Why it’s important to look after your tyres

30th May, 2019

When thinking about safety on the road, it’s tough to argue that your tyres aren’t one of the most important parts on the vehicle to be aware of. While they impact performance through their ability to handle different road and weather conditions, ultimately, they’re what stays in contact with the road surface, and one of the most important elements in making sure you don’t prematurely scrap your car.

Getting the right tyres

It can be tempting to look for the least expensive set of tyres for your car, which can sometimes be the low-cost imported ones that aren’t necessarily well tested or durable. However, while there’s a cost saving to be had initially, a reliable brand that’s appropriate for your make and model of vehicle is likely to serve you much better.

Inexpensive tyres made using lower quality rubber produced in less sophisticated manufacturing plants don’t tend to stand the test of time. In fact, they go bald faster in many cases, to the point where the tyres need replacing more frequently. When not realising this, there’s a greater risk of driving on a bald tyre that is underperforming and could be in danger of bursting or getting a flat. By matching tyres to your vehicle and using reliable, trusted tyre brands, a good set of tyres is likely to last you longer and bring other benefits too.

Getting the tyre pressure right

Tyres must have the correct air pressure to function properly. Using an air pressure gauge at a local garage to check the pressure of every tyre is time well spent. Watch out for one tyre that has substantially lower pressure than the other ones. It means that tyre is taking more of the strain of the vehicle’s weight and will wear out sooner too. Given that poor air pressure in one or more tyre can impact stopping time, general handling, cornering and overall vehicle stability, it’s worth setting a reminder in your calendar to check the tyre pressure every month as part of your car’s maintenance plan. Verify the correct air pressure for the tyres with by checking your manual if you’re unclear.

What about the tyre tread?

Every tyre must have enough tread left to be safe to drive. Check the current tyre tread when verifying the air pressure each month. Also, look for any blemishes including cuts or tears to the tyre that could cause concern about a future blowout and necessitate a tyre change. Winter tyres are a separate set of tyres that provide improved grip on the road during cold and wet, and possibly snowy or icy conditions. Whilst they’re not required by law, there’s far less sliding around going on during winter, which avoids a certain percentage of accidents on the road.

Looking after your tyres is very important. Perform regular monthly checks on them. Additionally, if you hit a pothole, double-check they’ve not been seriously damaged.

No matter how carefully you look after them, however, there’s going to come a time when you’ll need to scrap your car. When that happens, we’ll be right here at Scrap Car Network to help you do it. You can click here to find out how it works, or just enter your car reg and postcode into the fields on our homepage to get an instant online valuation of your car!