New Tires on an Old Car
Like many people, my first car wasn’t exactly top of the line. It was a 1968 Ford truck, with at least 200,000 miles on it and more rust than you can imagine. When I bought it, it had new tires on it, though, and I paid less for the truck than I would have for a full set of tires, so I was happy.
Unfortunately, I didn’t really know enough about cars at the time to pay attention to those tires. Within 6 months, I had to replace the two front tires because the truck’s alignment was so bad.
Now, I know better. I know what to watch for when it comes to tire wear. And, while I’m driving Nissan cars and not big old trucks anymore, the ideas behind tire maintenance are the same.
Here are some of the things to look for on your tires that may indicate a problem:
Inflation. Tires can be over- or under-inflated. Too much air inside the tire makes the center of the tire push outward, and causes just a small band on the tire to actually meet the road. This causes the tire to wear quickly. Too little air in the tire causes the tire to wear at the shoulders, causing uneven wear and causing the tire to wear out sooner.
Camber. If the top of your tires seem to tilt either inward or outward when you look at them from the front of the car, it’s called camber. A small amount of camber is normal, but if it looks severe, there may be an alignment problem.
Toe-In or Toe-Out. This refers to the degree to which your front wheels point toward each other. A small amount of toe-in, where your car’s tires point toward one another, is normal when the vehicle isn’t moving. This keeps the tires from being forced out at high speed. If there is severe toe-in, or if the tires point away from each other while not moving, there is a problem.
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