger zone is 200 to 260 degrees the higher the speed the greater the heat drive at a cool 40 miles an hour and you get yourself a bonus 41 percent more tread wear than normal normal is average tread wear at 50 miles an hour a hot 70 miles an hour delivers less than 70 percent of the normal tread wear as speed increases the rate of tread wear increases regardless of speed when tread wear is down to 1/16 of an inch tires need replacing here's a good test for tread depth measure your treads with the edge of a penny if you can see the top of Lincoln's head your tires have had it knowing about tread wear is knowing only part of the facts about tires underneath the tread is the tire court fabric or the tire plies some tires have two plies others have four or even six apply is a fabric of cord with a thin layer of rubber calendered into it because tire cord is so strong and flexible manufacturers today can build a better tire using only two plies you see the cord in a tire is its backbone there's 8,000 to 10,000 feet in an average passenger tire the ply is laid in on the bias plies alternate in direction with each layer strong fibers are used two strands of yarn are twisted together to make tire cord the cord is thoroughly coated for good adhesion [Music] after calendaring the cord fabric becomes a tire ply the cord fabric meets the special rubber formulated for fabric the rubber is fed into the calendar rolls pressed onto both sides and between the cords of the fabric this is now a tire ply [Music] several carefully controlled procedures part of more than 100 per session operations involved in quality tire making the tread the sidewalls the safety liner the bead each is constructed with care together with the plies they are assembled into a tire blank [Music] not yet cast into the familiar donut shape attire blank is also referred to as a green tire it is called green because it has not yet been cured this looks like a rubber barrel with a low top or bottom the green tire goes into the mold carefully controlled high pressure steam from both the top and bottom sections of the mold forces the green tire against the precision pattern slowly the tire barrel changes into the traditional tire shape the curing takes place at about 350 degrees Fahrenheit the heat causes the chemicals in the rubber to set [Music] after 15 to 20 minutes outcomes the finished tire now it is carefully checked inside and out by a trained inspector a perfect tire but tire makers are seldom satisfied with perfection new improvements are constantly being worked on and undergo millions of miles of testing although the final test is the road test important testing is also done in the laboratory ear conditions can be kept under precise scientific control exact lab tests show that the higher the speed the greater the heat buildup distortion and danger at 60 miles per hour tread temperature is 220 degrees at 70 miles per hour the heat is 240 degrees at 90 miles an hour the heat is 270 degrees strain Distortion more heat buildup many laboratory tests have been developed to assure you the best tire that can be made as you drive along the quartz in your tires are bending and flexing continuously each and every cord flexes more than half a million times per thousand miles to take this constant compressing stretching and twisting a tire cord must be strong and resilient this marks another important difference between a good tire and a bad one while you're here let's check your other tire okay but they haven't give me any trouble and there's plenty of tread life left on this one but it's ruined really yep see that bald spot that wheels out of balance that's what causes it when you were driving didn't you notice the steering wheel vibrate in your hands sure of it I didn't think much about it vibration in the steering wheel is a sure sign of out of balance as little as one ounce out of balance can cause a tire to hit the same spot with sledgehammer force every revolution this tire is really not safe if I were you I'd replace it I guess you're right any suggestions no I'd say you need a quality tire many tire companies put out a line of quality tires the question is what tires suits your need what about cost this sounds like money yes it'll cost but quality tires are worth it okay go ahead hey Frank put four of 70 14s on this bird what about your spare no I don't know what about it there's an idea that might save you some money if you have a good spare use it rotate your tires every 5,000 miles you can increase tire mileage up to 25% this way front and rear tires wear differently because they do different kinds of work unless they're rotated this uneven wear can become even more pronounced and cause shimmy and bumpy riding if you wrote a to even out the wear and your tires last longer but you've got to start with a good spare it makes sense as well another thing when you mount a tire always check the wheel rims a Bandar cracked rim can leak air and cause plants [Music] here's something else that's extremely important tire balance now most tires are slightly out of balance and have to be weighted with live the weights are fastened to the rim [Music] when the strobe light reads zero the wheel and tire are in balance here's another tip front wheel alignment should be checked regularly a competent mechanic can do this too much inward or outward tilt causes heavy wear on one side of the tire and too much toe in our toe out can also give your tire trouble a wheel running out of alignment can wear out a tire in a mighty short time the best way to get more for your money in a tire is to treat it right never bump curbs hitting curbs can knock the wheel out of alignment and maybe bend the rim but worse than that it can also cut the sidewalk or even do hidden damage like bruising the inner plies a bruise is a separation of the plies this weakens the tire and doesn't even show but maybe days or even months later the weakened cords break and you have a failure another way to help you get longer tire wear is this proper inflation use the right amount of air pressure you'll find this in your owner's manual or ask any tire dealer check air pressure regularly at least once a month do it when the tires are cool after you've been parked for at least three hours or when you've driven less than a mile at moderate speeds by the way never reduce air pressure when tires are hot overinflation makes tires run hard and causes bruising and weakening it also creates excessive wear in the center of the tread under inflation is just as bad this causes extreme flexing which builds up excessive heat it also causes rapid wear on the outer edges of the tire tires with correct inflation are safer and will give you the longest possible tire life keep these things in mind and you'll get more wear out of your tires you've all heard the story of the elderly lady who takes the car out only on Sunday to go to church well she needs good tires too but if you use the Turnpike and drive at high speeds then you'd better be rolling on quality tyres tire makers are putting the finest technology and the utmost care into making the best tires for you the life of your tires depends on how you care for them remember excessive speed creates heat and heat kills tires good driving habits proper balance alignment and inflation help you get top performance from your tires a lot of good tires end up in the graveyard long before their time [Music]