SPRINGDALE, Ark. — With winter weather in this week's forecast, experts at Pro Tire & Automotive Center in Springdale recommends checking your car's tires sooner rather than later. More specifically, they advise looking at your tire tread.
"Tread is the depth to the tire. You need to keep it up above a certain spec. Once it drops down, that's when you need to get them checked or changed out," Camden Scott, a service writer at Pro Tire, said. "We see a little uptick just because of the weather with snow, ice, everything like that. Customers seem to be more concerned with the weather."
The cold temperatures can cause your tire pressure to drop about one pound per square inch for every 10-degree drop. Underinflated tires can greatly wear out the tread on tires.
"If the tires don't have any grip, or they're old, they'll be spinning a bunch. So getting your tires checked before the winter starts for storms get here is ideal," Scott said.
Tread depth is essential when driving on rain, ice, snow, or slush. The thinner your tread is, the less traction you have and the less stopping distance you'll have.
"Thin tread can affect you slowing down with your brakes, and you could just not get enough grit. In the winter weather, with the black ice or anything like that, you're going to need all the tread you can get some mornings," Scott said.
To check the tread on your tires, drivers can use a penny. If you stick a penny upside down in the tread of your tires and see Abraham Lincoln's head, it's time to replace your tires.
In addition to checking your tire tread, AAA recommends increasing your following distance to 5-6 seconds to provide drivers with more distance in case they run into any black ice and slide on the road. They also recommend checking your spare tire to make sure it's properly inflated and checking your battery to make sure it can withstand cold temperatures.
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