Summer Tire Maintenance Tips: Play Your P.A.R.T At TIRECRAFT

Summer’s right around the corner, which means it’s almost time to tackle your summer tire maintenance to-do list. But TIRECRAFT can help! Today’s post explains how we’re helping Canadians follow TRAC’s summer tire maintenance guidelines this year.

Read on or contact your local TIRECRAFT summer tire specialist to get right to work.

Play Your P.A.R.T And Be Summer Tire Smart, TRAC Says

The Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC)’s Be Tire Smart—Play Your P.A.R.T campaign was created to promote proper summer tire maintenance practices in order to improve road safety, reduce harmful emissions, and save money through better fuel efficiency.

The campaign focuses on four key areas of tire care—all of which you can find at your local TIRECRAFT:

1.  Pressure

“Maintaining proper tire pressure is important for many reasons other than reducing the potential of a flat tire or a blowout,” states the TRAC website.

Indeed, if you want your summer tires to perform all season long, both for everyday driving and life-saving emergency maneuvers, you need to maintain proper tire pressure. Improper air pressure also increases rolling resistance and tread wear, both of which will cost you money and could potentially even void your warranty coverage.

But maintaining correct air pressure is easy with TIRECRAFT. Tire pressure checks and top-ups are included as part of every auto repair service, and if you have a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS), we’ll make sure it’s working properly. Our summer tire experts can also advise you on a proper tire pressure maintenance schedule, factoring in your unique driving habits, local temperatures, and summer tire type.

2.  Alignment

Checking your summer tire alignment will prevent uneven wear, excess fuel consumption, and handling problems, such as “pulling” or vibrations.

You almost certainly need summer tire alignment if:

• You need to hold the steering wheel to drive straight (i.e. the vehicle drifts left or right when you *take the hands off the wheel)
• You’ve just changed over to your summer tires
• You’ve been involved in a collision
• Steering or suspension parts, such as tie rods, control arms, or bushings have been changed
• You’ve driven the first 3,000km in a new car
• Your front-wheel-drive car just had a trans-axial repair
• More than 20,000km or 12 months have passed since your last summer tire alignment

Whatever the reason may be, TIRECRAFT can help. You can learn more about our summer tire alignment service here.

3.  Rotation

“Regular rotation will minimize wear and prolong the life of your tires,” states the TRAC campaign website. “Rotation will also reduce the risk of sudden tire failure.”

All summer tires should be rotated according to the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendation, found in the owner’s manual. If you’re not sure what’s recommended for your summer tires, or you want to automate the entire task, contact your local TIRECRAFT for help. And if you bought your tires from TIRECRAFT, your rotation may be free of charge, thanks to the Advantage Plus Program.

4.  Tread

“Treads wear out over time, but drivers can take precautionary steps to prolong the life of their tires,” states the TRAC campaign website.

In addition to adjusting your driving habits, you should make a point of checking your summer tire tread regularly. Look out in particular for the wear bar, which is only visible when there is less than 1.6mm (2/32 inch) of tread depth remaining. When you see this wear bar, your summer tires need to be replaced.

Whether you need some tips for tread maintenance, help with tread inspection, or a full-on replacement, your local TIRECRAFT can help.

Be Summer Tire Smart And Play Your P.A.R.T. At TIRECRAFT

Use the Find a TIRECRAFT tool to find a summer tire expert near you and get a free quote on these important maintenance services.

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