5 Simple Yet Effective Car Tire Maintenance Tips
While taking care of your car, you may forget its very essential components – its tires! Tires not in their best shape may cause hazards on the road. Just by following a few simple steps, you can not only get the most out of your tires, but also ensure safety of passengers. Here are a few.
1. Maintain Appropriate Inflation Pressure
Maintaining correct inflation pressure can give you the best tire performance, safety as well as fuel economy. Keep on checking the tires often (at least once a month) when they are cool. Use an accurate tire pressure gauge for this purpose. You can find the correct level of inflation pressure in your car’s owner manual. This is the most important thing to do to help your tires last longer. Low inflation pressure is a major cause of permanent tire damage and may cause serious cracking and thereby air loss. It further causes excessive sidewall flexing, reduces load capacity and increases rolling resistance, causing heat and mechanical impairment. On the other hand, excessive inflation causes stiffness which in turn may result in undesirable car vibration and an uncomfortable driving experience. Visit tyreinflatorguide.com to learn everything about car tire maintenance.
2. Check Tire Tread Depth Often
Regularly checking tread depth will help keep proper traction on wet roads. Using a quarter inserted upside down into the tire groove is an easy way to check tread depth.
3. Put New Tires on the Back Axle
This is essential to do to help the driver control the car, especially on wet roads. No matter whether you drive front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, you should do this. If traction in the rear is lost first, the car will spin.
4. Never Try to Mount Tires on Your Own
Wrong mounting process can cause explosion of tire/rim assembly which in turn can cause serious injury. Tire should be mounted only by specially trained persons. Tire manufacturer’s guidelines should be strictly followed and tire diameter to rim diameter should be measured.
5. Check Tires for Any Damage
It’s always better to be safe than sorry. At least once a month, check your tires’ general condition and see if there are any signs of damage. If you have any doubts, let your tire dealer inspect the tires. Cracks, bulges, air loss, knots, penetrations or impacts always need expert inspection and tire removal.
Car tire maintenance is not very difficult, but it can save you from difficult situations. Maintain tires and stay safe on the road!
