When you drive around town or travel long distances you probably check that your car is in good working order. Driving around town requires a lot of stop and go action while travelling long distances tends to be a continuous driving action. Either way there is an impact on the tyres.
It is important to know when to change the tyres on your car so that they take you to your destination safely. Here are a few tips as to when to change the tyres.
- The tread is smooth. When the tyre tread is smooth, in other words it is less than 2 millimetres deep. If the tread depth is less than 2 millimetres it affects the braking action of the car. The smooth tyres will not have sufficient grip on the road when you want to come to a complete stop, it will affect grip when going around a corner, and it will certainly affect driving in wet and rainy conditions. In each of these cases a smooth tyre could cause an accident. So make sure that you change the tyre when the tread is less than 2 millimetres.
- It is damaged or worn. If there is wear anywhere on the tyre such as frayed edges because they are old then you need to change it. Driving with worn tyres can be dangerous because you never know when it might burst. Another occasion when you might need to change it is after hitting a big pothole. Potholes can cause great damage to the wheel so you need to inspect it thoroughly before you attempt to drive with it. A big pothole could not only damage the tyre, it could also damage the mag wheel and the suspension.
- There is a puncture. If the tyre has a hole in it then this is a definite indication that it needs to be changed. Don’t attempt to drive with the puncture. This will make the wheel flat and it could cause the car to be imbalanced. This imbalance is dangerous as it can cause you to make an accident because the handling of the car is drastically affected.
When you notice that there is any wear, damage or punctures on the tyres, then get the tyre changed. You could do it yourself by replacing it with the spare wheel. But it would be better if you could take it to a specialist who will remove the damaged tyre from the mag wheel and replace it with a new one. You could still keep the mag wheel as it needs to match the other mag wheels on your car.
