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Driving
habits are largely responsible for the state of your tyres.
Every car has parts that need to be replaced constantly and the
cost of replacing tyres, is more than all these parts. Proper tyre
care can substantially prolong their average life apart from allowing
you to enjoy more comfortable and safe motoring.
It is important to estabish what caused a tyre fault. The condition
of a tyre can be a valuable clue to tracking down a mechanical defect,
or a pointer to bad driving habits. If unnoticed, more serous faults
can develop.
 Speed:
High-speed driving may overheat and soften the rubber of tyres not
designed for high-speed operations. This may result in 'chunking',
when pieces of tread are flung off the tyre carcass at speed. Bear
in mind when choosing tyres the kind of job they will have to do.
If the car is to be driven mainly at high speed, make sure that
the tyres are suitable, and under no circumstances fit remoulds.
Stops
and Starts:
Fierce acceleration and breaking remove the tread rapidly. Heavy
breaking may cause flat/bald spots.
Road
Surfaces: Unfortunately, road surfaces that give the wheels
an excellent grip may also causes rapid tyre wear. But this is also
true of many roads that tend to appear smooth-surfaced. They too
can be quite abrasive.
Lack
of balance: Badly balanced wheels, brake-drum ovality, high
spot on the discs can all cause extra wear at one spot on the tread.
Badly adjusted brakes tend to cause extra wear in several places.
Inflation:
Incorrect air pressure is one of the most common faults, yet one
of the easiest to find and correct. Reducing air pressure does not
increase road holding on wet, snowy or icy roads. Infact it makes
the tyre less able to clear snow and water. Too much air reduces
road contact and causes wear in the middle of the treads. There
are times, however, when pressure should be increased.
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and excessive running on over-inflated tyres will eventually
remove the centre-tread down to the fabric. |
A
constantly under-inflated tyre will bulge at the shoulders and
wear rapidly at the edges. Check pressures weekly. |
'Chunking'
happens when a patch of tread has loosened and is torn off by
centrifugal force at high speed |
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Uneven
wear of the tread is due to bad wheel balance
or a fault in the suspension, steering gear or bearings. |
Remove
a nail from the tyre as soon as possible and repair the damage
at once. Even a tubeless tyre will lose air. |
A
flat spot can be caused by heavy braking which makes the wheels
lock and scrubs the tyre along the road surface. |
Some
basic aspects of tyre-care are:
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It is extremely important to ensure that your
tyres always have the correct air-pressure recommended
by the manufacturer. This small check itself will not only prolong
the life of your tyre but also improve fuel consumption. The
air-pressure should be ideally checked when tyres are cold,
since tyres that have been driven for sometime build up heat
inside, and will show incorrect pressure.
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Tyres wear unevenly. Hence they should rotated
(i.e. their positions interchanged) as recommended in the owner's
manual. Rotation may be done between the four tyres or between
all five tyres (i.e. also the spare tyre). Rotation is done
on the same side (i.e. from front to rear, and not from left
to right) It is important to adjust the air-pressures of the
front and rear tyres after rotation.
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Check for a specific pattern of wear-patches
on your tyres. This indicates that the suspension may not be
proper, and is hitting against the tires at specific points
causing wear.
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Pulling of your car to either side
means that either insufficient air-pressure or that the wheel-alignment
of the car is faulty.
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Regularly check the tyres for small stones
and metal pieces that may get lodged in the grooves.
Good-looking tyres stand
great-looking cars.
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