AWS Automotive offers a wide selection of custom and performance wheels at our Ojai ~ Ventura automotive shop. We appreciate and understand that your vehicle’s tires and wheels play an important role in the overall appearance and safety of your vehicle as you drive the streets in and around Ojai ~ Ventura. While a nice set of wheels can really make your car or truck stand out as you drive the streets of Ojai ~ Ventura, the tires rival the brakes as the most important safety device in your vehicle. Understanding the importance that tires and wheels play in your vehicle's performance and safety will go a long way in ensuring your ride in Ojai ~ Ventura is a safe and comfortable one. Most tires consist of 4 parts - tread, sidewalls, inner carcass, and beads. • The tread is the part of the tire that meets the surface of the road and provides you with the traction needed when driving the streets in and around Ojai ~ Ventura under all types of driving conditions. • The sidewalls are designed to be flexible so as to absorb loads when driving. • The inner carcass serves to resist impacts from potholes and bumps. • The beads are the part of the tire where the rubber touches the metal of the wheel. Aside from providing a comfortable ride in and around Ojai ~ Ventura, tires are designed to cope with the forces often associated with vehicle acceleration, braking, and steering. A common problem faced by many tire manufacturers is that no one tire is best for ALL the road conditions that drivers in Ojai ~ Ventura experience. The design of the tire must be a compromise between conflicting considerations: • The tire experts at AWS Automotive know that your tires must be strong enough to resist damage while having enough flexibility to cushion impacts. • The rubber of the tire needs to be hard enough to provide for thousands of miles when driving on the hard road surfaces of Ojai ~ Ventura, but soft enough to provide adequate traction when it rains and the roads of Ojai ~ Ventura are wet and dangerous. The components of a vehicle’s wheels: • The wheels on a vehicle are created from stamped-steel parts that have been welded together. • Wire wheels and one-piece cast or forged aluminum wheels - mag wheels - are often available as options on many cars and trucks. • Racing cars will sometimes use magnesium wheels in an effort to save weight and increase performance, but this type of wheel is not practical on normal roads as salt corrodes them over time. • Stamped wheels are made up of two parts - the rim and center. The wheel center is offset to allow for the suspension and brake components and is attached to the vehicle hub by bolts that are often called lugs. • There are also ventilation holes in the wheel that help keep the brakes cool. AWS Automotive is considered by many to be the best tire center in Ojai ~ Ventura due to our expertise in helping our customers choose the best tire for their automobiles. Our tire experts take the time to explain to our Ojai ~ Ventura customers the basics of tire/wheel knowledge, helping them make an informed decision about the care of their car.