Chabill’s Tire and Auto Service Tire Buying Guide
Everything you need to know about tires for your car, truck and trailer.
While you may think that tires are just tires, there is a lot of “behind the scenes” engineering that goes into designing tires to be reliable and safe on multiple vehicle types. When it comes to choosing tires for your vehicle, it is important to select the appropriate tires for your vehicle’s size, weight and speed rating. You also have to consider other factors, such as environment and season. For most car or truck owners, your vehicle’s owner’s manual or driver’s side door sill placard is the best place to start if you’re looking for information about your vehicle’s tires and specific requirements.
If you are in the market for specialty tires (such as high-performance tires or off-road tires), it’s best to talk to the experts at Chabill’s Tire and Auto Service. We can recommend trusted tire and wheel brands. We can also tell you all of the available options for your specific type of vehicle and the application you’d like to use it for.
When it comes to trailer tires, it’s a whole other ball game. Trailers operate and handle loads differently from cars and trucks, leading to very specific tire construction and compounds solely dedicated to trailer use. Chabill’s Tire and Auto Service can repair, install and balance trailer tires. We can also perform trailer inspections and repairs.
Vehicle Tire Types
Depending on the area of the world you live in, you may be required to have a specific type of tire or even multiple sets of tires based on the season. There are many different tire types available that provide different performance characteristics based on their intended use, as well as the climate they are used in. Here’s a list of tire types that can typically be found in the United States and across North America.
Summer Tires: Dedicated summer tires are great for warm climates, featuring a more minimalistic tread that can withstand higher temperatures due to their heat-resistant rubber compound.
Winter Tires: Winter tires perform really well in climates that tend to see really low temperatures during the winter months. The soft rubber compound remains malleable in extreme low temperatures, offering great performance in snow and ice.
All-Season Tires: All-season tires offer a good balance of summer and winter performance in climates where extreme low temperatures are not as common. These tires offer good performance in the summer heat and also perform well in the snow. However, they may lack performance on ice or in extremely low-temperature situations.
All-Weather Tires: These tires offer a higher-performance version of the all-season tires. They utilize a more flexible rubber compound combined with an optimized tread pattern, making them a great option for all-weather use.
All-Terrain Tires: All-terrain tires are great for trucks and SUVs that access rough roads or off-road situations on a regular basis. These tires are designed with aggressive tread patterns that bite into softer, rough terrain while providing durability and traction on unmaintained roads. However, they may sacrifice ride comfort and noise on paved surfaces. Mud-terrain tires and rugged-terrain tires are other all-terrain options that offer increased traction in different off-road environments.
Performance Tires: For sports cars with high-performance tire requirements or for cars that are taken to the race track, performance tires are the best option. Performance tires come in a handful of different ratings, such as Ultra High Performance (UHP), Touring and Competition. Each of these tires offers different performance characteristics for on-track and on-road use with softer compounds and minimal tread patterns for more road contact and grip.
Decoding Your Tires: All About Tire Codes
When you look at your tire sidewall, you may see a string of numbers, letters and symbols that might not mean a whole lot to you. Well, they mean a lot to us. These codes (when interpreted correctly) give you information about the width, diameter, construction, and speed rating for your tires and tire type. Each vehicle is designed to accommodate a specific tire size and type that helps to maintain many performance factors (such as fuel economy, handling, braking, tire wear and overall driving safety).
The image below shows a typical tire code for a passenger-vehicle tire. Each displayed letter and number indicates a unique characteristic about that tire. It gives information about the vehicle class, size, speed rating and overall construction.
Vehicle Class
P: Passenger Car
LT: Light Truck
C: Commercial Vehicle
ST: Special Trailer
T: Temporary (Spare)
Section Width
This three-digit number (the first numerical value in the tire code) indicates the width of the tire from outer sidewall to inner, measured in millimeters (mm).
Aspect Ratio
Separated from the section width by a slash (/), this two-digit number denotes the height of the tire’s sidewall as a percentage of the section width. A lower number indicates a shorter sidewall height commonly found on sports cars or performance tires. A higher number indicates a higher sidewall height found on trucks and SUVs.
Construction
B: Bias Belt (Bias-Ply with reinforcing belts. Cords run diagonally across the tire with additional belts under the tread. Less common today.)
D: Diagonal (Also known as Bias-Ply. Cords run diagonally from bead to bead, crisscrossing to form layers. Primarily found on older vehicles or certain specialty applications.)
R: Radial (The most common construction. Cords run radially across the tire from bead to bead, perpendicular to the direction of travel. This construction offers better handling, fuel economy and longer tread life.)
*If omitted, cross-ply (This refers to a traditional bias-ply construction where layers of cord fabric are laid diagonally across each other. It’s an older method rarely seen on modern passenger vehicles.)
Rim Diameter
The last two-digit number indicates the proper rim diameter for the specified tire size. This measurement is indicated in inches (in).
Load Index
A two-digit or three-digit number following the rim diameter indicates the maximum weight that a tire can handle at its specified maximum inflation. Each two-digit or three-digit number corresponds with a weight as defined by the manufacturer. For example, “95” translates to 1,521 pounds (lbs) of load for each tire.
Speed Rating
Represented by a letter (e.g., “H” in 95H), the speed rating indicates the maximum speed at which the tire can safely carry its maximum load under specified conditions. Each letter corresponds to a specific speed with higher letters denoting higher maximum speeds (e.g., S = 112 mph, H = 130 mph, V = 149 mph, Z/W/Y for speeds over 149 mph).
Tire Type Indications
Other indicators or symbols on a tire’s sidewall can denote the tire type, indicating if it is applicable for summer, all-season, winter or mud use. These indicators may be presented slightly differently depending on the tire brand installed, but they are generally displayed as follows.
Mud And Snow: The abbreviation MS, M&S or M/S may be present on the sidewall of the tire.
All-Season/All-Weather: The words All-Season or All-Weather may be printed on the sidewall or abbreviated to A/S.
Winter: A symbol of a three-peaked mountain with a snowflake or 3PMSF may be present on winter tires, indicating better traction in snow and ice conditions.
Where can I find the tire size for my vehicle?
There are a couple of different places that you can find information about the appropriate tire size for your car or truck. If your car came with an owner’s manual, check the section about tires for information on tire size and proper inflation. Most vehicles also come with a placard (sticker) placed on the vehicle’s driver’s side door sill that contains information about applicable tire sizes.
Trailer Tires
If you think that you can install just about any type of tire on your trailer, you’d be mistaken. It’s actually a pretty bad idea. Trailer tires and even trailer rims are specially designed to handle loads differently from car or truck tires. Just like you wouldn’t install off-road tires on your Honda® Civic, trailer tires are specially made for trailer applications and the different stresses they experience on the road. When you’re looking for new trailer tires, the ST or “Special Trailer” designation is a sign that you’re in the right place. Most trailers should indicate the proper tire size and load rating on a placard installed on the trailer. Due to the many varieties of trailers available and the ability of the placard to be worn off, this may not always be the case. If you are unsure about the correct tire size for your trailer, it’s always best to consult an expert. The tire and trailer technicians at Chabill’s Tire and Auto Service can recommend and replace your trailer tires with the correct size and load rating. We can help ensure that your trailer is stable and safe when used within its designed parameters.
Using passenger car tires on a trailer can lead to dangerous situations. They are not built to withstand the constant vertical and lateral loads of towing, nor the common lack of camber adjustment on trailer axles. ST tires feature stronger sidewalls and higher ply ratings designed for the specific demands of trailering, providing increased stability and load-carrying capacity.
Tire Brands
If you are in need of a new or alternate set of tires for your car, truck, SUV or trailer, come to Chabill’s Tire and Auto Service. Let Chabill’s recommend the best type of tire for whatever vehicle you are driving or whatever trailer you are towing. Our technicians can source new tires as well as provide steel and alloy rim options for cars, trucks and many different types of trailers. For vehicles with compatible systems, we also offer TPMS sensor installations for the ultimate upgrade in tire pressure convenience. Chabill’s provides the highest quality tires and tire services from the best brands in the industry, including Michelin®, Goodyear®, Bridgestone®, Continental®, Firestone®, Pirelli®, Cooper®, BFGoodrich®, Yokohama® or Hankook®.
