This same comment about lawyers is what the tire industry is fearing. The tire pressure issue was over turned by the NHTSA but expect it to come back stronger next time as consumer groups and politicians judging the wind flow see the political advantage of caving into such demands, which indeed will open the tire industry to more class action lawsuits. The RMA Rubber Manufacturers Association wants to fight PSI level definitions, because it is not a one size fits all.Many things go into deciding proper inflation and PSI levels depending on such things: snow handling, wet & dry braking, braking & traction requirements, stopping distances, rolling resistance, fuel economy, noise, vibration, harmonics, comfort of ride, uniformity of tread ware, balance, cornering capabilities, rotation interval specs, endurance ratings, tread ware tests, high speed performance, residual alignment torque, ease of mounting on production equipment, etc. You can see the issues manufacturers have with this. Many times customers will ask you can you check the tires, some shops are saying “no” while this is the best policy for not getting sued it is not good to keep telling customers “No” when: A.) You can charge them for it and; B.) They are willing to pay you for it and; C.) You can make a good profit doing it.
After all with the increased news articles on tire ware and the significance of the firestone media frenzy, tires are on people’s mind more than the ever increasing oil change intervals propaganda from Auto Manufacturers to sell more cars and their particular brand of in house oil. The problem concerning tires has much to do with: ice, snow, rain, mud, highway speed, dirt roads, gravel, canyon driving, off road driving, speed bumps, gas mileage, traction, etc. The manufacturers are at odds with a government regulatory body dictating their specifications on a tire, which may perform many different duties on the same car within its life time.
Manufacturers of tires are concerned with all these things and those listed above and also have to worry customers which modify vehicles, over load tires, drive monster mudders on freeways causing vibrations, harmonics, warped rotors, bent tie rods, bent steering rods, severe wear to breaking systems, cracked rims which in turn cause excessive ware including scalloped tires, radial separation, increased tire rotation intervals-some 4 X 4’s as little as 3000 miles when usually 6000 is recommended. Not to mention human kidney issues.
Stiffer tires gave better over all handling performance, great stopping and good grip, but were noisy. GM has been offering sensor based tire pressure monitors and ABS for models has a safety bulletin for installation of a tire pressure monitor dashboard indicator. When customers were asked in a survey by the TIA – Tire Industry Association; 31% said they check their air pressure regularly, 20% admitted to ignorance when it came to anything to do with tires and 40% said their tries are totally safe. But we know that 54% had under inflated tires when they were checked and 14% had either poor tread left or both.
In fact when the survey was checked against actual behavior in tire monitoring by the customer only 1 in 7 actually checks the tire pressure regularly. So it maybe something to think about when servicing your customer’s car while doing the oil changes.
By: Lance Winslow