It is easy to take the function of tires for granted. When they work fine, we are often too caught up with everything else going on in and around the car to notice. But when they go wrong, they suddenly take first priority on everyone’s to-do list. So if you want to continue driving blissfully down the motorway on any given day, maintaining your tires is very important.
To help you with that, we have laid out a few tips on tire maintenance here.
1. Check The Psi Regularly
Your tires are really no good without the right amount of air in them. Having too much or too little will surely lessen their durability. Inadequately inflated tires also impair the car’s handling and mileage and are more prone to tread wear.
Even with the correct amount pumped in, the air will gradually escape over time. As a general rule, it is best to check the air quality of your tires at least once a month to make sure they are running on the right amount of psi. You could also get the help of a tire pressure monitoring system to keep a precise track of tire pressure and temperature.
2. Inspect The General Quality Of Your Tires Regularly
It is never a waste of time to do a general check-up on all of the tire beside how much air is in them, of course. Anything in the way of bulges, cracks, sharp objects that have been punctured in are an early sign of trouble, that your tire needs replacing.
These inspections are especially important to do before you go out on a road trip. If there is something wrong, you can take care of it at home rather than find yourself stranded on a motorway in the middle of nowhere.
3. Replace Before It Is Too Late
It is always good to put in the bucks and get yourself a properly good set of tires but even those will not last forever. We would recommend that a good set should be rotated every 8000 miles or so. It is possible that your local tire store offers free tire rotation. But even without that, rotating tires is not particularly expensive.
4. Keep The Weight Of Your Car To A Minimum
Your vehicle likely has a placard on its door frame reading out how much weight it can handle. This can directly affect the performance of your tires. Whilst overloading on weight may not cause them to blow out altogether, it will negatively affect the handling.
5. Do Not Mismatch Tires
As it turns out, replacing a set of tires is a lot like replacing a set of batteries. It is best that they are all in the same condition. A mismatched tire badly affects the car’s handling as well as the performance of all the other tires.
Conclusion
Making sure that your tires are in good working order is an important part of vehicle maintenance. After all, they are your car’s running shoes.