Looking after your car’s tyres is something that is essential if you want to be safe on the road. Unfortunately, there are many motorists who believe that their annual service and MOT is the only time they will need to consider their tyres. Although your mechanic will carefully inspect your tyres at this time, an annual check-up is woefully inadequate for proper tyre maintenance. Without making more regular checks, you could be driving on tyres that are unsafe, that can land you a big fine and could be costing you more in fuel than you need to be spending. Fortunately, the sort of checks you need to make on your car’s tyres are easy and require no specialist skills. What should you be doing?
Confirm Tyre Air Pressure
Over-inflated tyres are a menace. Not only do they mean that you get less traction on the road, because the tread tends to bow out leaving less rubber in contact with the road surface, but you will wear them down quicker. This is because the section of tread that is gripping the road does all of the work. In short, you will wear your tyres down radially if they are pumped up too hard.
In addition, flat tyres are problematic. Flattened tyres cause the rubber to splay out on the tarmac. This means that it takes more energy to turn the wheel because there is greater than usual friction between the tyre and the road. You will expend more petrol accelerating and maintaining cruising speed when your tyres are only a little bit flat. Therefore, you should make sure that each of your four tyres is inflated to the correct level every few times that you refuel. Not only will this mean you are safer when driving about but you will spend less of replacement tyres and fuel.
Inspect the Tread Depth of Tyres
When a tyre has been used for a while, it will begin to lose tread depth. Although totally bald tyres are easy to spot, you will find it harder to tell whether the remaining your remaining tread is safe or not. The lower the level of tread, the less grip you will have when cornering of braking. If you want to avoid spinning off the road or skidding when you apply the brake, keep an eye on your tread depth. You can buy gauges that tell you exactly how much tread is left in each tyre – just remember to check all the way around a tyre’s circumference and not only in one place. Alternatively, stick a twenty pence coin into the tread sideways on. If the rim of the coin disappears from view, then your tread is above the legal minimum. Otherwise you need immediate replacement; you can get good quality, robust tyres at amazing prices from Elite Tyres Chingford Branch
Look Out for Wear and Tear
All tyres suffer from damage as you drive over objects and debris. Sticks, thorns, screws and shards of glass can all work their way into the rubber compound of a road tyre. If so, they will tend to work their way inwards rather than causing the tyre to blow immediately. Have any tyres that have items sticking into them repaired before further damage occurs. Don’t try to pull out items like nails that are already embedded since this can backfire and may mean the tyre becomes unusable.
Adjust Your Driving Style
Finally, there is something that every driver can do to look after their tyres without the need to get out from behind the wheel. This is to drive with greater care so that your tyres come under less strain. By braking less, your tyre tread will last longer so consider hanging back from the vehicle in front and maintaining a gap. In addition, apply your accelerator more gently, especially in wet conditions, so that you are less likely to wheel spin and wear your tyres down as a result.