Before you pile the family into the car and head north, to Scotland or the North of England, hoping for some cooler weather alongside the historic sights of Edinburgh, Newcastle and Liverpool, make sure your car is in great condition for a long road trip, especially the tyres, which are, after all, the part of your vehicle which comes into the most contact with the road. Here are five quick and easy ways to look after your tyres this summer.
Regular Checks, All the Time
How can you spot a problem with your tyres when you don’t really know what their default state is? It is almost impossible! So, to avoid this – and also because it is a useful practice – make sure you check your tyres regularly, from the moment you become a regular driver. In this way you will get used to seeing your tyres in good condition, and this means that should a problem start you will be able to identify it straight away and take steps to mitigate the issue, whatever it might be. You will be quick to pick up on strange dark spots (punctures), sidewall bulges, dimples or dents (signs that something has gone awry deep inside the tyre) as well as more self-explanatory issues like missing chunks of rubber or cracks and fractures in the rubber. And in this way, you can quickly and easily organise replacement tyres: Fife Autocentre offers all types of tyres in Stirling including value tyres, premium tyres & brand tyres at low prices.
Inflation Levels
While inflation levels in old-fashioned tyres, in the early days of motoring, were allowed to be a little hit and miss, this is no longer the case. Modern tyres are carefully engineered with detailed understanding of how all the various materials will react under stress or pressure, and as such they are intended to be used while inflated to within the optimal levels recommended by the tyre manufacturer. When tyres are inflated appropriately, they work exceptionally well, but this efficiency declines with every psi below or above that range. So important is the inflation levels of your tyres that it has – as of 2018 – formed part of the MOT checklist for vehicle roadworthiness.
Tread Depth
Tread depth is vital for keeping your car gripping the road securely. And while it is not as crucial when conditions are dry, summertime in the UK, especially the North of England (Manchester is one of the rainiest cities in the UK, which is why so many textile mills sprang up in the area), is sprinkled, literally, with showers, sudden storms and the occasional downpour, all of which can cause your car to lose its grip on the road, sending you skidding scarily along. Check your tread depth very simply: all you need is a twenty-pence piece. Stand the coin on the edge inside your tyres’ treads and if you can see the wide band that runs around the outer edge of the coin, your tread depth is probably too low. The legal limit for tread depth is a minimum of 1.6mm over three-quarters of the contact surface, but for true peace of mind, experts recommend you don’t allow it to fall below 3mm over the entire contact surface.
Drive with Care
The best way to look after your tyres is not dependent on it being summer: drive with care, being mindful of your tyres, at all times. In this way, your tyres won’t be subjected to unwanted stress or the risk of damage such as would be caused by speeding, sudden braking, or driving over potholes or other rough road surfaces.
Keep to a Tyre Schedule
Finally, make a note of when you bought your tyres, and when they will need to be replaced. Save this note somewhere that you will still be able to access it in five to seven years’ time – you can often swap devices without losing access to online calendars, as long as you keep your account details the same, or, if you are sure that you won’t be moving house, you can create a physical reminder to stick on your fridge. Overusing old tyres is a good way to suffer a period of repeated punctures and blowouts as the rubber fails from age and use: they should be changed, on average, every five years. If you can’t remember when you bought your tyres, you might want to change them before you set off to the North of England and onward to Scotland!
