No matter if you are based in the verdant countryside, a bustling urban community or somewhere like the quirky and historical seaside city of Brighton (often, these days, teamed with Hove, its nearby companion city) you might live in dread of the day your tyres begin to age out and start failing on you with slow leaks, punctures or even, scarily, blow-outs. But there are some simple and basic car and tyre care tips you can follow to ensure you avoid facing these common problems with your car and tyres. Let’s have a look.
Lack of Tread Depth
If your tyres are lacking in tread depth, you will find your car harder to control, especially on poor, icy or muddy roads. But it is a simple fix to check your tread depth every thousand miles or once a week or so, depending on the condition of the roads you use and how far you drive in that time. Simply use a 20p piece to check your tread depth is still within legal limits. The coin has a broad band running around the outside of the face of the coin: if this can be seen when you stand the coin in the deepest crevices of your treads, your tread depth is too low, and you should take immediate steps to replace the tyres as soon as you can from a reliable fitter. You can trust Fife Autocentre for your car tyres – they have local branches for both branch and mobile fitting and you can choose among the top brands at local price points.
Over or Under-inflation
Modern tyres are so carefully manufactured that they must be used within the relatively narrow range of optimal inflation (as provided in your car owner’s handbook; online; via your mechanic or on the existing tyres, the latter in the form of an alphanumeric code). In 2018, this was enshrined in law as an MOT test requirement because it is so very important to the correct operation of the tyres. Check your inflation every second, third or fourth refill of your fuel tank (adjust it according to how well your tyres are holding their pressure, reducing the time interval if you have to top up the air every time you check it.)
Regular Servicing
Finally, and perhaps the most pertinent advice of all: get your car fully serviced promptly, once a year, and include six-monthly interim services when you have to. This relatively simple, reasonably cost-effective, process, can end up saving you a fortune in repairs no longer needed. And that’s not too bad at all, for a couple of checks each month, alongside a more intensive service every six months or year!
