I knew that I had needed new tires for my truck for some time. They always seemed a bit…flat, flatter than they should be. I had two front tires with nails embedded in them, but the fact that I don’t really drive very much, kind of helped me to put it off. But, once I really checked my tires, I realized that it was in fact, time to buy tires. I looked at my truck’s tires each time I got into it, but I did not follow the recommendations to thoroughly inspect my tires once a month.
My under-inflated tires not only served to make them wear much faster, but affected my gas mileage too. Although my truck was still very easy to handle, I did notice some alterations in the steering that most undoubtedly were the result of the tires not being properly inflated. My truck never became unsafe, but for many people, this can cause some very serious consequences. When I did have the new tires mounted, I also had the alignment checked, as I had found out on line, that just one day of driving in a vehicle that is out of alignment, can wear out the tires completely, just one day!
Some people will try to remove embedded items, which may or may not be a good idea. I did pull on one of the nails, but heard the hiss of air. I pushed it back in and drove very carefully to the nearest tire retail store. When I looked at the sidewalls, I noticed that there were very worn areas, and that my tires were no longer snugly fitted to the rims. I was nervous about getting new tires, because I had never made that purchase alone before, and was a bit nervous about my own knowledge. But through some investigation online, I found that it is not that scary of an endeavor. Now I do have new tires, and my mind is at ease, and my truck handles much, much better.