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The
Official Newspaper of Manchester and Delaware County, Iowa
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
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Tire mounting rules may surprise you
by Ken Boesenberg |
You are in need of a pair of tires for your car, a front wheel drive vehicle like many on the road today. You go to your friendly tire dealer or gas station (if you can find one of them that still sells and changes tires) and ask for a new set.
If you are getting them from Smittys Tire & Appliance in Manchester those two new tires will go on the back of you car.
Yes, you read that right, on the back of your car with only one rare exception that we will talk about later in this article.
Having a front wheel drive vehicle I was pretty adamant about having new tires put on the front, after all that’s where the drive tires are. Is that so hard to understand?
As Max Boren, owner of Smitty’s Tire & Appliance explains, “that is just about everybody’s answer or reaction. It was even our reaction up until May of 2006.”
“We had always put the new tires for a front wheel drive vehicle on the front, as did almost everyone else. That’s where logic or our intuition told us to put them,” continued Boren.
“It wasn’t until May of 2006 when we had a customer come into our shop who had just come from a Firestone dealer in Cedar Rapids and was having a fit because they would not put his two new tires on the front of his vehicle. That really got me to thinking, if that well known dealer wouldn’t put the new tires on the front, there must be some major reason why,” explained Boren.
Max and Jill Goos immediately hit the internet in search of why new tires must go on the back, even on a front wheel drive vehicle.
What they found astounded both of them.
“We couldn’t believe what we were finding. Every major tire manufacturer had a section on their website addressing this very thing,” stated Max.
From the Rubber Manufacturers Association there is the following suggestion. When a pair of replacement tires is selected in the same size and construction as those on the vehicle, the two newer tires should be installed on the rear axle unless the new replacement tires are of a lower speed rating. |
KEN BOESENBERG/ Press
Tire specialist, Victor Pugh of Smittys Tire & Appliance (top photo) prepares a new tire to be mounted on the back of a customers car. The new procedure has caused the dealership a few problems, according to owner Max Boren. However, their rule of placing new tires on the rear axle is etched in concrete. The Bridgestone poster in the photo to the right is displayed on the glass door connecting the tire and appliance areas. The poster contains all the reasons for mounting new tires on the rear axle even for front wheel drive vehicles. |
In the case of mixing speed ratings, which is a practice that is not at all suggested, it is recommended that lower speed rated tires should always be placed on the front axle. This is to prevent a potential oversteer condition.
The RMA (Rubber Manufacturers Association) makes recommendations for replacing just one tire, not a recommended procedure. But if it must be done the following rule should apply. If a single tire replacement is unavoidable, it is recommended that the single new tire be paired with the tire that has the deepest tread and both be placed on the rear axle.
Placing greater traction on the rear axle on wet surfaces is necessary to prevent a possible oversteer condition and loss of vehicle stability.
This is not really a new concept. It was first introduced in a technical bulletin by Bridgestone/Firestone in April 2003.
Their Two Tire Application Policy reiterated much the same information as the RMA releases. They were very emphatic with a portion of their bulletin in bold underlining the following: However, Bridgestone/Firestone policy is to mount the new tires on the rear axle, regardless of whether the vehicle is front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive.
They cite the same wet weather conditions.
“Once we began to discover all of this information and recommendations by all facets of the tire industry, we made our change to comply with their recommendations immediately,” says Boren.
“We knew that this would meet with some opposition because it goes against our intuition. On the other hand it was very evident to us that opposition or not, we were going to make the change, no exceptions, immediately,” continues Boren.
The list of manufacturers goes on and on. It makes no difference if it is Michelin, Goodyear or Cooper. They all say the same thing, if only two new tires are sold be sure to install on the rear axle.
Some of the more straight forward language comes from the Cooper Tire Company representative in a directive to their dealers which states. “I wanted to pass a message to you regarding our stance on selling a customer only 2 tires instead of 4. Of course, we would prefer to have the customer buy 4 new tires for their vehicle, but that is not always going to be the case. It does not matter if it is a front or rear wheel drive vehicle, if the customer only buys 2 tires, put them on the rear.”
It doesn’t get any clearer than that.
“There was an article in the October 22, 2007 issue of Tire Business with the headline - Jury Orders Michelin to Pay Paraplegic. The verdict was for $32.4 million,” relates Boren. “This was a case where a tire company in Louisiana put two new tires on the front of a customers car and that car was later involved in an accident where it left the road. A passenger in the car was left a paraplegic from injuries suffered.”
The car had hydroplaned on a wet highway causing the accident.
Though the case was brought against Michelin originally it has been appealed by Michelin. They contend that they always advise their dealers to put new tires on the rear axle, which was not the case in this particular vehicle in this accident.
“In the end the store that put the tires on the vehicle in the first place is going to end up in trouble,” speculates Boren.
“We have lost a few customers because of our policy but I have the following saying that relates to that. We are not willing to take a $40 profit on a pair of tires that will jeopardize the jobs of all our employees in our two stores. We are very serious about that. There is no gray area, it is simply black and white. Our employees understand and agree with that decision so it has been very simple for us,” stated Boren.
One of the best explanations found for putting new tires on the rear can be found at www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp. There is a huge article that explains the whole problem of hydroplaning, how it occurs and why.
So if your intuition was like mine or many, many other car owners, step up to the plate and admit your wrong. There really is someone out there that knows more about where new tires should go than ourselves.
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Supervisors approve Communication Contract
by Alison Nesteby |
Following much discussion in the previous weeks, the Delaware County Supervisors and the City of Manchester have come to an agreement for the Communication Contract and approved all changes on Monday, Feb. 4 at the Supervisors meeting.
The new contract will terminate on June 30, 2011. The City of Manchester will furnish and pay for radio operator service 24-hours a day, seven days a week, for operation of radio units located in the Manchester Police Department.
While the City runs the Communication Center, the Delaware County 911 Commission has purchased and retains ownership of certain property used at the Center. The Commission shall remain fully responsible for maintenance costs of this equipment. However, the City and County shall be equally responsible for all other costs incurred for purchase, maintenance and all other operating supplies.
The County will reimburse the City of Manchester for 50 percent of the costs that are not paid by other financial obligations included in the Contract. A full description of financial details can be seen on the Public Notices page in the Supervisors Minutes.
Participating entities will also be paying more for services, which include cities in Delaware County and Regional Medical Center. The County will be responsible for collecting said fees from the participating entities and will also be responsible for covering fees from entities that have defaulted on their payment.
The Chief of Police for the City of Manchester is responsible for the operation of the Communication Center.
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Brinks recovers from PAD
by Ken Boesenberg |
When Donald Brinks’s neighbor in Anamosa received a postcard for a PVD (Peripheral Vascula Disease) screening at the Mercy Care Clinic in Monticello, she thought right away to show it to him. The neighbor knew Dan had been suffering from prolonged leg pain, which is a primary symptom of PVD and PAD (Peripheral Arterial Disease). Brinks’s pain in his right leg was so bad, in fact, that he couldn’t even walk more than a half a block without stopping to rest.
PVD is a disease affecting veins and arteries outside the heart and brain, while PAD exclusively focuses on the arteries. When these vessels become constricted, blood flow to the leg is reduced. In Don’s case, the pain in his leg was so bad due to PAD that his mobility was severely hampered.
“I knew I wasn’t getting circulation. My leg had sharp pains. It is hard to explain - but it was numb and felt like it wasn’t even attached,” says Brinks. His wife, Florence, likens it to the pins-and-needles pains experienced when feeling returns to an arm or leg that has been asleep.
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PHOTO SUBMITTED
Don Brinks walking pain free after having leg bypass surgery. |
Amanda Trevino, RN, conducted Brinks’s screening, and says, “His right foot was cold to the touch and had no pulse. We immediately called Don’s interventional cardiologist (A. Ersin Atay, MD) who referred us to a vascular surgeon (David Lawrence, MD) at Physicians Clinic of Iowa in Cedar Rapids.
Brinks’s medical history is checkered with a variety of health complications, including heart disease, emphysema, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He has also had multiple vascular surgeries, including one on the leg that was causing him pain.
“Don had a vascular study in January 2007 which revealed a patent (clear) bypass,” says Dr. Lawrence. A Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) scan in mid-October revealed this graft was no longer open.
Surgery was the answer, so in Nov. 2007 at Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Lawrence performed leg bypass surgery to carry blood flow around the lesion in his blood vessel. Today, Brinks walks pain-free and no longer needs a cane.
Interventional Cardiologist Richard Kettelkamp, DO, often conducts PVD consultations. He says, “Vascular screening is a simple, painless test that can quickly assess a patient’s risk for atherosclerosis.”
Patients with positive screenings should be aggressively treated with medicines and possibly with revascularization procedures based on the recommendations of their doctor.
More facts regarding PAD (Peripheral Artery Disease);
Life Style Changes that may lower your risk of PAD
* Stop smoking (smokers have a particularly strong risk of PAD).
* Control diabetes.
* Control blood pressure.
* Be physically active (including a supervised exercise program).
* Eat a low-saturated-fat, low-cholesterol diet.
There are a number of helpful ideas on how to improve your chances of preventing either peripheral vascular disease or peripheral artery disease on the American Heart Associations website - www.americanheart.org. |
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