Tire Myths Debunked Vol. 3

Table of Contents

Today we will take a look at another five tire myths that you may believe to be true. Such myths are commonplace, but believing them can lead to some inconvenient and dangerous situations.

Tire Inflation System

The tire pressure monitoring system or TPMS notifies the driver when the tires are deflated.

In a way, it is true. The TPMS is designed to notify the driver when the tires are losing air pressure, which can prevent the vehicle from driving on deflated tires. However, the issue arises when people do not realize when the pressure system starts its warning. Drivers may have false reassurance that the TPMS will ring the alarm as soon as pressure drops, but such systems only send the warning when the tire pressure is dangerously below the recommended level.

When the pressure is about 25% less than what is recommended, the TPMS notifies the driver of the low air pressure in the tires. Although this does prevent the tire from driving on dangerously deflated tires, the problem might already be present. Lowered air pressure in the tires will cause the tire to dampen its performance. It will not be able to correctly carry the vehicle’s weight and heat will build up along the tire. This can lead to tire failure or even blowouts.

Tire Valve Cap

The myth states that losing the tire valve cap is not a big issue, and you can use your tires even without one.

We would not suggest you do this. Your tire might stay inflated, but the small hole of the valve will allow water, dust and other substances to make their way into the tire. As they will up the tire’s inside, they will decrease the air pressure. Furthermore, a missing valve cap will allow brine to enter the tire, which will result in a broken tire pressure monitoring system. The result of this might be that the whole system needs to be changed… which is a costly adventure.

New Tires to the Front

According to the myth, new tires must be mounted on the front of the vehicle to provide the most traction throughout their performance.

Placing new tires on the front axle can be dangerous in wet weather. New tires have better traction and they will grip the road better, but in the case of hydroplaning, when the tire’s road contact is cut off by water or slush, this traction will cause the tires to oversteer. In other words, it will make the vehicle uncontrollable and will cause it to spin.

By mounting new tires to the back, it will allow for safer maneuvering in wet weather conditions. It will understeer the vehicle in case of hydroplaning, which will allow the driver to slow the vehicle down by releasing the gas pedal.

Vehicle Warranty

The myth states that when buying a new vehicle, your tires are insured with the rest of the car.

There are different types of warranties: that of the tire manufacturer, of the car manufacturer and of the tire dealer. Whether the tires are covered in the vehicle’s warranty, in this manner, becomes a tricky question. The vehicle manufacturers usually do not warranty the tires and tire manufacturers do not cover use-related issues, such as a tire damage which is not caused by a manufacturing issue. Road hazard warranties are offered by most dealers, but they will be an additional cost when purchasing the tires and/or vehicle, but they are usually provided by the tire dealers separately and not by the tire brand itself.

Tire Rotation

The myth says that tires should only be rotated front to back and not side to side.

The problem is that different tires need different rotational patterns. Giving a statement like this will not be applicable for most tires currently being sold on the tire market. Directional, non-directional and asymmetric tread patterns require different patterns. For example, while front to back rotation is needed when it comes to directional tire models, side to side rotation will work excellently with symmetric non-directional models.