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Tires are many things. However, some individuals have misunderstood the process of choosing tires.

Tires are important. In fact, your choice of tires can affect comfort, handling, safety and more.

There are two kinds of tire construction. The first is the bias-ply and the other is called the radial. Bias-ply construction is generally used by cruisers. On the other hand, radial construction is used by sport bikes. You can easily distinguish one construction from the other for bias-ply has round profile while radial has a flatter and shorter version.

Bias-ply uses a carcass that is made up of overlapping layers of nylon or rayon cords. The flexing action produces heat which contributes to a good grip. The drawback of this construction is that it reduces performance and hastens tire wear because too much heat can be generated.

Radial tire construction acquired its name because its plies are running at a 90-degree angle. As oppose to the bias-ply, this construction reduces heat generation. As a result, tires are cooler and not susceptible to hastened tire wear. The drawback though is that the sidewalls can effortlessly be flexed. Thus, the sidewalls are given a shorter profile.

Tire pressure really matters to the tires. Therefore, it has to be checked regularly.

Aside from tire construction, we must also be knowledgeable about tire wear in relation to choosing tires. Softer compounds are good in producing more traction however, they wear out quickly. Harder compounds have fast wear but they may not cause a good grip.

Moreover, OEM or aftermarket motorcycle parts manufacturers and distributors must consider dealing with effective grip coupled with longer mileage when it comes to tires. This is of course to prolong the life of motorcycle tires.

One factor that can affect tire wear is the rider’s riding style. Aggressive riders usually have their front tire to wear out faster than the rear. Why is this so? This is because tires tend to brake late using mostly the front brake. In contrast, cruiser riders, normally wear out the rear tire first. This is because they have more weight at the rear portion of the bike.

To know when to change your tires, you can perform the ‘penny test’. Simply put a penny into a tire groove with its head pointing down. You have to change your tire when you can see the top of the head of the person in the coin. It can be an hint that the tread depth has already reached 1/32 of an inch. Remember, new tires will have a very different contact patch and lean-over edge.

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Mechanic dispute.. Did they screw up my lug nuts?
Mechanic dispute.. Did they screw up my lug nuts? I took my car in for new tires. When I came to pick it up, the guy says the lug nut and bold was damaged and told me I needed to get replacement parts at the dealer, bring it back and they’d replace it.

I’d have to buy the parts myself (wouldn’t be too expensive) but still, I looked at the nut and I think they were the ones who screwed it up.

So I made my arguement, and eventually he gave in and said okay, they’ll order it, pay, and call me and replace it. But I want to know if I was really right. My argument was that the damage to the threading on the nut was near the front. So that means the damage had to occur when the nut was being put ON. It looks like when someone is trying to put a nut on and aligned it wrong, then used the hydraulic wrench and realized it wasn’t on straight.

He said it was already damaged as they were trying to take it off. But if that was the case, wouldn’t the threading be damaged all the way through the nut, not just at the front?

So what do you think? Any mechanic experts here? Thanks.

Chinese Company Denies Tire Defect
The manufacturer called problem claims fabricated, but the tires have already been linked to at least two deaths.

Tire shop questions
I’ve got to replace my front tires, so I have some dumb tire shop questions. I’ve got to replace the tires on my car in the morning due to uneven front tire wear. I’ll be dealing with a typical suburban Firestone shop.

1. (Most important) If I want to get the front wheel alignment fixed, how much extra time is normal? Five minutes? Twenty minutes? Fifty minutes? I have no idea how long this takes on top of new tires.

2. Is it ever a good idea to have new tires balanced? Or is this something that is only done to used tires?

3. Are there any tire upsells that I need to avoid?

4. What do you say about the “used” tires some shops sell? Are they ok buys? Or should I get new?

Thanks!

car trouble deja vu
My car has developed pulsing brakes and a low-speed wobble, for the second time in under 2 years. Help me get it fixed right this time, please? My car wobbles from side to side slightly at low speeds. The wobble frequency varies with the speed of the car, becoming a mostly non-noticeable vibration above ~20 mph. Also, the brakes apply in a jerky/pulsing manner that again varies with the speed of the car and isn’t noticeable until I’m going quite slowly. It feels to riders as though I’m pumping the brake pedal, even though I’m applying constant pressure. It feels to me like the brakes don’t catch as well during some parts of the wheel’s rotation.

My question partially involves these symptoms, but mostly involves the fact that this has happened before. These same two problems occurred together about a year and a half ago. It all began a few months after I had 4 new tires put on the car. (Bear with me - I know very little about cars, so I’m about to pull terms from memory that I didn’t fully understand when I heard them.)

I was told at the repair shop that my brake rotors were bent and needed to be re-machined (to fix the jerky brakes), and also that one of my tires was probably out of round (to explain the wobble). The mechanic fixed the brake issue, but said the tire guys would have to deal with the tire issue. However, he did rotate the tires so that the wobble would be in the back of the car instead of the front until I could make it to the tire store - this made driving the car somewhat easier/less nauseating. He also said to tell the tire guys to be sure to use a torque wrench next time they did the tires. He seemed to be implying that the lack of a torque wrench might have caused the bent brake rotors.

A few days later I went to the tire store and told them about the wobbly tire and that the mechanic thought it seemed to be “out of round”. The tire guys took a look, did some stuff, and told me that one of the tires just needed balancing. I didn’t mention anything about the torque wrench, because I’m kind of shy and didn’t feel qualified to be telling the tire guys how to do their jobs.

So, approximately a year and a half later the problem is back. This time I want to know what I’m talking about when I go to get it fixed, so maybe it will STAY fixed. I’m done being shy. Here are my questions:

1) Does the original diagnosis sound correct - bent brake rotors and a bad tire? I mostly assume the mechanic was right, because the problems went away (for 18 months, anyway) after he fixed the brakes and the other guys messed with the tires.

2) Should the tire people replace my tire(s), or is re-balancing it/them ok? As I understand it, re-balancing just shaves rubber off of part of the tire, which won’t solve the problem if the tire is truly “out of round”. How do I know whether the tire really has an irreparable flaw? Should I demand a replacement? This is at a national discount chain, and at this point I don’t really trust them to thoroughly handle the matter unless I ask the right questions and really push.

3) Could the tire guys’ installation techniques, or the bad tire, have caused my brake problems? If so, should the tire store have to pay for fixing my brakes, especially if they should have replaced the tire the first time this happened instead of just rebalancing it? Should I mention the torque wrench thing this time?

4) Could there be something else wrong with my car that is causing both of these problems to come up again? I’ve been blaming the tire and possibly the tire people for not fixing it right the first time, but if something else could be making this happen then it’d be good to know.

Other details that may or may not matter:
The car is a ‘96 Civic with only 60,000 miles on it, automatic transmission. I bought it from my grandparents just over 3 years ago. It was in a major accident that required significant rebuilding at some point well before I purchased it, but my grandparents didn’t experience any problems with it after the rebuilding.