It’s sometimes easy to overlook that your vehicle’s tyres are the only point of contact that comes between you and the road. For this reason it’s essential to maintain both the performance and the quality of your tyres, to ensure the safety of you and your fellow road users.
Tyre Pressure
Your tyre pressure is essential to maintaining your vehicle’s tyres. One of the most important reasons being the safety of both you and your fellow road users. Over inflated tyres can result in imperfect vehicle handling as well as rapid uneven tread wear, whilst under inflated tyres are prone to overheating and lead to premature failure.
By maintaining your vehicle’s tyre pressure on a regular basis, you will reach the maximum mileage available from your car tyres. Having the correct tyre pressure helps you to steer clear of premature and uneven wear that is often associated with incorrect tyre pressure – therefore expanding your tyre’s life.
Another reason for maintaining the correct tyre pressure, is economy. A tyre that is incorrectly inflated tends to suffer significantly more from impacts on the road, such as hitting a pothole, the kerb or other objects. It also affects your fuel economy, as your vehicle’s engine has to produce more power to reach the same speed as correctly inflated tyres do – resulting in spending more money on fuel.
Tread Depth
Your vehicle relies on your tyre’s tread to grip the road when braking, to come to halt in the shortest distance as possible. Due to this, your braking distance increases as the tread on your tyres begins to wear. This is why it’s important to check your tyres on a regular basis to make sure they have a satisfactory tread. The recommended guideline is to replace your tyres when the depth of tread reaches 3mm, this is in order to preserve braking performance. However, the legal limit for the minimum amount of tread in the UK is 1.6mm – failing to replace your tyres within this limit could result in a sizeable fine and points on your licence, as well as putting you and your passengers at serious risk.
External Damage
Faulty tyres, old tyres, bumping up and down kerbs, tracking, over inflation or under inflation can all cause bulges, cracks and cuts in your vehicle’s tyres. Due to this, your tyres should be frequently checked for any of these as it can result in a blowout, which can be extremely dangerous at high speed.
Wheel Alignment
Wheel alignment, also known as wheel tracking, is an essential step to maintaining tyre grip and preventing premature tyre wear. Having an incorrect wheel alignment can result in your tyres wearing out quickly, as well as causing problems with the stability of your car. All of these issues make wheel alignment important to not only the functioning of the vehicle, but also to the safety of the passengers in the car and other road users.
What Is Tyre Labelling?
To learn about tyre labelling, view our article: What are Tyre Safety Labels?
Lindleys Autocentres stock a large variety of tyres in all types, sizes and brands to offer you the highest quality to suit every budget. If the tyre you desire is not in stock, we will be happy to order it for you. If you get a puncture or a flat tyre, we will be able to repair it or fit a new one whilst you wait, quickly and conveniently for you. Reserve your new Tyres in Nottingham
