Preventive maintenance of tyres

Summers are here, which means the season for tyre bursts is here. We bring to your some elaborate preventive measures that will help you in the maintenance of your car tyres and have a pleasant driving experience as well.

1. Inflation pressure: Tyres should be kept inflated at the right PSI level. If you’re living in areas whether the temperatures shoot off the roof, then keeping the pressure 0.5 PSI lesser than the recommended value also helps, since the air tends to expand due to the heat.

2. Keep oil and grease away: These materials do more damage than you can imagine, so they’re best kept at a distance

3. Running on a flat tyre. We all know we’re not supposed to do this, but due to unavoidable circumstances we sometimes end up doing the same. Running you car on a flat tyre, even for a short distance can damage the tube inside the tyre; continuing to do so can also damage the car rims, and may also cause the tyre to shred. This however is not completely applicable in case of tubeless tyres. However just because you can drive a certain distance with tubeless tyres doesn’t mean you push them beyond their limit.   4. Alignment of wheels: You make think this to be unimportant, but misaligned wheels cause your tyres to wear unevenly and at an accelerated rate. They also affect the handling characteristics of your car, especially around corners and in a straight line too, as you’re always struggling to keep you car straight.

5. Braking: Many of us sometimes like to brake hard a la rally driver style, but did you know this affects not just your car brakes but also the tyres? Faster braking can result in dragging and also reduces the life span of your car’s brake pads. One should always brake gradually, unless the situation demands sudden braking.   6. Cornering: Quite a few of us like to go faster around corners as it is thrilling, and because we also like to test our cornering ‘skills’. While this may suit professional racers who have plenty of tyres at their disposal, for the average car owner it simply translates into damage of rubber. So make sure you don’t blaze around every corner like Michael Schumacher, remember he has tyre manufacturers sponsoring him, you don’t!

The tyre is one of the most sensitive components of a car, which is easily subject to damage. Its failure can render the automobile to a standstill so keep the below mentioned maintenance points in mind

1. Check the tyre pressure once a week. Make sure it is at the suggested level. DO NOT check tyre pressure immediately after driving as it will give you a wrong reading.   2. Ensure the valve cap is always provided on the valve. The cap serves to prevent leakage of air, and also prevents dirt and dust from settling inside the valve body.

3. Inspect the tyres regularly for wear of tread pattern and side walls. Improper steering or wheel alignment can cause rubbing of the tyres on one side.

4. Overloading of the vehicle with goods or passengers should be avoided as it reduces tyre life.

5. For uniform wearing of tyres all the five wheels (including the spare wheel) should be rotated after fixed intervals or as mentioned in the vehicle manual.

6. Ensure that similar tyres are fitted on both sides of the axle. A radial ply tyre should not be mounted with a cross ply tyre on the same axle.

7.Over and above sufficient attention must be given to the driving habits. Smooth braking, slow speed turning, driving slow on potholes or rough roads will all increase tyre life. As in Formula 1, it’s not just above driving fast and winning, it’s also about making the tyres last.

Here are some troubleshooting measures for tyres