Firestone | Osceola Garage Blog

Tires are the most important safety item on your vehicle, and become essential during winter driving conditions. Tire technology is far superior today and winter tires are better in ice and snow than ever before. New tread compounds have evolved to stay soft and flexible during the coldest of temperatures. In addition, tread designs have greatly improved. This technology vastly increases traction during winter driving conditions.

Traction on the road comes from how well your tires grip the road. Proper traction is critical for stability, steering and braking. If you use two different tire designs or different type of tires, your vehicle will not react and perform the way it was designed to. Winter tires have a huge advantage in snow and slush over regular tires and even all-season tires. But, to get the most traction and handling, you need to install four winter tires.

Having only two winter tires can cause your vehicle to brake differently and steering differently. Installing four winter tires will insure you maximize traction, stability and braking in all types of road surfaces and weather conditions.

We are now your Goodyear local Tire and Auto Center. Apply for your Goodyear Credit today and get a $10.00 gift card! Plus get up to an $80 dollar rebate when you purchase a set of 4 tires. For information on this exciting program or on the Goodyear credit card with zero percent, call or visit us at osceolagarage.com

Do it yourself.

Always check and adjust tire pressure to the correct specification. You can find the correct tire pressure specification on the driver’s door or in your car’s owner’s manual. When the tires are off the car, carefully inspect the tires for unusual wear and damage.

When putting the tires back on the car, make sure all the wheel lug nuts are properly tightened (torqued). If you do your own tire rotations, it’s probably best to invest in a torque wrench to insure that the wheels are tightened to factory spec. Torque specs are usually found in your owner’s manual or shop manual. Your service professional can also supply you with the correct torque spec.

Please note that some vehicles have a different size tire on the rear wheels than the front wheel. For these models, a tire rotation cannot be performed. In addition, if rotate your tires yourself you probably don’t have a wheel balancer. Tire can get out-of-balance and should be checked if you feel a wheel shimmy or if you have hit a lot of potholes. Lastly, check the owner’s manual for correct rotation pattern.