3 Simple Checks to Ensure Your Car Tyres Are Road Safe

If you’ve ever had to lift a tyre, you’ll know just how heavy and durable they feel to the touch. It’s easy to forget that your tyres have the job of supporting the weight of your car and its passengers – as well as the fact that they are under constant pressure, changes in temperature and face wear and tear from the surface of the road – and as such the integrity of your tyres can become compromised if you fail to keep them in good condition.

This month we’ll be going through three of the simplest checks you can carry out regularly to ensure your car tyres are safe for use on the road. Down the line, these checks can save you a bit of money or, more importantly, even lives.

Tyre Tread Depth – Is it Within the Limit?

You have a legal requirement to ensure that the tread depth of your tyres remains at 1.6mm; if it does not meet this measurement, you risk being fined for having tyres that are not safe for use on the road. Testing the tread depth is easy, however, so there’s no excuse for not being able to carry out this tyre check. You can use a tread depth gauge to test the tread depth of your tyres, but as you may not own one, all you need is a 20 pence piece.

Take your 20p coin and insert it into the tread of your tyre. The tread should be deep enough to cover the outer band of the coin, but if any of the outer band can be seen above the tread then your tyre is too worn for legal road use. You should carry out this test across the entire surface of the tyre in order to gauge the full condition of your tyres. If any of your tyres fail this simple test, be sure to book your car in at a garage to have them checked by a professional.

Tyre Condition – Looking for Any Scratches and Cuts on the Tyres

You should be aware that there are numerous small signs that can act as an indicator that something is amiss regarding the condition of your tyres. Carrying out a regular inspection of your tyres can serve to help find and address these problems. Things you should be looking out for include:

• Stones and other debris that may get jammed in the tread of your tyre and cause serious problems down the line if they are not seen to. The stones may add more pressure to the tyres and, especially over long drives, make it more likely for your tyre to suffer from a puncture.
• Bulges and cuts, which, if deep enough, can be detrimental to the integrity of your tyres in regards to air pressure.
• Uneven wearing on your tyres – a tell-tale sign that your tyres may not be aligned properly. If this is the case, you will need to have them seen to by a professional in a garage.

Air Pressure – Is It Correct for Your Vehicle?

As the designs and weights of every car model are different from one another, the air pressure that each vehicle requires in its tyres varies from car to car. To find out at what level the air pressure should be for your car, you’ll need to consult the manufacturer’s handbook. If the air pressure is off, if a tyre is under or overinflated, you may experience wear on your tyres in an uneven fashion, thereby affecting how your car drives and handles.

You should do the following to ensure your tyres have the correct air pressure for the vehicle you’re operating:

• When checking the air pressure, you should do so only when the tyres are cold. Ideally you will not have driven the vehicle before you test the air pressure, but if this is unavoidable before the check you should not have driven more than two miles. Heat can cause the rubber to expand, giving an inaccurate reading of the air pressure in your tyres.
• After checking your manufacturer’s recommendations, you should increase the air pressure of your tyres if you are going to be loading your vehicle with heavy goods.
• Don’t just check the tyres already fixed to your vehicle; you should also check the spare in case you have a blowout and need to change a tyre.

To use an air pressure gauge, usually found at petrol stations and used to check or adjust the pressure and inflation of your tyres, first you should remove the dust cap on your wheel and attach the end of the gauge to it. If you fully depress the lever and then release it, you’ll get a reading of your tyre’s current air pressure level. Should you need to inflate the tyre, hold down the lever for a short while and then release it to get an updated reading, continuing to do so until you achieve the correct level. If you need to deflate it, half depress the lever instead. Air should start escaping from the tyre and, as for inflating it, if you release the lever you will get another updated reading of the air pressure.

These simple tests are an excellently quick way of finding out whether or not your tyres are suitable for use on the road. However, if you find that your tyres are too worn or damaged in any way that you cannot remedy yourself, you’ll need to book your vehicle into your local garage and may even need to buy a new set of wheels. If that’s the case, you’ll need a garage you can rely on, and that’s where Auto Exhausts & Tyres can help.

Auto Exhausts & Tyres offer the highest standards at the most competitive prices when it comes to servicing your car. Be it a full car service or a shorter interim one, our fully trained and experienced mechanics will ensure your car is in the best shape and up to scratch with industry regulations. For more information, or to book a car service at our garage in Lincoln, contact our friendly team today.