The average life of front tyres on a front wheel drive car is around 20,000 miles, or about 2 years for the average commuter. The rears will last up to twice as long with careful driving, though they can be rotated onto the fronts when necessary. This means that your unlikely to have to worry about the tyre compound degrading before the tread is worn to its legal limit. However, seldom used vehicles, such as a prized sports car or perhaps a trailer or caravan, may not see their tyres replaced due to wear over a much longer period.
Tyre rubber degrades over time, particularly when tyres are not used and have no heat put through them. Tyres that have degraded in this way may become cracked and discoloured and they are at risk of blowing out, which could cause a fatal accident at high speeds. It is recommended that tyres over 10 years old be replaced, regardless of wear (tyres never used and kept in storage may degrade even faster than this). To find out the age of your tyres, look for the last four digits of the DOT code on the sidewall. These give the week and year of manufacture.
Keeping your car clean inside and out is a good start, you will reduce the risk of damage to paint and rusting problems, but there’s so much more to keeping your car in tip top condition. Make sure you get the car regularly serviced and ensure all major servicing intervals are met. If you have a second hand car and don’t know the service history you may need to replace things like the cam belt. Keep an eye on all fluid levels and make sure you use the manufacturers recommended fluids. You can find this information in the cars manual.
Don’t allow brake pads to become to worn as you could end up damaging the more costly disks and callipers. After heavy breaking (eg. coming off the motorway onto a round about) don’t sit with the brake pedal depressed. The pads could warp the disks when they’re hot. Use the parking break where possible. With a manual car, don’t sit in traffic in gear with the clutch down as this increases wear to the clutch. Driving smoothly and carrying less speed into corners will put less stress on the cars suspension. Bumping up kerbs can knock wheels out of alignment which can lead to costly repairs and uneven wear on tyres.
Choosing the best tyres for your car can be a very tricky thing due to the number of factors that you may have to consider and various options that are available to you. Getting the one which suits your car and offers exceptional performance might require a bit of research on your side. So what do you look for when you decide to go for new tyres for your car?
A lot of people have a tendency to be governed by price tags when they shop but that is something you should avoid at all costs. Remember that your safety depends on what you choose and it’s foolish to risk your life in order to save that extra bit of cash. Ideally grip and efficiency should be the major deciding factors when you go to buy car tyres. Here’s a short guide that might help you decide which models to go for the next time you purchase them. (more…)
Most peoples automatic conclusion if they are losing tyre pressure is that they have a slow puncture however it’s not the only thing that can cause this issue and more and more commonly it can be the result of a cracked wheel rim putting pressure on the tyre wall.
Wheel rims get cracked through collision or through hitting a pothole in the road and this has become a major bugbear of a lot of drivers. The poor conditions of the roads means that often adverse weather can cause the service to crack and result in a sunken or broken area of tarmac that when hit (particularly at speed) can cause a lot of damage. Loss of tyre pressure may be the first sign you have of a cracked wheel rim so it’s worth checking your tyre pressure weekly and fully investigating any problems to be sure that any damage is not left undetected.