Tyres are one of the most common areas in which car owners experience faults. This is largely due to poor care, leading to many consequences to the performance of your vehicle leading to costly repairs. You also run the risk of. Maintaining your tyres and replacing when necessary to ensure your vehicle is roadworthy and maintain overall safety. Below are our top 5 tips for keeping your tyres in good condition.
Regularly check your tyres pressure
Inadequate tyre pressure can adversely affect your car’s steering, braking, handling and fuel efficiency performance. Fuel consumption can increase with incorrect tyre pressure whether it be too high or low, which can also increase the likelihood of general wear and tear and at worst can result in a complete tyre malfunction leading to an accident. At the very least it is recommended to check tyre pressure monthly to ensure your safety and the safety of your passengers. Don’t forget to also check the pressure of your spare tyre, you never know when you’ll need it!
Your cars manual should provide the ideal tyre pressure for your car, otherwise, you can check on the tyres themselves as they should have markings to indicate required pressure.
Check for external signs of damage
Carrying out regular physical tyre checks yourself can help to prevent escalating damage and catch any otherwise non-obvious more severe wear and tear that may require you to replace a tyre. Cuts, foreign objects embedded in the tyre or unusual bulges, these complications will need to be assessed by a professional mechanic and repaired where necessary and in some cases replaced.
Ensure your tyres have an adequate tread depth
Adequate tread depth is essential for ensuring the safety and performance of your car, this is, even more the case in adverse weather conditions. The law requires all cars have a tread depth of at least 1.6mm so it is recommended to check your tyres often to make sure you adhere to this regulation. If your tread is below this limit you will need to replace them as soon as possible to avoid accidents and any legal action.
Minimise car weight
An overloaded car can have an increased risk of issues or accidents occurring to it. Overloaded vehicles affect both the cars handling and rapidly increase wear on the tyres from overheating which can lead to severe issues on the road such as tyre explosions.
Newer tyres include labelling indicating max load, which you should always adhere too. This information can also usually be found on the inside of your driver’s side door or your car manual.
Check wheel alignment often
Misaligned tyres can cause uneven wearing and drastically reduce the life of your tyres making them prone to damage and also impair the driver’s ability to steer the car which can lead to accidents. Its is important to ensure that when you are having your tyres checked or replaced as well as at any MOT that your tyre alignment is also assessed as many less reputable garages will neglect to perform this step.
Practise good driving habits
Above all else the best way to ensure long tyre life is to practise good driving habits. Be sure to avoid over breaking and try to keep rolling at a steady pace in traffic as excessive stopping and starting can cause your tyres to wear much quicker than they otherwise would. Consistent and smooth driving as well as avoiding uneven or hazardous road services can help to reduce tyre damage
These general tips should cover most bases, however, if you have need of any further advice on tyre maintenance, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our tyre fitting experts.