How To Maintain Your Car Tires Properly And Use Them For Many Years

Tires should have the required air pressure and this is one of the most important aspects of car maintenance. But, unfortunately, many people have a lot of wrong notions about this aspect. In fact, drivers are not giving as much importance to this as they should be giving. But, it is very much necessary that they should have enough knowledge about this so that they can maintain the tires of their vehicles properly.

As the owner of a car, you should know the right air pressure that is recommended by the manufacturers. This information is generally available on a plaque riveted to the driver's door. The car manufacturers take into account the weight of your vehicle and the sizes of its tires for calculating this pressure.

A mistake you may commit is that you may try to change the air pressure a little. But, you should avoid this and even if you decide to do it, you should do it very carefully. You should not do it beyond certain strict limits. In fact, automotive experts suggest that the change should not exceed 25% of the recommended pressure.

You may perhaps have a belief that by having more pressure in the tires, you can reduce the impact on the wheels. This is a wrong notion because excess pressure in the tires is also bad. Tires with excess pressure may transmit the impact to the wheels to a greater degree. So, it is advisable to have only the recommended air pressure with which the tires will be a little more flexible.

Drivers who always maintain more air pressure than recommended levels should keep a close watch on their tires because they may wear very fast. Especially, the center portion of the tread will wear quickly due to this. But, in the case of less pressure, the shoulders of the tires wear quite fast.

You should make it a point to check the pressure of the tires before you start using your car in the mornings because only then, tires will be cold. If there is a necessity to add air when the tires are hot, the air pressure should be one or two pounds less than what you may add when the tires are cold. Likewise, when chill weather conditions prevail, you should check the pressure during the cold mornings. This is because experts have found out that when the external temperature falls by 10 degrees, air pressure may also be reduced by one PSI. The rubber may also become stiff due to the cold weather and both these factors may cause leaks.

If the air pressure in your tires is low consistently, their side walls may get damaged quite fast. The tires will start folding over and this will in turn damage the rubber. This will ultimately destroy the tires completely. Nowadays, car manufacturers have introduced a system with which you will be alerted when there is low tire pressure. This system involves a light on the dashboard and this light will give you a warning when the tire pressure becomes low.

As a car owner, you should necessarily take care of the tires also. It is not enough if you maintain the engine and other vital parts of the vehicle. You will get a good gas mileage if you maintain the air pressure of your tires at appropriate levels. Since the wear and tear of the tires will be less, you can use them for many years also.