Keep your car tyres healthy with these little tips
Posted on: 31/Aug/2018 2:30:27 PM
One of the most important aspect of maintaining your car is keeping its tyres healthy. If they are not worthy and healthy enough to be on road, you are not just subjecting your lives to risk, but also the lives of others journeying with you on the same road, sadly! To maintain your car tyre Pakka, you ought to consider too many factors in mind. Here are 5 inevitable car maintenance steps for you to drive with confidence and safety.
Tyre rotation – often times, the position of car tyre gets changed from one to the other. There are wear and tear in them too. Generally, the front tyre gets subject to more weight and thus, more wear and tear as compared to the rear tyres. Hence, rotating these tyres will help in extending their life period. Though the car manufacturers differ in their suggestion about rotating the car tyres, unanimously, any car tyre has to be rotated for every 8000 to 10,000 kms. These rotations are done in 4 types which are cross rotation, straight rotation, 5-tyre rotation, and 4-wheel drive.
Tyre pressure – this is the next most important aspect mainly for 2 key reasons. A well inflated tyre will be safe and protected from all kinds of damage, and it will have very less chance of going out of control of the driver. In addition, when there is low pressure in tyres, the overall fuel consumption is also very high. Keep checking for tyre pressure once in a month and even more often when you frequently go on long-distant journey. Make sure that the tyres don’t get hot whenever you check. If hot, you will have to add about 4-5 PSI in addition to the recommended pressure limit. For finding out the exact pressure in car tyre, seek the user manual of the car or the door label or fuel flap. Usually, the pressure range is not mentioned on the car tyre.
Tread depth – the tread helps in getting rid of the water present in between tyre and road. This ensures that the car tyre is under control and there is no kind of risk in aquaplaning. With time, the tyres get worn out, and uneven roads furthermore catalyze the wear and tear. In addition, the driving practices of individual drivers, hard braking, tyre design, etc. add to the reason. There is difference in tread depth from one state to the other, but often times, it is of the range 1.5mm to 1.6mm. For instance, in Western Australia, the depth is 1.5mm. Check with the state transportation department if you have doubts. There are tread wear indicators. These are kept at regular intervals in the tread.
Alignment of wheel – as the name indicates, this is the process of ensuring proper alignment in the wheel and axles. The car will then be handled at its optimum level and ensure better safety and keep the tyre protected from any kind of wear and it also saves fuel. This alignment will also keep the wheel and tyres balanced. It will keep the bearings and suspension protected from any sort of premature tyre wear. There will also be no vibration.
Repair tyres and replace whenever necessary – in case you are not sure of the health of your car tyre, seek help from a specialist. The internal conditions of tyre needs to be checked and also the outside condition as well. Procedures like disassembling, reassembling and repairing need to be done as per the requirements mentioned by manufacturers.
There are timeses where you will have to replace tyres. There are various factors for the same including the total number of kilometers used, style of driving, road conditions, climatic conditions, etc. Based on these, you may choose to replace the tyre as required.
