When it comes to car travel and performance, we all take our tires for granted. But it’s hard to underestimate the importance of tires—if they don’t work the way they’re supposed to, you’re not going to get where you’re going, and bad tires can actually threaten your safety and well-being as well.
If you’re in the market for tires, though, there are some great solutions available. And in Alexandria, Virginia, one of the best options is to buy Mickey Thompson Tires from the tire experts at Wiygul Automotive.
Why Mickey Thompson tires? Start with the company’s experience—Mickey Thompson was a premier race car driver back in the 1960s, and he founded a company to build top-of-the-line tires for both racing and off-road use. That expertise translates to regular street tires in Alexandria, Va as well. The lessons learned in building great performance tires has been applied to the same tires you use in daily life, and that means you’re getting one of the best tires on the market.
To help you understand a little more about tire performance, here’s some information about how tires are rated and evaluated, along with some things look for when you go to buy a set of tires. One of the most important factor in tire performance is the age of the tire. The starting point to determine this is an 11-digit code you can find down near the bead of the tire that’s called the Tire Identification Number (TIN).
That number, which is preceded by the letters “DOT,” will tell you the manufacturing date of the tire by giving you the week and year it was made using the last four digits. To clarify this, here’s an example. If the last four digits of your tire are 3617, it means the tire was manufactured during the 36th week of 2017.
One of the advantages of buying a Mickey Thompson tire is that the company’s experience building an array of performance tires gives them an edge in evaluating tires. The expected life of a race tire is four years; for bias truck tires that number doubles to eight years. You can expect radial light truck tires to last for a decade, and normal passenger tires should have a similar lifespan.
But its important to keep in mind that these numbers aren’t hard and fast by any means. There are many things that can shorten the life of a set of tires, and its important to know what they are. Specifically, you should look for indications of tread wear as your tires age, along with signs of damage such as cuts, punctures, cracks, etc. Extreme weather conditions can accelerate tire wear, and abusive driving can play a part as well, usually due to over- or under-inflation. If you do see any of these things in your tires, its important to get them evaluated by a professional right away.
And if you’re looking for Mickey Thompson tires in Alexandria, Va, the experts at Wiygul Automotive will help you get the best possible tires they offer!
