Tyres - Tires

[smoooth2]

I've just been reading a 6yo thread called "OFF THE beaten track".  It concerned tyres.

Rather than ressurect this very old thread, I've started afresh.

The thread discussed the proper care and maintenance of car-truck tyres. It recognised several vital factors to prolong the life of your tyres. Most of us check the pressure now and then, but there's much more to getting good kms out of a set of tyres.

Tyres are expensive little suckers, and your life depends on them performing 100%, so they are worth looking after. As men, many of you will read this and think "yeah ... I know all this stuff" ... but some tips may surprise you.

Having spent my entire working career in the long distance heavy transport game in Oz, I feel reasonably qualified to offer the following tips. I guarantee you can increase the longevity of your tyres.

1 - You really must ensure the correct pressure. I check my tyres every refuel at the servo. All of the big PTT servos have a tyre hose and digital guage. The recommended tyre pressures for your car are on a sticker usually on the drivers door. Takes only 5mins to check 4 tyres, so it's no big chore. The recommended pressures are "cold tyre". By the time you get to the servo, your tyres are hot, and could read 20% higher. So a 30psi cold pressure, could be as high as 36psi when the tyre is hot. This is normal. Adjust your thinking.

2 - Rotate the 5 tyres every 15000 km. Follow the manufacturers handbook. Nobody ever does this I know, but it really does even out your tyre wear, and the entire set of 5 tyres last longer. Front tyres wear out much faster, so it's important to rotate them down to the rear ocassionally.

3 - Wheel alignment is something nobody ever does, unless they experience uneven tyre wear, or maybe the vehicle is "pulling" a bit to the left or right. Alignment is a simple proceedure for properly trained workshop guys with the right gear. It's inexpensive, and should only take 20mins. and your tyres will love you for it. Even if your tyres look to be wearing ok, you should do an alignment every 12 months, and certainly when you get a new set of tyres.

4 - Do not overload your vehicle beyond its carrying capacity. We've all seen ridiculous situations here with overloaded pickups, where the front wheels are barely touching the road, and the rear tyres are almost flattened. Apart from being totally dangerous, it'll kill your rear tyres real quick.

5 - One of the big unseen secrets to tyre longevity is shock absorbers. Few car owners will ever replace them, but I can assure you, effective shockies will increase your tyre life dramatically, and your vehicle will handle better. If you are experiencing bad uneven tyre wear and life, and other remedies have not improved the situation, then bite the bullet and replace all the shock absorbers. Clunking under the car when hitting small potholes is often due to shockie rubbers that have perished, or shockie failure.

We had a heavy vehicle that was experiencing chronic "short life" tyre wear. 60,000km and the tyres were finished. Twice this vehicle's tyres were gone at 60,000km, despite everyone's best attention to pressures, alignment, etc etc. Eventually a decision was made to replace all the shock absorbers. Twelve in total. Cost around 100,000 baht.

The next set of new tyres lasted 257,000 km !! It stunned everybody, and the cost was easily repaid with the longevity of these new tyres.

6 - Valve caps. They are there to prevent dirt fouling the actual valve seat. Make sure every tyre has a valve cap.

7 - Retreads. False economy ... unless you are only travelling small kms at low speeds around town.

8 - Second hand cheapie tyres. They are second hand for a reason. Often recovered from smashed vehicles and resold. Look very carefully at the casing and tread for signs of trauma. Splits, flat spots etc are common on second hand tyres. Again, false economy unless you are only driving "around town"