Cars need regular loving to run properly. Dashboard notifications serve as handy reminders to check the water and oil, but it can be easy to forget one of the most important parts of a vehicle — the tyres. Despite literally keeping the wheels in motion, they’re often neglected.
Interest in your car should never stop at the sales counter. Bridgestone is a good place to start to get the right tyres and maintenance for your vehicle. After all, ignoring your tyres increases the rate of wear and tear, costs you more money, and can be incredibly dangerous. There’s also the issue of wastage — a huge number of neglected tyres end up in the scrap heap despite having plenty of tread left.
Not sure what you should be looking out for? No problem! Whether you drive a car, truck or 4X4, here are some of the maintenance essentials for keeping your tyres in optimal condition.
Wheel Alignments
Have you ever felt your steering wheel vibrate, or your car drifting to one side of the road? Your wheels may be out of alignment.
To put it simply, keeping your tyres aligned is important for driving in a straight line. Unaligned tyres will pull your car to one side, and although this may be a great way to catch some mad drift, but it’s not safe or practical for everyday driving. Unaligned tyres can also result in uneven and increased wear which means that they will need to be replaced fast, costing you more money. Alignment maintenance also improves the traction on your tyres, which is especially important when driving in the rain or on icy roads.
Tyre Balancing
A wobble, or vibration in your steering wheel could also mean that your tyres have become unbalanced. The heaviest parts of your tyres, as well as the wheel and hub assembly, are counterbalanced by small weights — if they come loose your wheels will start to wobble, and the steering wheel will begin to vibrate. You’ll notice this more at higher speeds, such as on a highway. Not only will unbalanced tyres wear faster, they can be dangerous.
Tyre Rotation
Tyre rotation is exactly what it sounds like — swapping your back tyres with your front ones. Rotating the tyres will allow for more balanced wear and prevent unnecessary replacement. This is particularly essential for vehicles such as utes and station wagons that have a lack of weight over the back, which makes the wear vary even more.
Nitrogen Inflation
Not only do nitrogen fueled tyres sound awesome, they’re more efficient and cost effective than using oxygen. Nitrogen molecules are roughly four times larger than oxygen molecules, which lessens the likelihood of leakage. This improves your tyre performance and keeps them inflated for longer. Keeping that tyre pressure nice and high also helps your wallet — you’ll get a better fuel economy and your tyres will remain durable for longer.
For more information on Tyre Care and Maintenance visit the Bridgestone website.
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