Your tires can last you a long time or a short time and the difference is completely up to you.  If you are driving a sport car that you regularly take out on the weekend, at least in the spring and summer months, and use a different set of tires than your daily drivers, you have to store your tires properly.  This goes for off road tires as well that you might store until your next great adventure.  On the other hand, if you only have your daily driver and the tires that are on this car are what you rely on, it’s a good idea to take care of them so you can get the most from these tires and give yourself the best chance of a longer tire life.

When it comes to storage the solution is actually really easy.  You need to store your tires indoors in a climate controlled environment in order to make them last longer.  UV rays and constant temperature changes will wear out your tires much faster and if you are putting away your racing shoes for the winter you certainly want them ready for you when spring arrives again. Some people believe you need to have your tires mounted in storage and others think you should have them unmounted, the reality is it doesn’t matter.  It also doesn’t matter if they are stored stacked on their sidewalls or on their tread either, what matters is the temperature and exposure to UV rays.

For the tires on your ride you do need to check them about once a month to make sure they are staying properly inflated and have the right tread depth to keep you safe on the road.  This can be an environmental factor as the dryer the climate you live in the less tread is required for your daily driving duties.  Relying on the systems in your car to tell you when your tires need attention is only going to help prevent blowouts and tell you when the tires are at the worst tread point for replacement.

What you should be doing is more preventative maintenance than what your car will do for you.  Normally the low tire pressure indicator only warns you when the tire is at 75 percent of the recommended pressure, but tires typically will lose as much as one to two psi per month.  This means you should check your tires monthly to ensure  you are able to maintain the proper pressure and continue to enjoy safe driving.

The treat is another area of concern for your tires.  Waiting until the wear strips show up means you are waiting until your tire has only 2/32 of an inch of wear left on them.  This is ok in a dry climate but for areas that see rain 4/32 is needed.  We have all heard of the penny test which is fine for the 2/32 measurement but for the deeper tread need use a quarter and make sure your tread covers at least the top of George Washington’s head.  Of course if you need to have enough tread to deal with snow and slush you will want even deeper tread, 6/32 is recommended as a minimum for these conditions.

If you heed this advice your tires will last you longer and come much closer to the recommended number of miles that your tires are rated for.  Whether it’s for storage or for the tires on your car you can make them last longer and perform better by just using some simple preventive maintenance tips to take care of an item that would otherwise have a short life span.