The correct tire change - is it important?
There are conscious citizens who are very responsible in the question of rubber choice, read comparative tests in magazines and on time change their car “boots”. But it is clear and at the same time – awful, that people, mostly, don’t care about the tire change. So you can not relax.
We looked at the wheels of a thousand cars and found that 7% of them are changed by a quite an unskilled master. The fact is that most tires are designed on an asymmetrical tread pattern, and incorrect installation of rubber leads to the very unfortunate consequences. Moreover, the manufacturer puts an arrow at each tire rotation direction (towards the figure), or mark the outer and inner side (asymmetrical pattern).
Tires with a symmetrical pattern are allowed to put on any wheel on any side. When assembling asymmetric tires you have to look at the markings – where is the inside and the outer side.
In the case of an asymmetrical tread terrain, mistake in selecting the polarity leads to rapid tire wear and deterioration of controllability due to the fact that the inner sidewall more soft is being turned out. With the directed picture it is not easy as well: once the tire is spinning in the wrong direction, the car starts to grizzle in snow in winter and in puddles in summer. The plus of rubber is tha it removes water from the contact spot better. And if the picture is turned in the wrong direction, the moisture, in contrast, is being accumulated, and the car is floating in puddles, losing grip with the road. And the braking distance increases when the direction of rotation is mistaken.
Choosing an expensive rubber, and setting it in time does not mean doing it right. It is important also to monitor the actions of tire service: they would spit on prescriptions.
Of course, 7% are conditional. How many drivers are not even suspecting how tires are put on the wheels of their cars! It has been proved in practice: one of our experts who participated in a street-test, was confident that the rubber is OK, but a detailed examination has convinced him otherwise.
What Should We Do With Old Tires?
Over 1.5 billion tires around the world are wearing each year. Only 300 million – in the United States…
In fact, most of the tires are being dumped in landfills, polluting the environment and the most important is that they are accumulating each year, since living organisms are not able to destroy the rubber.
Meanwhile, the tire is composed of up to 60% rubber, 25% metal and up to 15% of cord - expensive materials and, in general, retaining their original properties for a long time.
Therefore, experts have long been dealing with recycling of tires. The easiest way is to use them as the «tire fuel» -to burn them in power plants, steam boilers etc.
But there is a weak point - tires emit a very toxic substance when burning. A more expensive way of recycling tires is grinding, ie, transforming them into a crumb or powder for further use in the useful products manufacturing.
Even more expensive way is tire freezing in liquid nitrogen, so the rubber becomes fragile as glass and easy to cut (as it being done, for example, in Japan).
In Germany, for example, worn tires disposal is prohibited by law. Germans have to visit repair shops, which are required to pick up this rubber and provide further recycling.
After some processing they’re used as «pillows» for the new roads.
Former tires provide great flexibility to the road canvas, stability and some sound absorbing functions. They also reinforce the banks of reservoirs, dams, slopes and quarries. But in general, the problem of recycling «automotive footwear» remains unsolved.
TyreSafe helps the British drivers
Women are being quite offended by sayings, that they are useless in the care of their cars. And yes, it is a stereotype, and of course this does not apply to all women, but a recent survey showed that at a substantial 21 percent of women don’t know the correct tire pressure for their car preferring to keep anyone else to check their tires for them!
This is one of the most volatile results about a tire pressure and tire safety review in the UK carried out by supporters of TyreSafe, a leading tire safety organization of Great Britain, to coincide with the Month of Tire Safety, which runs in the October. Tires Month Security focuses on the vital role that tires play in road safety and highlights the importance of the correct tire pressure not only in terms of road safety but also in their role in the conservation of fuel and reducing greenhouse gases.
Under-inflated tires, combined with the practice of bad driving make British drivers to spend more than £ 2 billion on additional fuel, and is responsible for producing 5.5 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year. Strictly exhausted tires is a serious safety risk, warns TyreSafe, as vehicle handling may be adversely affected leading to a potential accident. Part of a TyreSafe campaign is intended to encourage drivers to visit the participating tire retailers, garages and dealers, displaying the TyreSafe logo, to benefit a free tire pressure checks that extend within a month of October. In addition to main retailers, VW tires and Kia dealers also offer free safety inspection and tire pressure check. Drivers who do not know the correct tire pressure for their vehicle may enter the TyreSafe website and simply type the registration number of their car and the correct pressure will be displayed on the screen.
A Struggle With Lead Weights For Tire Balancing
The struggle for the environmental safety is becoming stronger year by year, month by month and even day by day. For example, in California, green activists have recently launched an initiative to ban the use of all the lead weights, so usual for rim balancing.
It turns out that only in California cars leave about 225 000 kg of lead on the road in a year, that turns into a dust that can pollute the water, which is used in homes and businesses. However, lead is known to be toxic and can cause damage to the brain and central nervous system of a man. Particularly, child’s body is vulnerable to the harmful effect of lead.
In 2008, Chrysler and the three leading American producers of goods for the wheels had agreed to refuse from the production and circulation of this type of weights in the state. Activists, however, are trying to achieve a total ban of such goods. At the moment, their efforts have already led to some changes. Manufacturing companies have agreed to reduce production of lead weights, though not completely abandon them.
Making new goods out of other materials, of course, will cause additional wastes. On the other hand, the second cup of weights human life and health are lying. What outweighs is obvious without much reasoning. Moreover, according to the calculations of experts, additional value is quite low.
