Posted on 1/16/2016

...alignments, a critical auto maintenance service 1) What is a wheel alignment?106 St Tire & Wheel wants its customers to know that wheel alignments are important and they are a part of standard automobile maintenance. Wheel alignment consists of adjusting the angles of the wheels so that they are set to the car maker's specification. This helps steer your vehicle effectivbely and safely. 2) Why do I need a wheel alignment? A wheel alignment is required from a maintenance perspective because a lack of proper alignment can cause uneven or premature tire wear. Merely driving over pot holes, those metal plates used when Queens streets are being repaired or when water pipes are being re-laid or repaired, where ever Con Ed digs up the street, etc. because the bouncing of tires in an uneven pattern displace the correct alignment. Tire wear and improper tire inflation are impacted which in turn may jeopardizing the safety of you, your passengers, pedestrians, other drivers and that of y ... read more
Posted on 1/15/2016

Winter's cold weather causes the rubber tread on all season or summer tire to stiffen and does not provide sufficient traction for wintry conditions. Tire design in tread rubber of winter tires are designed to remain flexible allowing the tire to grip the road better. And its not just tread design, its also the composition of the tire. It's not uncommon for drivers to think a tire is a tire. However, that is not true. Tires vary in composition, in tread depth and design and more, all suited for a specific driving purpose and need. Many cars leave the factory with all season tires. Those tires provide a fairly quiet ride, have good tread life and get good fuel economy. They are popular as all season tires offer flexible performance on a bevy of road services having been specifically designed to perform in a variety of conditions. Those conditions include dry roads, wet roads and light winter driving. Unfortunately, that does not mean that all season tires combine the best performance o ... read more
Posted on 1/12/2016

Noises from your ride; not a good thing! If those noises are not the gentle purr of efficiency and the quiet zoom of a well performing engine they are usually warning signs. When you hear them, that's the time to drive over to 106 St Tire and Wheel (depending on the sound, see below, a tow truck may be needed) and let a pro hear what you hear. Our advice: It's too risky to wait, of course, depending on the noise and the cause which you probably won't know until someone with diagnostic skill here's the sound. While some auto repair shops might make a differentiation between sounds you could ignore and ones you need to investigate, our shops recommend that all noises and odors be checked out by our skilled technicians. First, all of our locations offer a FREE 47 point safety check. That's the place to start by looking at belts, hoses, etc. We look to remedy the simple things and we don't charge our customers for this. The above inspection also includes a fluid check. Experienced technic ... read more
Posted on 12/14/2015

Got No Wiper Fluid? Here's a quick "recipe:" 1 and 1/2 cups rubbing isopropyl alcohol 5 cups water 1/2 Tablespoon of liquid detergent (best kind? the ones that degrease dishes and pots) you can double the above and get one gallon, however, don't over use the alcohol which may damage your wiper blades so take that under advisement. This is a quick fix in a pinch. CAUTION: label and store properly; isopropyl alcohol is poisonous but is needed in this recipe as an anti-freeze agent. USE ONLY AS AN EMERGENCY for auto safety only. Keep kids and pets away from this, please
Posted on 12/13/2015

So...where's the snow? No snow SO FAR is no guarantee we won't have the usual January and February weather challenges. And 106 St Tire & Wheels is certainly not advocating you buy snow tires just in case. All weather tires can work fine. But, here's the deal...tire tread must be at a safe depth and our 106 St Tire & Wheel locations will check your tire tread for free! Drivers need to be really careful about tire tread getting too low because it's dangerous and the danger increases when the weather gets ugly. Once you can touch the wear bar on your tire at any point on that tire then the tread is too low and it becomes dangerous. If the edges of your tires are worn down that means your alignment is probably off and you should seriously consider new tires and 106 St Tire locations have used tires that will do fine and are very affordable. You can test your own tires but why bother when this is a free no obligation service at all of our locations. But, if you want to give it a tr ... read more