1. Performing a 4 wheel alignment

It’s always a good idea to have your vehicle’s suspension geometry within factory specification whenever you get new tires to ensure they all wear evenly throughout the life of the tire.

2. Balance and rotation

The rule of thumb is to have this done every 6-8,000 miles. Rotating distributes the work load per tire evenly, and balancing ensures your tire doesn’t have excessive static or dynamic imbalances which also cause a large number of road noise and driveability concerns. Most tire stores offer lifetime balance and rotations free if you buy the tires from them.

3. Keep your tires inflated

Everyone know what a flat tire feels like. But more often than not your tire pressures are too low or too high causing you tire wear problems and you probably won’t even notice it. Check your tire pressures once a week when you fuel up or before a major road trip. It’s easy and free. You just have to make sure to follow the factory specs in your driver door jam. Remember these numbers are always when the tires are cold which is driven for less than 3 miles or cooled for 30 minutes.

Now if your vehicle isn’t driving straight or smoothly you may have a suspension problem and are better off taking it to a professional than trying to figure it out yourself. If that’s the case feel free to give us a call and book an appointment to have it checked out. (858) 455-8222

TPMS Dashboard Warning Lights

TPMS usually consists of two dashboard alert lights. The orange or red light with the exclamation point inside a circle is the pressure gauge. This indicates that at least one tire is low. If this light comes on, you should pull off at the first safe place to check your tires. Hopefully, you can make it to a place to fill the tires. If you have a portable compressor in the trunk, you can pull off at any safe location to fill the tires.

The second warning light is for the system itself. The letters TPMS will appear on the dash if the system is not functioning. This can occur for a number of reasons. For example,

• The sensor is malfunctioning on one or more tires. – This may involve a tire being severely damaged, so pull over immediately if you are feeling a wobble.
• The sensor is not set up on one or more tires (i.e. you are using the spare tires, and it is not equipped with TPMS).
• The tires have been rotated, but the garage did not reset the sensors to let the car know the new location of the tires. – This will require the assistance of a garage that is able to reset tire pressure sensors.
• You passed something that interfered with the signal coming from one or more tires. – This can be something as simple as passing another vehicle with a tire pressure system set to the same frequency. If that is the case, the light should turn off within a couple of minutes of driving.

TPMS Maintenance in the San Diego Area

If no other signs of a tire problem accompany the TPMS light, but it stays on for more than a few minutes of driving, it’s time to have the system checked out. Schedule an appointment with MR Auto SD by calling (858) 455-8222. And don’t forget to check your tires regularly until the system is fixed so that you are not driving on underinflated tires.