# Kicking Tires When Buying Cars **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2000, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-tires-when-buying-cars/10012 "2000-04-08T18:13:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 7
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-tires-when-buying-cars/10012/7 "2000-04-09T01:07:00Z")
One explanation that I have heard was that it was to rock the wheels to check for a bad tie rod or bearings. I can testify that you can hear/feel a really bad wheel bearing or rod bearing by kicking the tires hard enough, but it’s absolutely not a reliable or repeatable thing to do. And if it gets bad enough to hear by kicking the tires, then the suspension is probably “24-carat fucked” on that wheel. I can also testify that once I discovered a brake caliper that had not been installed properly after a brake job. I was kicking the tires of a friend’s car as a joke, and noticed a strange rattle. Turned out he hadn’t installed the anti-chatter spacers properly (not any real danger on this car, since they typically rusted and fell off, but it sure amazed her that I could detect it it with my innate car wisdom…). * * * The Prince: “Did you kill Jahamaraj Jah?” Lady: “Yes.” The Prince: “My Gods! Why?” Lady: “His existence offended me.” --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-tires-when-buying-cars/10012)._