Temperature grades are an indication of your tire’s resistance to heat. Sustained high temperature (for example, driving long distances in hot weather) can cause your tire to deteriorate, leading to blowouts and tread separation. From highest to lowest, a tire’s resistance to heat is graded as “A”, “B”, or “C”.

Traction grades are an indication of your tire’s ability to stop on wet pavement. A higher graded tire should allow your ride to stop on wet roads in a shorter distance than a tire with a lower grade. Traction is graded from highest to lowest as “AA”, “A”, “B”, and “C”.

Treadwear grades gives you an idea of the rate that your tires will wear down. The higher the treadwear number is, the longer it should take for the tread to wear down.

To help you buy tires, the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has rated more than 2,200 lines of tires used on cars, minivans, SUVs and light pickup trucks.

When repairing your tire, a plug alone is not an acceptable repair. Your tire needs to be completely removed from the rim so that you can thoroughly see the damage. Only then will you be able to plug and patch it correctly.