“Take proper care of your tire and it will serve you longer” – this is what an experienced driver would always advice you. It is not that difficult, just follow some rules when driving and take measures to ensure their safe storage.
Don’t drive too fast, especially on irregular roads and be cautious when driving over artificial obstacles like rails as there’s a high possibility of a puncture. Check pressure in your tires once in 5-7 days. Keep your pressure gauge in a good working order.
It is recommended to exchange tires including the spare tire every 3-4.5 miles travelled to prevent from uneven tread wear. But if the wear is negligible and even your may do it less frequently.
It is easier to look after summer tires for they don’t require special care. When storing summer tires it is vital to avoid temperature drops as well as their contact with moisture. As to winter tire try to prevent heat build-up. It is also necessary to check for integrity of any tire.
Don’t replace tires without necessity as in case you don’t provide for even screw tightening wheel disks may deform. The most problematic is to change the direction of rotation as disks have to adjust to it again.
Standard wheels are balanced by a manufacturer. Balancing is necessary to prevent from uneven load distribution of heterogeneous materials. The lack of balancing leads eventually to wheel bearing damage, which becomes especially obvious on a drive wheel. Wheels should be balanced every 10,000 miles travelled and after tire repair as the load in tires distributes in another way every time.
If wheels are balanced, optimum pressure is maintained and shock absorbers work fine, the tire wears almost evenly. However, it is impossible to predict the exact life span of you tire as it depends on several factors such as the condition of a road surface, pressure level in tires, your style of driving and weather.
There’re special recommendations on studded winter tire care. Uneven stud loss may lead to the violation of tire balancing, and your car’s behavior will alter. It is also important to keep an eye on pressure in tires. Pressure should be checked before driving and three hours after it as the tire heats and pressure increases by approximately three units. If tires are inflated in an improper way, rolling resistance increases, which results in higher fuel consumption. Proper pressure will prolong tires life span. Check for recommended pressure value for your tire and don’t be lazy. In any case, you warm up your car for 1 or 2 minutes before driving. This is just enough to wipe the windshield and check pressure in your tires.
The tires are stored clean and dry in dark premises with a good airing away from fuels and lubricants. If the tires are with disks, you should store them in horizontal piles with up to 4 tires in each pile. You should also reduce pressure to a minimum value which is approximately 1,4 atmospheres. You can also store them in a hang up position. If the tires are without disks they are to be stored vertically and turned once in two weeks to avoid deformation.
One should change to season tire in time. Summer tire when used in low wintertime temperatures s wear quicker than winter tire, while sort rubber of winter tires is not as durable as that of summer tires in hot weather. Timely tire changing increases their life span, makes driving more efficient and helps avoid queues in maintenance centers.
The majority of tire fitting and maintenance centers provide for your tires storage. You tire will be professionally cleaned and checked for possible damage. But if you prefer to store tires at your place, let us sum up the main rules of tire storage to follow:
- First of all carefully examine your tires paying attention to cracks caused by sharp objects or stones on tread and sidewalls.
- Mark the tires in accordance with their placement in your car: rear right and left wheel, front right and left wheel. At the beginning of a new season you will be able to easily change their placement to ensure even wear.
- Store your tire in a cool dry place away from oils, fuel or lubricants.
- Wipe the tire dry and let the remained moisture evaporate.
- Tires and wheels are stored in horizontal piles while tires without wheels are kept in a vertical position during the storing period.
- Before mounting the tires examine them once more and check pressure.
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