by Mo Bruce

Created on: December 23, 2009   Last Updated: January 23, 2012

Let’s face it, when was the last time you looked at your tyres.   We are not talking about walking round the car checking that the tyres are not flat.   What I mean is, have you checked the tyre pressure of late.   Are the walls of the tyres damaged in any way, and is the tread legal.

Most people only check their tyre pressure when the tyre is obviously under inflated.   Something you should be aware of is that constant under inflation of the tyre may put too much strain on the tyre sidewalls, causing dangerous cracks.   This will also most definitely add to the uneven wear of the tyre tread.

Over inflated tyres will also lead to uneven wear of the tread, and seriously affects the handling of the car.   It may seem a bit of a fuss, but checking the tyre pressure once a week really does do a lot to maintain your tyres and so helps extend their life.   In consequence, you save money too.   If you have any doubts over the proper pressure for your tyres, all modern cars have a little plate fitted on the driver’s door pillar.   Follow that and you can’t go wrong

You should really check the tyre tread for any objects, which shouldn’t be there.   This can be anything from nails to pieces of glass.   These objects, although not having penetrated the tyre yet, can make their way further into the rubber, leaving you with a flat tyre.   Spending ten minutes or so every couple of weeks carefully removing these objects could save you walking out to a puncture one dark morning.

Now we come to the major cause of wear and tear on our car tyres.   This cause is nothing other than our driving habits.   From the bumping of tyres off kerbs, to sudden acceleration and deceleration, they all quickly wear out our tyres.  

Some people believe that turning your steering wheel while stationery wears your tyres that little bit quicker.   There is also the long held belief that rotating your tyres prevents any excessive wear on one or more tyres.   Certainly a tyre, which is not properly balanced, will not only wear unevenly, but will affect the handling.   In some cases quite dramatically.  

As part of the U.K. MOT, the wheel alignment and steering angles are checked for trueness.   If a car is running with these parts misaligned, there will be obvious differences in tyre wear, with excessive wear showing on the front tyres.   So make sure the camber, castor and toe-in of your front wheels are all professionally set up.

A bit more care when parking to avoid hitting the pavement kerbstones would prevent any sidewall damage to the tyre.   Maybe getting into the good habit of being a bit more gentle on the accelerator and the brakes could lessen the amount of tyre changes you have to pay for.    After all, you may think it looks impressive for you to wheel spin your car away from the lights, but your wallet doesn’t agree.  

A little bit of maintenance can go a long way to extending the life, and above all, safety of your car’s tyres.   This in consequence will make your whole car just that little bit safer to drive.

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