• Pneumatic tires last longer when you maintain them with the right toolstires 2 image by Pontus Edenberg from Fotolia.com
  
  Utilizing pneumatic tire tools you can safely inflate, maintain, mount or dismount, balance, align and rotate pneumatic tires. Selecting the correct tools for pneumatic tire maintenance, installation or inspection involves a variety of factors, including the size of the tire, tire design type, the tire's age and intended use. You can increase a pneumatic tire's life with the right tools.
  
  

Maintenance and Inspection

• A digital tire pressure guage is easier to read than this typeair pressure gauge image by Greg Pickens from Fotolia.com
  
  For safe driving and long pneumatic tire life, check your tire's air pressure with a digital tire pressure gauge and maintain proper inflation, according to the manufacturer's recommendations listed on the sticker of your vehicle's door jam or owner's manual. Inflation can be done with any portable or stationary air compressor equipped with a hose fitting. Visually inspecting the tire's tread wear pattern and using a tread depth gauge will help you determine if your tires are under- or over-inflated or need replacing. This visual inspection can also assist you in determining if your vehicle needs realignment or has worn parts that affect tire safety and life.
  
  

Mounting and Dismounting

• Mounting and dismounting pneumatic tires requires tire irons, tire bead breakers, spoons, mounting machines or driving irons, which come in a wide range of sizes and styles. Choosing the ones that work best for your pneumatic tire's size and style involves a variety of factors, including your experience, physical strength and budget. The easiest and most costly way to dismount or mount a tire involves operating a tire-mounting machine. A more cost-effective method involves a tire bead breaker. This is inserted between the edge of the tire (bead) where it connects to the wheel and the wheel to aid you in breaking the seal. Then a tire iron, spoon or driving iron is used to provide the leverage needed to unseat the tire.
  
  

Balancing, Alignment and Rotation

• Proper balancing (even distribution of weight around the circumference of the tire) minimizes tire bounce and extends tire life. The majority of spin balancers on the market can achieve both static (at rest) and dynamic (in motion) tire balance with little assistance from the operator. An alignment machine measures complex suspension angles and adjusts a variety of suspension components. Depending on your tire design and vehicle type, rotating the tires every 6,000 to 8,000 miles can increase the life of your pneumatic tires. A lug wrench and a jack required for tire rotation are typically included with your vehicle, but you may want to purchase an additional jack to lift two wheels off the ground at one time to make tire rotation easier.