Fitting custom wheels and tires to your vehicle can boost its aesthetic appeal and give it a whole new look. It will also improve your car’s performance and your driving experience. However, choosing the right wheel and tire package for your vehicle can be quite challenging, considering the limitless choices available. Hence it is good to know a few important things about wheels and tires.

Most people think that wheels and rims are the same thing. Rims are in fact the outermost part of the wheel, supporting the tire and creating an airtight seal. The wheel on the other hand is a metal disc with spokes and bolt patterns, where lug bolts attach it to the vehicle’s hub.
Different vehicles have different wheel and tire diameter sizes, offering you flexibility to tailor wheel size to improve looks and performance. To find the perfect wheel and tire package for your vehicle, it is important that you know the wheel diameter, tire width and tire aspect ratio.
Once you have a rough idea of what wheel and tire package sizing works for your car, it is important to analyze your diving goals. Do you just want to improve the looks of your vehicle or get better acceleration and cornering or a package that provides you with the smoothest driving experience. Based on what you want, you can choose the style of your wheel and tire package.
When browsing for wheel and tire packages, you will come across several technical and sizing terms. For instances, OE refers to Original Equipment. It is the standard size of the wheel and tire package that comes with the vehicle from the factory. Plus sizing is when you increase the wheel diameter and minus sizing is when you buy a smaller wheel. Plus 1 sizing is when you increase the wheel diameter by an inch whereas minus 2 sizing is when you reduce the wheels by two inches.
You also need to look at the offset and backspacing when you are purchasing a new wheel and tire package. This is to ensure that the new package fits perfectly to your vehicle and does not interfere with the braking components and suspension and your car remains stable around corners or when braking.
Talk with a professional before choosing a wheel and tire package to ensure that it is the best fit for your car and is worth the spend.
Some tire stores can also put your car on a lift and fit two different combinations of wheels and tires at the same time. You can then pick your favorite and roll with it.

Is it time to give your ride a new set of alloy wheels and tires? Start looking for wheel and tire packages instead of shopping them separately to save valuable time and money. There are several retail stores, garages and independent websites online that sell a complete set of wheels and tires, ranging from economical to premium brands including Pirelli, Michelin, Dunlop, Continental and Bridgestone among others. Look for the perfect package that suits your budget and get driving. Most of these packages come with a free fitting kit so you don’t even have to make a trip down to the garage. Here are a few websites where you can find economical wheel and tire packages for your vehicle.

Tire Rack
Tire Rack boasts of an extensive inventory from 22 tire and 61 wheel brands. Their prices are very competitive and they deliver products the next day in most cases. When you place an order at Tire Rack, four tires and four wheels arrive balanced, mounted and ready to be installed in your car. They deliver the package directly to your house or your installer with all the required hardware. You can find the perfect wheel and tire package, suitable for your vehicle and within your budget.

4 Wheel Parts
4 Wheel Parts assist customers to find the perfect combination of wheels and tires without having to scour through pages and pages on the Internet. They help you find the perfect package in four easy steps. First, you have to choose an appropriate wheel bolt pattern and size for your vehicle. Second, choose a wheel brand that you like. Ensure that it is designed to fit your vehicle appropriately. Third, the tire package builder will redirect you to the suitable tire options that are compatible with the wheels you have chosen. Fourth, review your order and confirm your selection. You can then proceed to check-out and make the payment. It’s simple and quick.

Wheelfire
Wheelfire provides aftermarket wheels with custom fitment programs to ensure the wheel and tire packages you purchase, fit your vehicle perfectly. They have a massive collection of custom wheels and tires in sizes varying from 15 to 24 inches. They offer a free shipping facility and help you save time and money.

There were attempts in England and South Africa to manufacture tubeless tires in the thirties and forties. In England, a patent was granted to one Killen Tire in 1930. Wingfoot Corporation, a subsidiary of Goodyear in South Africa, got a patent in 1944. Both these companies could not make use of the patent as they encountered technical difficulties, which they could not overcome. After limited production, manufacturing was, however, discontinued. Frank Herzegh of BF Goodrich applied for a patent and he was granted one in 1952. Because of many similarities in designs with the earlier patents, Goodrich had to defend their patent many times which they did successfully. The main difference in the designs was that the earlier designs used natural rubber while Herzegh used chloro-butyl rubber. Butyl rubber has greater resistance to air leakage than natural rubber.

The traditional tire had a thin walled tube inside the rubber casing called the carcass. The air filling nozzle with a self-sealing valve is mounted on the tube. This design has a few inherent limitations. When the tire is rolling there is a relative motion in between the tube and the wall which varies with air pressure in the tube and the speed. Lower pressure than design results in an increased friction and consequential heating up. This is very significant in nonstop long-distance runs. This, in turn, increases the air pressure which can be considerable. This can cause an over pressure burst with catastrophic results. The second is that in the case of a puncture air will leak from the tube, initially through puncture hole on the tube. This leaded air would normally leak out through the imperfection on the carcassrim seating and also through the passage for the valve tube on the rim. As the pressure in the tube decreases the tube contracts and the valve tube gets pulled in leading to a rapid depressurization and a catastrophic blowout.

In the tubeless tire, a perfect sealing is achieved between the beads of the carcass and the rim. The beads have integrally molded ridges which press and seal with the rim when the tire is inflated. The butyl rubber lining limits the permeability of air and also reduces the air leak through the puncture. Advantages of the tubeless tire over the conventional are scarcely a rapid depressurization and blow out, higher mileage, more comfortable ride and better cornering characteristics. Tubeless tires have become the standard fitting in most countries.

A large amount of work in tire development is motivated and supported by companies taking part in racing events like F1 and others. Defense and security agencies are others who have special requirements. The other motivating interests are like ecology, safety and, naturally, cost. The fast depletion of fossil-based raw materials and the mounting difficulties in disposing of used tire is another. The research efforts are spread over wide front from the elimination of air from tires to go totally organic, to using sophisticated IT tools. It would not be possible to go into all. An attempt is to see the advancements that have already come into commercial use or almost ready for commercial exploitation.

One of the current endeavors is to eliminate the air from tires. The Hankook Corporation has been working on geometrical shapes to replace the air from tires. Based on the same, thought there are two types of spoked tires, one has a small wheel supported from the hub with wide-angled V-shaped spokes. Another bigger wheel supported from the smaller wheel by similar V-shaped spokes carries the tread. The spokes are made of tough polyurethane. These tires have been used in commercial vehicles in 2016. The other on has an aluminum hub from which two rows of spokes, one outer and the other inner running in opposite direction rise to support the thin tread. Yet another is a spherical tire, the space between the hub and the tread filled with honeycombed structures of tough polyurethane. The tire has enough high-tech embedded chips to adjust the tire to ensure a uniform wear and tear. The Tall and narrow tire has been tried out in certain high-end cars. It is a 19-inch-tall tire with a narrow profile of 155/70 R19. The tire saves energy as the wheels cover longer distance per revolution the narrow profile reduces rolling resistance and air resistance.

Chip-in-tire has high-tech battery less embedded chips to sense the road conditions, tire pressure, and other pertinent data and communicate to the car CCU and to the antilock braking system for example. This helps to optimize the speed, braking distance and cornering performance. Fossil-free tire replaces synthetic rubber with natural rubber, plant oils, and silica and uses a unique method to manufacture. Claims improved fuel efficiency and wet grip performance. A soya bean based tire is in the same genre. These are some of the out of box ideas that hold great promise.

The French Brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin pioneered the pneumatic tires for automobiles. In 1895, they took part in the ParisBordeaux car race. Though they did not win the race it kindled the interest of the public, which probably was their main interest. This helped them to become the leaders in pneumatic tire manufacturers in Europe. Legislations were brought out to prevent the use of solid tires on highways as they were hard on the roads. The basic structure of a pneumatic tire is a tube containing the pressurized air as the core and an outer casing made of fabric strengthened with rubberized fiber cords embedded in the rubber wall. This structure remained unchanged for about the next half a century. The rubberized cords ran in a diagonally running in alternating fashion. These cord layers are called plys’ run diagonally in opposite directions the tires came to be known as biasply tires.

Michelin introduced the steel belted radial tires in 1948. The steel cords of the ply run at 90o to the wheel rim (against the 55o of the conventional tires) and runs around the circumference of the tire. These radial tires have the advantages of lesser rolling resistance, longer tread life and better steering characteristics and lesser air pressure against the harder drive and 45% more expense in manufacture. In the normal radial tires rayon, polyester or nylon cords are used in the place of steel fabric. It is generally recommended not to use radial tires in cars designed for biasply tires as the requirements of the suspension system are different. The American tire companies and automakers were reluctant to buy into the radial technology as they feared the additional investment for making tire and modifying the suspension system would be prohibitive. They took to it only after two decades after the radial tires almost became the standard fitment in Europe and elsewhere.

Tire technology underwent another revolutionary change when in the 1970s, Pirelli ushered in the high performance, low profile radials. The latest in technology which is really revolutionary is the tubeless tire introduced in 1955 by BFGoodrich. There were a few attempts in England and South Africa fell on the wayside due to technical difficulties in manufacture. They have special continuous integral molded ribs into the bead of the tire so as to seals with the flanges of the rim when inflated. These tires are much safer and rides are smoother.

Tires find applications in varied fields so much so tire production and consumption is considered a yardstick for the economic strength and performance. Tire types are innumerable. Automobile, two-wheeler, tractors, heavy duty vehicles, aircraft, all need tires and that too of various attributes. The tire has become a major industry today. All tires have some quality that runs through the whole ambit of application. The factors that run throughout the industry are strength, long life measured in terms of distance covered, high road grip and low running friction to minimize fuel consumption and a host of safety considerations. Tires have to encounter different surfaces and different speeds. Then again, if the tire is being developed for special applications, the specification would include features to accommodate the special needs.

Rubber was discovered about 3500 years ago by the South American Indians. They extracted the latex from the tree The botanic name is Hevea Brasiliensis (Para Rubber Tree). They boiled the latex and made the first rubber ball. Christopher Columbus brought the rubber ball on his second return from South America. In mid-1880 solid rubber tire made their appearance. These were simple tires and the rubber took all the load and cushion the shocks. Till 1839 rubber was used in its natural state. The research was going on to improve the quality of rubber so as to use in the various application. Thomas Hancock in England and Charles Goodyear invented vulcanization. Dunlop was mixing various substances in an order to improve the quality of rubber. By serendipity, a mixture of sulfur and rubber fell on a stove and turned into vulcanized rubber. Vulcanization improves the flexibility resistance and prevents crumbling.

Pneumatic tires were invented by R.W. Thomson in 1845. This invention had many thin air-filled tubes in a leather casing. This made sure that on single puncture would not deflate the tire. Thomson patented his invention. However, this contraption did not find favor with the public who continued to use solid tires. A bike race in Belfast was won on these tire, an event that changed the fortunes of pneumatic tires greatly.

Developments continued to create a variety of tires to suit each and every specialty. The researchers of many rubber companies resulted in development thread on tires and many a pattern to reduce road friction, improve grip, improve the braking characteristics and so on. These days the racing industry is the main impetus to research.

Shopping everything imaginable under one roof is the trend today and these big retailers try to include everything a consumer can buy. Ever since the car found a place in every house, the big retailers included the best tire brands in their line of products – like Michelin for example. Over 500 types of Michelin tires are available only in Sears. Mega tire manufacturers like Michelin offer special discounts and promotional offers all the time at these mega supermarkets.

These big retailers seem to stop at nothing. They are competitive with the tire prices, offer free shipping and basic automotive services. Some of the services offered are, battery and tire installation, light bulb and wiper blade replacements, air, oil and cabin filter changes, chasis lubrication, and a quick wash too. The big retailers are much sought after as they also sell other car accessories. Thus making them your one stop shop for all your shopping needs. Who would not want to get their tire replaced while their family is doing their usual weekend shopping?

The big-box retailers such as Walmart, Costco, and Sears, have websites and mobile apps where you can buy your tire and then get them shipped to their own auto centre near you for free. Installation charges begin at $12 for each tire, which means it is cheaper than many professional installation centres. The customer reviews and ratings on their websites give useful information that one would not get while purchasing over the counter.

Walmart offers product plan covers that give the buyer a full cover for repair or replacement, including shipping charges for the exchange. Moreover, many buyers find it surprising that these big-box retailers can afford to sell tires at a much cheaper price than many places in the Country.

Mega tire manufacturers like Michelin supply huge stocks of tires to these retailers. It only means that a lot of sales is happening there. The edge these big-box retailers have is their huge networks and enterprise. They can afford to give huge discounts and reward points for the purchase which not many can do. The downsides might be scheduling your installation or finding a regular mechanic. But as they offer free shipping to any location, you can get your tire delivered to your regular mechanic whom you always trust.

Whatever your choice, it is good to start your research while your tires still have some tread on them.

Never thought of an online Michelin tire retailer to purchase new tires for your car? Try it out and you’ll find out how important it is. By the end of a purchase you will learn much more about tires than you can imagine.

Websites like TireRack.com and Tires-Direct.com offer a wide range of tires for cars. One of the biggest manufacturers of tires like Michelin are available on online stores. One of the more popular tire brands across the country, it is not surprising that Michelin tires found its way in websites like DiscountTireDirect.com, that offer promotional offers at any given point of time.

Online stores also provide information about Michelin tires, how to choose and purchase them, FAQ’s, tips from experienced staff, and user reviews apart from the live chat option. Most of these information would seem straight to the point and would not seem as an advice from a salesperson. But doesn’t that mean a lot of time? One can get lost in the internet these days. The online portals are designed to give the user a direct approach to buying and learning while it is done. You are not obligated to buy something just because you have spent time driving up to that store and listening to the salesperson who has explained to you everything you need to know about the tire.

The online Michelin tire stores and other websites as mentioned above, are pretty active on the social network allowing them to easily announce discounts and offers to keep the competition alive. They save the cost of physical stores and invest in providing better service to their customers. Some of the websites offer free deliveries from time to time. All of this can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own space and time. Even before you consider your purchase you can quickly spot a local installer near you. You can get your tires delivered to your local installer to whom you will pay the installation charges. Installation charges vary from place to place. After all that learning about tires online, you might want to see them being installed by a professional, wont you?

The cost of purchasing tires online are comparable or a bit less than other retailers because of the absence of sales tax or shipping fee for certain states.

The whole online experience helps the purchaser to gain more knowledge about choosing the right one and tips on maintenance and service. The tire does need attention as it the one part that caries the vehicle on this earth.

The world of technology has significantly altered the way consumerism functions, right now, anything we want is just a touch away. And tires my friend are no exception! Want a wheel, log on to that website, and within a few days you will be rolling around the city in your car.

The best part about purchasing tires online is that you find the cheapest prices. Unlike, your regular auto repair shop or local garage, the tires available online don’t burden your pocket. If you are concerned about the quality due to the low prices, don’t worry, there are many reputable brands selling their tires online at a low cost. While hunting for tires online you will also notice that there are myriad of options. So, you can easily shortlist options and choose. These cheapest prices and variety make your online shopping experience comfortable and hassle free.

Tires Easy, Online Tires, Tire Buyer, Simple Tire, Tire Rack, Tire Warehouse, Walmart, Tire Crazy, etc. are some of the popular tire selling websites online that will provide you with the cheapest and the best alternatives. To find if they ship in your state, check their website for zip or store locators. You can also find many brand stores online. They have attractive offers and discounts not only on tires prices, but also on shipping and membership.

Apart from the tires, you can find many auto parts on these websites. The biggest benefit of the virtual shopping is the online community which assists you in making an informed decision. Reading up reviews or connecting with someone with similar experiences can help you deflect possible mistakes. You can also find videos and blog essays related to the different brand of tires for reference purposes.

If you are wondering, besides from the cheapest prices and wide selections, what else can these online sellers can offer, you can find many advantageous aspects. For example, certain websites make the delivery, based on your convenience. If you order today, there is a good chance that they will be delivered by the next day, if you need them on an urgent basis.

Also in terms of installation, many websites have tie-ups with the local installers in your town. These tires can even be delivered to the local mechanic of your choice, instead of your residential address. In this way, you can get the process of installation started as soon as possible.

To find the best and cheapest tires for your vehicle, remember to research well.

If you are iffy about buying tires online, then don’t be. Like numerous other products, the process of buying tires online has evolved on an amazing level. It simply just doesn’t involve the plain order and deliver. Online retailers today are making a genuine effort to scale and understand a buyer’s requirements and concerns. And you can ace your first purchase at buying the cheapest tires from a website, but how? By researching and planning in a certain way!

There are plenty of popular online sellers for tires, providing an amazing line, brands and products. You will find tires for different kinds of cars, bikes or trucks. This will be of great assistance as you have an extensive selection which you might not find at an auto repair shop or dealership. These websites have a well maintained customer service to reach out to the buyers and to resolve any of their existing concerns about the products and the delivery. Buying tires online has one big advantage that they are extremely economical for most types, unless you’re a race driver you don’t need to fuss about the costs. You can find great quality tires at the cheapest rates. You can easily surf and compare, and choose what offers work for your own benefit.

If you’re concerned about the unavailability of the installation service, websites like Tire Rack, Tire Buyer and Simple Tires, to name a few, have an excellent assistance service which will help you narrow down the best local installer in your vicinity, if you don’t happen to have one. They also offer delivering the tires directly to the installer, so that you can get started with your services as soon as possible. They attempt to make the fastest transfer as well, you can even have your tires delivered at your doorstep by the next day.

Apart from cheapest tires you can also find rare parts and accessories which are not readily available in the market. A few websites have blogs and review columns which help them inform the consumers with comparative analysis and the real time performance of various different brands of tires. Other than this you’ll also have the chance to explore amazing amount of content uploaded on the blogs of these websites. This gives you an opportunity to stay updated with the upcoming trends and happenings of the automobile sector.

Let’s hope that the next time you buy tires online it is a laid back process and not a tiring one.