Prepping for Winter: Tire Tips for Cold Weather

How to Maintain Your Tires in Winter

Watch Your Tire Pressure

Tires deflate in cold weather. Every 10-degree drop can reduce your tire pressure by 1 to 2 PSI. In sub-zero temperatures, you should check your tire pressure to make sure it isn't deflated. Refer to your owner's manual to see what your tire pressure should be. Tire failures happen more often on deflated tires than overinflated tires. With cold-temp deflation, your tires' sidewalls can flex, causing heat deterioration, which erodes the integrity of the tire over time.

Check Tread Depth

Before winter comes around, it's important to check your tread depth. Checking your tread depth every season is a good idea to make sure your vehicle is ready to drive wherever life takes you. Here's how to read the numbers:

• 4/32" Start planning to replace your tires. Not a safety concern yet, but the clock is ticking.
• 3/32" Now it's a concern. Performance in snow and wet conditions drops off.
• 2/32" Replace as soon as you can. This is the legal limit and unsafe to drive on for long.

Winter Driving Tips

Driving on snow and ice is the most challenging driving experience motorists encounter year after year. Reducing speed and keeping two or more car lengths from others are helpful ways to give you the time you need in case of sudden braking. Take slow turns on icy roads to avoid fishtailing.

When your tires are deflated from cold temperatures, they have a higher chance of failure. With flexing sidewalls and more wear and tear on the road, you should steer clear of ice blocks, potholes, and other road debris to avoid punctures.

You should also have a scraper in your car to clear ice from your windshield. In case you get stuck in the snow, make sure you have half a tank of gas at all times to keep your heater running, and stow a blanket in your vehicle to help you keep warm while help is on the way. If you do end up in a ditch, make sure your tailpipe is out of the snow to avoid carbon monoxide from entering your vehicle.

Should I Install Winter Tires?

Advantages of Winter Tires

Winter tires support your vehicle's handling on snowy roads. Their deep tread voids help connect the rubber to the road for greater traction. Many winter tires also have specifically designed edges that help evacuate water and snow away from the wheel for superior handling.

Winter tires are great for all vehicles, especially front-wheel drive models. Giving your front tires better snow traction can help you get out of snowy parking lots easier. Winter tires can help all vehicles of various shapes and sizes stop sooner on snowy roads, giving you a safety boost during the most hazardous time of year to drive.

How to Store Winter Tires

If you want to buy winter tires, you will need to know how to store them in the off-season. Because winter tires are designed for cooler temperatures (under 45 F), you will need to store them somewhere cool. Basements are great for winter tire storage, but there are a few things you'll have to do before stacking them in your cellar.

Clean your winter tires of all snow, slush, and other debris that has been caught between the treads. Soap and a tire brush should do the job. This will help keep your tires from deteriorating. Storing tires in hot spots like attics, out in the sun, or other places where temps reach above room temperature is a bad idea. Heat dry-rots the rubber compound of winter tires. For greater longevity, you should store them out of direct sunlight, in a cool place, and off the ground so they don't warp in shape.

If they're mounted to wheels, you should hang them on hooks or stack them on their sides in storage bags, but no more than two to a stack to avoid warping the tires. If the tires aren't mounted to wheels, we recommend placing them in storage bags and standing them in a row on a piece of wood to avoid any incidental water damage.