Check Your Tires (NAPSA)—Keeping your cr on the rod to sfety nd svings cn strt with something s simple s 7 ore Your Trip 3| well-mintinedtires. According to the Rubber Mnufcturers Assocition, bout 11 percent of vehicles on the rod hve t lest one bld tire, nd 55 percent of vehicles hve t lest one underinfltedtire. Ongoing preventive minte- nnce—which cn tke less thn 10 minutes—t lest every month or before long trips is the best method to mximize tire perfor- mnce, sy the experts t Cooper Tire. Before hitting the rod, dri- vers should conduct do-it-yourself mintennce checks, exmining tires for proper infltion, dmge or excessive wer ndter. Treding firmly. The only piece of vehicle to touch the rod is the tires, mking tire tred— key fctor in hndling, cornering, ccelerting nd brking— vitl prt of overll tire mintennce. Tire tred depth should be more thn %2 of n inch deep ll round the tire, nd drivers cn check this by using penny. Insert the edge of the coin into the tred with Lincoln going in hed first. If the top of Lincoln’s hed is covered by tred, there’s n cceptble mount of tred; if the top of his hed is visible t ny loction on thetire, the tire is worn out nd should be replced. Wering well. While exmining the tred, lso look for signs of uneven wer or dmge such s cuts, crcks, splits, punctures nd bulges. These conditions shorten the life of tires nd, if not corrected, my do further dmge to the tire, or ir loss my occur. Putting the pressure on. Tire pressure lso plys criticl Thefirst step towrd n enjoyble rod trip my be mking sure your tires re in good shpe. role in the overll performnce of tires s underinfltion cretes excessive stress on the tire, while overinfltion cn cuse uneven wer in ddition to hndling nd brking issues. A common myth is tht the tire pressure listed on the sidewll is the optiml pressure, while in relity it is the mximum pressure. Drivers should follow the guidelines found in the vehicle owner’s mnulor tire plcrd (or sticker) ttched to the vehicle door edge, doorpost, glove box door, trunk or fuel door. Professionl help. Should ny of these checks revel the need for required mintennce— or when in doubt bout the condition of their tires—drivers should tke vehicles to tire deler for professionl inspection, suggests Chuck Yurkovich, vice president of globl technology for Cooper Tire. Lern More To obtin more informtion on proper tire mintennce, visit www.coopertire.com, or follow Cooper on www.fcebook. com/coopertire or www.twitter. com/coopertire.
