Good driving habits

We all know it, doing a burn out is bad for the life of the tire! Yet a lot of us drive in ways that negatively affects tire life even without creating a big cloud of smoke.

Fast acceleration is one of the most common “hidden” tire killers. The tire will slip ever so slightly causing it to wear. This is especially true if tires are not inflated properly. The tire doesn’t have the proper footprint on the road, which means it doesn’t have the grabbing ability to get the vehicle moving. Slow, smooth acceleration will increase the life of your tires, and also decrease your fuel consumption at the same time.

Hard cornering and braking also affects tire life. The tires are all that keeps your car on the road, makes it change direction, and starts and stops movement.

Above all try to avoid road debris. Pot holes, pieces of wood or steel, large stones just aren’t good for any part of your vehicle, but especially the tires. A tire hitting a large, hard object at highway speeds may result in a blow out, which as bad in just every way possible.

Air Pressure

Myth: the tire carries the weight of the car. Fact: Air carries the weight of the car, the tire is the container that holds the air.

When a tire is under inflated, it doesn’t have the ability to carry the load properly. This will result in both outside edges of the tread to wear out quicker than the center, and if low enough the sidewall will eventually rupture. no one wants a blow out at 100 km per hour! Honestly! Also, a 5 psi drop in air pressure will affect your fuel mileage.

On the other hand, an over inflated tire will drastically affect handling; because the foot print of the tire on the road is smaller, it will not be able to control the car and will slide sooner. This will cause the tire to wear out in the center much faster. Also, an over inflated tire will ride much rougher, as it doesn’t have the cushioning effect to hide the bumps in the road, causing the car to vibrate more.

Air pressure should be checked weekly, when tires are cold, meaning the car hasn’t been driven for at least four hours.

Alignments

Improper Wheel alignment is one of the leading causes for rapid and irregular wear on tires. When tires are not aligned properly, they want to travel in different directions. This will cause either the inside or outside edges to wear much more rapidly then the other. Because the tire is being forced to go in a direction it doesn’t want, it “scrubs”, which may not only wear it out quicker, but can also cause it to “feather” on the edges, making it noisy. Eventually, it migh also cause a vibration problem.