Improperly worn tires can growl at you while chewing on wallet of McHenry drivers

This tire should have been checked a while

ago. Now, it needs to be replaced. McHenry
drivers should pay attention to worn tires,
adjust air pressure properly and have their
wheels aligned.

As they pulled out of the McHenry driveway and headed for Route 31, Dan tilted his head a little as though he were pondering a particular point. Julie asked him, “What are you thinking about?”

“Shhhh,” Dan said.

“What …? I just wanted to …”

“Don’t you hear that?” Dan asked.

“Hear what?” Julie asked.

“I don’t hear anything,” Julie said.

But then the traffic on 31 made room and Dan picked up speed.

“Oh my, what is that?” Julie asked sounding alarmed.

What they heard was a roar from the back of the car that got louder and louder as they picked up speed.

“We must be dragging something,” Julie said in alarm.

“No. That sounds more like a bearing,” said Dan.

He pulled over, got out and looked around but couldn’t see anything. “Well, whatever it is, we need to get the car in and have it looked at,” said Dan as he worried about how much this was going to cost him. Boy, was he surprised.

“Your tires are cupped,” his auto repair technician told Julie who brought the car in while Dan was at work.

“What causes that?” she asked.

“Well, since it’s the back tires, I’d say it’s improper tire pressure,” the technician explained.

Tire wear is bad for tires and can cause annoying tire noise

Cupping can be caused by several things:

Cupping, however, is not the only example of tires that are not wearing properly.

Patchy tire wear is usually caused by unbalanced tires, worn suspension parts or failure to rotate tires periodically.
Toe wear is where the tires are worn down on the inside our outside of the tire. Improper tire alignment is the likely culprit.
Center wear, where the tires are worn down the middle or the tread is caused by over-inflated tires.
Edge wear happens with tires that are underinflated.

Keeping proper tire pressure and the wheels balanced, having the vehicle aligned, the shocks or struts replaced when worn and having the suspension and steering components checked regularly will help to extend the life of your tires. And tires that wear properly are less likely to growl at you while you drive to and from your McHenry home.

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