Linda Cate

USAA usually helps with a flat tire through roadside assistance, while tire damage itself is paid only when a covered loss applies. A flat tire sounds simple, but the money side splits in two. One part is getting your car moving again. The other part is paying to repair or replace the tire, wheel, or […]

The second number on a tire shows sidewall height as a percentage of the tire’s width. If you’ve ever stared at a tire size like 225/45R17 and wondered what that middle number is doing there, the answer is pretty simple once you know the pattern. That second number is the aspect ratio. It tells you

No, the chain mainly sells tire repair gear, pressure tools, TPMS parts, and wheels instead of full new tire sets. If you searched this because you need four fresh tires, mounted and balanced, AutoZone usually isn’t the store you had in mind. It’s an auto parts retailer with a big tire-and-wheel aisle, but that aisle

A 265 tire is 10.4 inches wide, while full diameter changes with the sidewall number and wheel size. If you’re staring at a tire size like 265/70R17, the “265” part is the easy bit. It tells you the tire’s section width in millimeters. Convert 265 mm to inches and you get 10.43 inches. That sounds

Douglas tires sold at Walmart are made by Goodyear and pitched as low-cost all-season tires for daily driving. If you’ve spotted Douglas tires at Walmart and wondered who’s behind the name, the answer is straightforward: Goodyear makes them. That matters because Douglas isn’t a mystery brand cooked up out of thin air. It’s a Walmart-only

No, roadside crews usually install your usable spare, add air when they can, or tow the car if no safe spare is there. A flat tire makes people ask the same thing in a hurry: will AAA show up with a new tire and get the car rolling again? In most cases, no. The usual

A spare tire can go back into service only when its age, damage, pressure, and tread still meet the maker’s limits. A spare tire isn’t always one-and-done. Some can be reused. Some shouldn’t go back on the car at all. The answer starts with one plain question: is this a full-size matching spare, or a

Bad tires often show uneven tread, cracks, bulges, bald patches, or exposed cords, and any one of those signs can mean replacement time. A worn tire usually tells on itself before it fails. The clues show up in the tread, the sidewall, and the way the car feels on the road. Catch them early, and

Tire sidewall numbers show width, profile, wheel size, load index, speed rating, and build date, so you can match a safe replacement. If you’ve ever stared at a tire and seen a string like P225/60R16 97T, it can feel like shop-code. It isn’t. That line tells you how wide the tire is, how tall its

A tire ratio is the sidewall height shown as a percentage of tire width, so 55 means the sidewall is 55% as tall as the tire is wide. The two-digit number after the slash in a tire size tells you a lot more than most drivers think. It sets the sidewall height, and that changes