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TYRES

WHILE THE TYRES may not be the most glamorous part of your car, they are one of the most important. For safety, keeping a good amount of tread across the whole width of your tyres is the most important thing. But the condition of the tyres, and whether they are correctly inflated, will affect the behavior of your car on the road, the comfort of the ride, and its fuel consumption performance.

Follow these points for safety and to get the best from your tyres.

Don't mix tyres - it is illegal and dangerous, to mix radial and cross ply tyres on the same axle, or to have radials on the front and cross-plys on the rear. Do not use tyre of different sizes on different wheels (unless specified by the manufacturer).

Use the right size - don't change the tyre size (e.g. wider or lower profile tyres) without checking with your car's hand-book or manufacturer. Some tyre manufacturers also produce guides on what tyres are suitable for different cars.

Check tread depth Generally test last at least 26,000 miles - that is around two and a half years for the motorist who does an average annual mileage. Change your tyres, make a note of the mileage, and make regular checks of the Tread Wear Indicators after they've been in use for around 20,000 miles.

Check wheel balance and alignment
whenever a new tyre is fitted, you should have the wheels balanced to ensure even wear and smooth running. Wheels are balanced by sticking or clipping lead weights to the wheel rim. One sign of wheels being out of balance is vibration at speed felt through the steering wheel (or the whole car in severe cases). If the wheels on your car are misaligned (not parallel) the tyres will 'fight' each other, and wear as if they were constantly cornering. Even a small degree of misalignment can rapidly reduce tyre life. Uneven, or rapid, tyre wear could mean Your wheels are misaligned. Balancing and alignment are relatively cheap and worth it in terms of money saved by prolonging tyre life.

Check for tyre damage Look for lumps, bulges and splits when you're checking the pressures. Irregularities can make them more susceptible to blowouts. If you find any, get the tyre checked by a specialist. Also, remove any stones and small objects imbedded in the tread. Driving over kerbs and potholes and scraping kerbs when parking will damage tyres. Drive smoothly to maximize tyre life Avoid harsh braking rapid accelerating and high speed cornering they all increase tyre wear. If your tyres seem to be wearing out quickly it could be a sign of worn-out or damaged shock absorbers or suspension.

(Which? magazine, April 1992)