Linda Cate

These tires have a white band on the sidewall, giving classic cars a period look and asking for more careful cleaning. Whitewall tires are easy to spot. Instead of an all-black sidewall, they carry a white stripe or a full white side section that frames the wheel. That contrast became a signature look on restored […]

A bead leak is air escaping where the tire seals against the rim, usually from corrosion, dirt, wheel damage, or a nicked bead. If a tire keeps losing air and the tread has no nail, the leak may be at the edge where the tire seals to the wheel. That joint is the bead area.

No, most locations stick to oil changes, fluid checks, and light maintenance, so tire patch work usually is not on the menu. A flat tire can wreck your whole day. So it makes sense to wonder whether a Take 5 stop can handle more than an oil change. In most cases, the answer is no.

A car’s wheel alignment sets camber, caster, and toe so it tracks straight, steers cleanly, and wears the tread evenly. When people say they want to align tires, they usually mean wheel alignment. The tires don’t get adjusted by themselves. The suspension angles do. You can do part of this job at home. On many

Most riders swap the front when wear bars show, steering feel drops, damage appears, or age becomes a factor after five years. Riders usually ask this question hoping for one clean number in miles or months. Front tires don’t work that way. One rider can get long life from a front on smooth roads with

SureDrive is a Bridgestone retail tire brand sold through company-owned U.S. stores, not a stand-alone tire maker. SureDrive shows up at Firestone Complete Auto Care and Tires Plus, so the brand can feel a bit mysterious. The name sits on the sidewall, yet many shoppers still want to know who is behind it, where it

Most Elantra trims run best at about 33 PSI cold, but the driver-side door placard is the exact number your car should follow. If you just want the straight number, start here: many Hyundai Elantra models wear stock tires best at 33 PSI in the front and 33 PSI in the rear when the tires

Swap each wheel to its next position in the right pattern, torque the lug nuts, set pressure, and recheck after a short drive. Rotating your own tires isn’t hard, but it does punish sloppy prep. The payoff is plain: you spread wear across all four corners, catch tire trouble early, and skip the shop line

A tire’s age appears in the last four digits of its DOT code: the first two show the week, and the last two show the year. If you’re checking a used car, buying tires, or sizing up an old spare, the date matters. It is tucked into the DOT code on the sidewall, not printed

To rotate a four-wheel-drive vehicle’s tires, swap them in the right cross pattern, then set pressure and lug torque for each wheel position. A four-wheel-drive truck or SUV can wear tread unevenly faster than many drivers expect. Front tires handle steering and much of the braking load. Rear tires take drive force when 4WD is