When you have a big trip coming up, it can be all too easy to focus on what you need to pack, what you will be doing and where you will be staying – and all of these are important things that need to be sorted out. But you should spare some time to making sure that your car – and especially its tyres – is in great condition and ready to get you to Yorkshire and back, even if you have to tackle the hair-raising Yorkshire Moorland Pass on the way! Here are five tips for tyre maintenance before a trip.
Examine the Tyres
Visually inspect your tyres, carefully looking for anything untoward. This includes distortions, dimples or bulges in the sidewall, blemishes or flaws in the surface area, and any signs of excess wear, drying, cracking or fracturing to the rubber. If you see any of these signs, you might need to invest in a new set of tyres for safety’s sake while on the UK’s busy road. If this rings true for you, then check out car tyres in Pontefract at Reg Greenwood’s website.
Check Your Pressure
Your tyres are designed to work best at optimal inflation levels, and this is now considered to be so important, that tyre inflation was included in the annual MOT checklist in 2018. This means that your tyres should always be inflated to within the range of pressures recommended by the tyre and vehicle manufacturers.
Test Your Tread Depth
Your tread’s grooves and sipes (sipes being the tiny capillary-like grooves) are designed to suck water away from the road’s surface. This allows your car to cling to the road, rather than skidding on top of the thin layer of rainwater that is frequently to be found on the UK’s roads, often at the busiest times of day! Check your tread dept monthly, and when it gets down to around 3mm, you should think about replacing them. The legal tread depth is 1.6mm, but most mechanics and motoring experts feel that 3mm is a safer limit.
Assess Your Alignment
Tyre alignment ensures that your tyres are all pointing in the same direction. Not only is this fuel efficient, but it also means that your vehicle suffers from less wear and tear than it would otherwise be subject to. Check your tyre alignment twice yearly, and it doesn’t hurt to check it before a long trip if it has been a while since the last check.
Declutter Your Car
Finally, every pound of weight is carried by your tyres, so having a lot of clutter and debris in your car counts towards your tyre’s weight limits. Save fuel, reduce wear and tear, and ensure your tyres last a longer time by removing all the extraneous items from the car before long trips.