There are a lot of boring parts of adulting that none of us enjoy very much but still have to keep on top of in order to keep our household functioning and our family safe, and one of those is making sure your car is always in good working order before setting off. As we live out in the sticks having a car is really essential, and I have learnt the hard way (several times) that if you don’t look after your vehicle you’ll end up paying for it (possibly by being stranded roadside with no phone signal..). Things like tyres should be checked regularly, but sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what you’re checking for.
Tyre Pressure
To keep your car running smoothly and safely, and to help keep fuel consumption down, you need to regularly check that your tyre pressures are correct. Tyres will generally lose a little air every month so it’s a good idea to keep on top of this. You can do this at most local petrol stations like the ones in Newbury by using their air pump, or you can buy a tyre pressure gauge to have at home. Most cars have a sticker inside one of the doors showing the correct tyre pressure for your vehicle; if yours doesn’t you can check the manual or google it.
Don’t forget to check the pressure on your spare tyre too so that you know it’s in perfect condition if you ever need to use it.
Tyre Tread
It’s very important to keep an eye on the tyre tread, to make sure the tyres are still road worthy. Driving on tyres with a tread that is too thin puts you at risk of a tyre blowing out which could cause a serious accident. There’s also a £2,500 fine per tyre if you’re caught driving with a tyre tread depth below the legal limit which is 1.6mm (often referred to as ‘bald tyres’). The legal limit is actually considered way too low by most experts, and the usual recommendation is to change your tyres once your tread is down to 3mm.
You can buy tyre tread gauges, but the easiest way to check your tyre treads is to use a 20p coin. Insert the coin into the tread – if you can see the outer band of the coin then your tyre treads are dangerously low and you should head to a local Newbury tyre garage immediately.
Tyre Wear and Tear
When checking over your tyres it’s also important to check for any bulges, bumps, cracks or punctures. If you find something like a nail in one of your tyres – don’t pull it out! Take it into a local garage and get someone to take a look. Punctures can often be repaired, so it may not need replacing. Tyre bulges usually indicate damage to the interior tyre wall and could be really dangerous, so again get it looked at ASAP.
Tyre Repairs
Generally you should expect to get about 20,000 miles out of a good set of tyres before they will need replacing due to age and normal wear and tear. By getting in the habit of making all of these checks often, you should be able to keep your tyres in good condition. If you do find that your tyre treads are low, or your tyre is damaged or punctured in some way then the best thing is to head to a local tyre garage to get it checked out. If you’re local and looking for new tyres then you can buy your car tyres in newbury at Headley Tyres.
*This is a collaborative post*
