Tires and tire repair are a big part of what we do at Gordon & Sandifer. We sell and install Bridgestone, Firestone and Cooper tires, fix flats that can be fixed safely, and rotate and balance tires so they wear evenly. If you live in Southdowns, near University Lake or around the Perkins Road Overpass district, we’re a short drive away.
Your car rides on four patches of rubber, each about the size of your hand. In a city that gets about 62 inches of rain a year and summer highs in the 90s, those patches work hard. We’ve been an honest family shop on Perkins Road since 1956, with mechanical and collision repair under the same roof as the tire bay, so we’ll tell you plainly whether you need new tires now, soon or not yet.
We sell and install Bridgestone, Firestone and Cooper tires for cars, SUVs, minivans and light pickups. We match the tire to how you drive: quiet all-season tires for a Honda Accord commuting on I-10, sturdier all-terrain tires for a Toyota Tacoma, and load-rated tires for a Ford F-150 that hauls on weekends.
Start with the size and load rating on the sticker inside your driver’s door. From there we talk about your miles, your highway time and how long you plan to keep the vehicle, then show you a few options with strong wet grip for our summer storms.
You need new tires when the tread reaches 2/32 of an inch, the legal minimum, or sooner if you see cracks in the sidewall, bulges, cords showing or uneven wear. The penny test helps: put Lincoln’s head into the tread upside down. If you can see the top of his head, it’s time.
Age counts too. Louisiana heat hardens rubber faster, and the last four digits of the DOT code on the sidewall show the week and year the tire was made. Many tire makers suggest a close inspection once a tire is about six years old.
In heavy rain, tires need deep grooves to push water out from under the tread. At 2/32 of an inch there’s little room left for that water, and the tire can ride up on it and hydroplane. Many drivers in rainy places replace tires closer to 4/32 for better wet grip.
A quarter works for a wet-weather check. Put Washington’s head into the tread upside down, and if you can see the top of his head, the tread is down near 4/32. If the car ever starts to hydroplane, ease off the gas and keep the wheel straight until the tires grip again.
Expert tip: Replace tires in pairs at least, and put the newer pair on the rear axle unless your owner’s manual says otherwise. Rear tires with good tread keep the back of the car from sliding out first on a wet curve.
The cost of new tires depends on the size, the brand and model line, the load and speed rating, how many tires you replace, and whether you need new valve stems, TPMS service or an alignment with them. You get a clear estimate before any work starts, with each line explained.
A set of 20-inch tires for a Chevrolet Silverado 1500 or a Jeep Grand Cherokee runs higher than a set for a Toyota Camry. We’ll show you a few choices and tell you honestly which one fits the way you drive.
Installing new tires means mounting each tire on its wheel, balancing the assembly so it spins smoothly, checking the valve stem and TPMS sensor, and setting the pressure to the number on your door sticker. We torque the lug nuts to spec and recheck the work before the car leaves the bay.
Balancing uses small weights on the rim to cancel out heavy spots, so you don’t feel a shake at highway speed. New tires are also the right time for a wheel alignment. If a fender-bender or a curb hit damaged the wheel too, our collision repair team works under the same roof, so the body work, tire and alignment happen in one shop. A tire install is a short visit: settle into the waiting area with a coffee and the TV, and we’ll let you know when your keys are ready.
Most cars, SUVs and pickups need a tire rotation every 5,000 to 7,500 miles, or as your owner’s manual says. Front tires do most of the steering and braking work, so they wear faster. Rotating moves each tire to a new spot so all four wear down at about the same rate.
Rotating at every other oil change is an easy way to remember. All-wheel-drive vehicles like a Toyota RAV4 or Honda CR-V are especially sensitive to uneven wear, and with the wheels off we also get a look at your brakes and suspension.
An underinflated tire flexes more as it rolls, and that flexing builds heat inside the tire. Add 90-degree summer days and hot pavement, and the heat can weaken the tire’s internal structure until it fails. Keeping the pressure at the number on your door sticker is the simplest protection you have.
Check pressure once a month with the tires cold. The number molded on the sidewall is the tire’s maximum, so go by your door sticker, and check the owner’s manual for a higher setting when the car is loaded for a trip or a hurricane evacuation.
Expert tip: Check your spare when you check the other four. Spares lose pressure sitting in the trunk for years, and a flat spare is no help on the shoulder of Essen Lane in July.
A flat tire can usually be repaired if the puncture is in the main tread area and about a quarter inch or smaller, like a nail or screw. Punctures in the sidewall or the shoulder, where the tread meets the sidewall, can’t be safely repaired, and neither can a tire driven far while flat.
A proper repair takes the tire off the wheel so we can inspect the inside, then seals it with a combination plug and patch, the method tire makers recommend. If a tire goes soft, pull over somewhere safe and use the spare, since driving on it nearly flat crushes the sidewall.
The tire pressure monitoring system, or TPMS, turns on a warning light when one or more tires drop about 25 percent below the recommended pressure. Tire pressure changes about 1 PSI for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit, so the first cool morning in fall often sets the light off in Baton Rouge.
A steady light means low pressure, so fill all four tires to the door-sticker number. A light that flashes for about a minute at startup and then stays on points to the system itself, often a sensor battery, and we can replace and program a failed sensor.
Expert tip: Before hurricane season starts on June 1, check the tread, the pressure and the spare on every car in the household. If you ever need to leave town in a hurry, you want tires that can handle hours of highway driving in heat and rain.
Gordon & Sandifer is at 3825 Perkins Rd, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, near Acadian Thruway and Southdowns Shopping Center. We’re open Monday through Thursday from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM and Friday from 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Call (225) 343-3427 for new tires, a flat repair or a rotation, or stop by.
We’re close to Rouzan, Zee Zee Gardens and Westdale Heights. Browse all our auto repair services, read about our Baton Rouge auto repair roots, or contact us with a question about a tire size or a nail in your tread. If your tires still have plenty of life in them, we’ll say so and send you on your way.
