Drivers want glossy, deep-black sidewalls, but they also want their tires to last. The short answer to whether tire shine actually damages your tires over time is yes, but only for some formulas. Solvent-based tire shines strip antioxidants and antiozonants from the rubber compound, which leads to browning, sidewall cracking, and eventually premature tire dry … Read more
If you just bought a set of tires on sale, parked a classic for the winter, or inherited a car that has been sitting for years, you have probably asked the same question we get every week: how long can tires sit in a garage before they go bad? The short answer is 6 to … Read more
Yes, tires can get permanent flat spots from sitting too long, but the permanent kind is rare and usually requires months of stationary load in cold conditions. Most flat spots from sitting are temporary and round themselves out within 15 to 30 minutes of normal driving. In this guide, I will walk you through what … Read more
Learning how to read the age date code stamped on a tire takes about 30 seconds once you know where to look. Every tire sold in the United States carries a Department of Transportation code on its sidewall, and the final 3 or 4 digits tell you exactly when that tire was manufactured. Our team … Read more
Yes, letting a car sit for months can absolutely ruin the tires. Tires are designed to roll, not rest. After roughly one month of sitting, flat spots begin to form where the rubber bears the full weight of the vehicle. After three months, dry rot and sidewall cracking start to take hold. After six months … Read more
Yes – the wrong load rating absolutely can cause a sudden blowout. When a tire’s load rating is below the weight the vehicle demands, the sidewall flexes excessively with every revolution, generates heat that the tire cannot dissipate, and the internal structure eventually fails. That failure is the sudden blowout most drivers describe as terrifying … Read more
A typical set of four passenger-car tires can safely carry between 4,000 and 6,500 lbs, and a light-truck set can carry 8,000 to 13,000 lbs. The exact number is set by the load index, a two- or three-digit number stamped on each tire’s sidewall. Multiply that per-tire number by the number of tires on your … Read more
Yes, boat trailer tires are different from regular trailer tires. Boat trailer tires carry the ST (Special Trailer) designation, have stiffer sidewalls, higher load capacity at higher cold inflation PSI, and a default speed rating of 65 mph. They are built specifically for non-driven, load-bearing use over highway distances, with reinforced construction to handle the … Read more
I’ve spent years around trailers of every shape, and the single fastest way to ruin a good day on the road is to push your tires past their rating. If you’re asking what happens if you overload the tires on a trailer, the honest answer is that the consequences stack on each other: heat, wear, … Read more
Yes, you can put lower-profile tires on your stock wheels, but only if you keep the wheel diameter the same and stay within about 3% of your vehicle’s stock overall tire diameter. A lower-profile tire simply means a shorter sidewall on the same rim size, so your stock wheels do not need to change. Just … Read more