Professional, dependable service with a lifetime warranty on most repairs, at four open New Jersey shops, with Lodi opening soon. Book your appointment with KRP Automotive today.
Tires for the driving you actually do
Tires are the only part of a car that touches the road, and every bit of braking, steering and grip is spent through four contact patches about the size of your hand. That is worth remembering when the decision comes down to price alone.
We fit to the vehicle and to the driving. A commute down Route 23 in all weather is a different requirement from a car that mostly sits, and both are different from a truck that tows. The right tire is the one matched to that, not the one with the biggest sticker in the window.
Everything is mounted and balanced on the machine, with the pressure monitoring system relearned so the dash light goes out properly rather than being ignored.
We also say when you do not need tires yet. Plenty of cars come in expecting four and leave with a rotation and an alignment, which is the cheaper and correct answer.
What we do with tires
We carry Michelin, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Continental, Pirelli, Dunlop and Yokohama, and we order to your vehicle and your driving rather than to whatever is in stock. Every tire is balanced on the machine before it goes back on the car.
Front and rear tires wear at different rates on every car. Rotating on schedule is the cheapest way to get the mileage you paid for.
A puncture in the tread area, away from the shoulder, is usually repairable from the inside. A sidewall puncture is not, and we will tell you which yours is.
A vibration that appears at a particular speed and fades above it is almost always balance. It is a quick fix and it saves your suspension bushings.
Sensors, service kits and relearning the system after a fitment, so the dash light goes out and stays out.
Winter tires on and off, with honest advice on whether they are worth it for the driving you actually do here.
How much tread is left
Full wet grip and the braking distance the car was designed around.
Plenty of life left. A sensible point to start planning rather than buying.
Wet braking has measurably lengthened by here, and standing water is where you will notice it first.
Hydroplaning risk rises sharply below this on a wet highway.
The wear bars are flush with the tread. This is the legal minimum, not a target.
Wear on one shoulder, feathering or cupping is an alignment or suspension fault. New tires will wear out the same way until it is fixed.
Which tire for North Jersey
What most cars here wear
For drivers who cannot wait out a storm
Grip and quiet, at a cost
Getting your money's worth
Tires and the rest of the car
A worn tire tells you what the rest of the car has been doing. We read them on every visit, because the pattern is usually a cheaper warning than whatever it is warning about.
Wear on one shoulder only is an alignment angle out of specification. Wear on both shoulders with a good center is chronic underinflation. A worn center strip with good shoulders is the opposite. Feathered edges across the tread blocks point at toe, and scalloped patches point at worn shocks or struts letting the tire bounce.
None of those are fixed by new tires. Fit four without addressing the cause and the new set wears out exactly the same way, which is why we check the alignment and the suspension before we sell anybody rubber.
Reading the sidewall
The width of the tire in millimeters across the tread. A wider tire is not automatically better; it has to suit the wheel and the vehicle.
The sidewall height as a percentage of the width. A lower number means a shorter, stiffer sidewall, which sharpens steering and firms up the ride.
R for radial, followed by the wheel diameter in inches. This has to match your wheels exactly.
A coded figure for how much weight the tire can carry. Fitting below the vehicle's requirement is unsafe, and it matters most on trucks and loaded vans.
The speed the tire is certified for. We match or exceed what the manufacturer specified rather than dropping down to save money.
The last four digits of the DOT code are the week and year it was made. Rubber ages whether it is driven on or not, which is why a bargain tire that has sat for years is rarely one.
What drivers say
I needed a simple brake service, but I did not expect these guys work in the 21st century environment. They communicated with me via detailed text messages, and kept me involved in all decision-making.
Came here for brake pads and rotors. Got a good price, and they did a good job. They did a road test also.
Great service, they got me in same day for full brakes front and back. Definitely recommend.
Tire shop near me
Tire shop near me, new tires near me and tire rotation near me all describe work we do at Clifton, Franklin, Hawthorne and Newton.
Tires rarely stand alone. Uneven wear belongs with wheel alignment, and cupped or scalloped wear usually points at steering and suspension.
Answers to some of the questions KRP Automotive customers ask most. Still not sure? Give us a call, we’re happy to help.
Two thirty-seconds of an inch of tread is the legal minimum, but wet braking has already lengthened noticeably by four thirty-seconds. We measure yours and show you the gauge rather than telling you a number.
If the puncture is in the tread area and away from the shoulder, usually yes, and it is repaired from the inside rather than plugged from outside. A sidewall puncture cannot be repaired safely by anyone.
Most vehicles do well on every oil change, or roughly every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Front and rear wear at different rates on every car, so rotation is the cheapest way to reach the mileage the tires were sold with.
On all-wheel drive, generally yes, because a mismatch in rolling diameter works the drivetrain. On front or rear-wheel drive, replacing in pairs across an axle is the minimum.
It depends where you drive. On the hills and rural roads around Sussex County they make a genuine difference on ice, not only in snow. For a mostly highway commute, good all-seasons are usually enough.
Almost always alignment or a worn suspension component, and occasionally chronic underinflation. The wear pattern tells us which, and the cause has to be corrected or the next set does the same thing.
Yes. Sometimes it is simply low pressure, and sometimes it is a failed sensor or a system that needs relearning after a fitment. We check the pressures first because that is free.
Tire replacement, rotation and balancing all happen in the same building as the alignment rack, so a new set goes on straight rather than coming back for a second appointment. A blowout is an emergency, and tire replacement is the job we try hardest to fit in the same day; there is an after-hours drop box if the car cannot wait for opening.
Most repairs at KRP Automotive are guaranteed for as long as you own your vehicle. If you pay for a repair at our shop, you shouldn’t have to pay for it again, that’s our promise at all four open New Jersey locations.
Tires are a wear item, so tire work carries our standard warranty of at least 24 months and 24,000 miles. Tires themselves also carry their own manufacturer warranty. Read the full terms.
