How to Make Your Tires Last Longer - car advice collection

(How to Extend the Lifespan of Your Tires)

Tires are the heroes of our vehicles, the only part of the car that actually touches the road, carrying the weight of our travels on their rubber shoulders. From gripping the road during sharp turns to weathering rough terrains, tires play a vital role in ensuring both safety and performance. As responsible car owners, it’s essential to understand how to extend the life span of car tires and maximize their performance, not only for economic and environmental reasons but also for the safety of ourselves and others.

Here are some tips to help you extend the life span of your tires:

1. USE THE RIGHT TIRE FOR THE JOB

While you may think that the tire’s job is to rotate to move your car forward or backward, not every tire serves the same purpose beyond that. Not all tires are made equal, there are tires designed for the racetrack, the highway, and off-road adventures. Tire types include all-season, touring, performance, summer, and track and competition for passenger vehicles. SUVs and trucks offer highway, all-terrain, mud-terrain, all-purpose or trail, ribbed, and sport truck options. In addition, there are also winter and temporary spare tire options.

Common misuses of tires include venturing into challenging off-road environments with a 4×4 wearing street-oriented tires, and performance driving with tires lacking the durability to survive in those high stress driving environments, also taking a road trip in your off-road vehicle using mud-terrain tires will cause excessive tire wear and may even cause damage to your tires. The type of tires should possess the durability needed for the specific driving conditions and environment.

Understanding your tire type, and using them only in the environments for which they were intended will help to both extend tire life and protect from damage.

2. REMOVE YOUR SNOW TIRES IN THE SPRING

Snow (winter) tires are made to grip the pavement, even when the road is buried in snow. As such, they tend to have more slits and grooves in the tread. While these grooves are great for handling and channeling snow and ice out of your way, they also create extra points of contact with the pavement when the snow season is over. Bare roads can wear down the tread on your snow tires more quickly. As soon as the weather warms up, exchange your snow tires for a pair of summer or all-weather tires meant for the asphalt.

3. FILL YOUR TIRES CORRECTLY

Your tires are an integral part of the overall engineered system that is your vehicle. The tire type, specifications, size, and tire pressures are established by the vehicle manufacturer after significant testing and calibration.

While your owner’s manual will list the correct pressure, you can also find it on a sticker attached to the edge of the driver’s side door, glove box door, or fuel door (but NOT the maximum limit stamped on a tire sidewall).

Monitoring your tires for the correct pressure will help prevent larger problems down the road like sluggish handling ( less responsiveness to changes in steering), increase stopping distance, increase wear and tear, heighten the risk of a blowout and having a harsh ride too.

Many newer vehicles also have a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) which alerts you when your tire pressure is too low. If the warning light pops up on your dashboard, your tires may need immediate attention to avoid further damage. Keep in mind that the climate also affects tire pressure, with winter months lowering and summer months increasing the PSI, and if there is a large change in temperature (or change in season) you should monitor your tire pressure more closely. Also, Tyres lose air pressure whether they are used or even if they are parked.

Checking all of all the tyres, including the spare, at least once every month and refilling them accordingly is recommended for maintaining the correct tyre pressure.

Make it a habit by either checking the pressure on the same day of the month, or when you fill your tank, or before and after long trips, or every 3,000 mi (4,500 km). You can check the tire pressure quickly and easily in your driveway or garage with a tire pressure gauge.

The best time to do so is before starting driving when tyre temperature is the same as ambient temperature or ”cold condition”. As you adjust your tire pressure, be sure that you are not filling it to the maximum amount indicated on the tire, as this will put undue pressure on the sidewall. Proper inflation pressure not only increases tyre life but also results in good handling, comfort, and safety, including fuel efficiency.

Ensuring your tires have valve stem caps also helps prolong tire life. If you regularly drive without valve stem caps, water, dirt, and debris can get into the tire and cause premature aging on the inside.

4. ALIGN YOUR TIRES

Speaking of alignment, that’s more important than most people realize. Alignment can be roughly defined as the arrangement of the various suspension and steering components that connect the wheels and tires to your vehicle. The calibration of these components dictates how your tires contact with the road surface under all driving conditions. Proper alignment ensures that when your tires come into contact with the road, they hit it just the right way to avoid crooked steering and speedy tire wear. Misalignment may make your tires toed-in “pigeon-toed” or toed-out “duck-footed”.

If you experience your vehicle pulling or drifting to one side, or the steering wheel vibrates or shakes, or is not centered when driving straight, or notice severe wear on the inside or outside edge of your tire, cupping, feathering, or distortion, These are signs of an alignment problem. Your tires also may not be misaligned enough to cause this shaking or drift (your car may have an alignment problem but still could be driving fine). The smallest misalignment can reduce fuel efficiency, and increase tread wear.

Misalignment is often the result of jostling the tires themselves. Normal wear-and-tear, driving over a pothole, a curb or bumping a parking block too hard can cause a change in the wheel alignment.

Just like tire pressure, the manufacturer sets specifications for the alignment of your tires, and for most vehicles, alignment means correcting the subtle tilts in your car’s camber, caster, and toe-in or toe-out (toe angle). Specialized equipment is used and can be done at your preferred tire shop or by your mechanic to correct the alignment, often in fractions of an inch. During a wheel alignment, the suspension and steering components of your vehicle are adjusted. This will make sure all four wheels are perfectly perpendicular to the ground and parallel to one another. So take your car in for a check at the intervals spelled out in the owner’s manual, after any serious pothole bump, whenever you think something is wrong, whenever you get new tires installed, or every six months.

Regular wheel alignment has many benefits. For starters, it will ensure an even tread wear on all the tyres resulting in longer wear life. Secondly, any malfunctioning component of the suspension will come to your notice and you can spot problems before they exacerbate the wear and tear on your tires. Proper Wheel alignment not only helps in increasing tyre life , it also helps to improves overall vehicle handling performance and optimize driving stability and fuel efficiency and save money.

5. ROTATE YOUR TIRES

In most cars, only one or two wheels “drive” the car at a time. That can cause uneven tire wear (so front tires tend to wear more quickly on the edges due to steering and cornering forces while rear tires wear more evenly).

On front-wheel drive vehicles, front tires wear faster because of traction and braking forces on them and friction generation during acceleration. On rear-wheel drive vehicles, it’s the back tires. Even all-wheel drive vehicles can see uneven wear as most shift the drive from one wheel to another.

Also, even the spare wheel (full-size matching spare) should be put to use at regular intervals. This will help with ensuring even tread wear on all five tyres. Another benefit of using the spare tyre is that any issue with the it will come to notice immediately.

Hence, it’s recommended that you rotate your tires or have an expert rotate them at regular intervals (consult your vehicle’s manual for the recommended rotation pattern and interval). Rotating your tires (you can do it on the occasion of oil change to win time) will help even out the wear on your tires (by moving them to different wheel positions on the vehicle), help them last longer and make you enjoy a smoother ride. A technician rotates your tires by moving them to different wheel positions on the vehicle.

Tire rotations interval distance can vary according to vehicle, tire type, and driving demands (e.g., frequent heavy towing or hauling).

The different sources bellow recommend to rotate tires at regular intervals starting from 3000 to 8000 miles, so the maximum distance to go before rotation, as a conclusion of all of them, is every 8000 miles at most.

If you don’t drive your car as often, you may just want to make it a habit of getting them rotated every six months or so.

6. BALANCE YOUR TIRES

Tire rotation is a great time to get your wheels checked and balanced, as well. Every tire and wheel has a heavy spot in it. None is perfect, even when brand new (inherently unbalanced). The difference is tiny, measured in one-quarter to one-half ounces. But that small difference can cause vibration and uneven tire wear. Your mechanic can balance each wheel using a specialized machine and small weights (balancing involves applying weights on the tire rim, inside and out). As the tire wears, he may need to move or change that weight.

If your car begins to vibrate around 60 or 70 miles per hour, it’s time to get your tires balanced. Note that tires may also get slightly off balance without you noticing a huge difference.

Over time, your tires begin to change shape as they wear down due to normal aging of the front-end car parts, potholes, and hard braking. Driving through material that can clump on your tires, like mud and snow, can also affect the balance. Cleaning your tires and a test drive can determine if you need to balance your tires and what type of weight application is most appropriate.Tire balancing helps distribute the weight of the tire and wheel assembly evenly

It is recommended to balance the tyre rim assembly ) when tires are installed, or when vibrations are felt, or along with tyre rotation (as said before. Proper wheel balancing helps in reducing uneven wear and extending the tyre life. It helps also in avoiding vibrations, and steering issues. It’s a fast, easy process that costs a lot less than a new tire!

7. BE CAREFUL PARKING

The shoulders and side walls of an automobile tire are considerably less durable than the tread area because they are not protected by tread blocks or a steel belt. If you scrape the sides of your tires along a curb while parallel parking, you quickly shorten their life. Continually bumping into curbs when parking diagonally can also damage the shoulders and sidewalls of a tire quickly.

Cracking or splitting in the walls or tread of the tire, known as dry rot, can lead to early retirement for your tires. Dry rot makes it more likely that your tires will develop a leak or blow out on the road. Ozone and UV are the two most significant contributors to this problem. Even though you can’t avoid them altogether, you can help slow down the process by trying not to park your car in direct sunlight when possible. Also, move your vehicle from time to time if it is not being used often. Moving the car keeps the tires from settling in one spot and becoming flat.

8. GOOD DRIVING HABITS

Another factor that affects your tire wear rate is your driving habits. Whether you’re a driver who likes to press on the gas or stomp on the brake, both of these in excess can lead to increased tire wear (breaking the surface tension between tires and the road creates tremendous friction that eats away at the treads). Avoid aggressive driving (aggressive acceleration, sudden stops and sharp turns) to increase the life span of your tires. Slowly accelerate up to speed and reduce your speed before hitting the brakes as much as you can to become a smoother driver. Smooth driving habits save you wear on your tires and increase your fuel efficiency, saving you money in the long run.

If you like to squeal your tires on takeoff and grind them on curves, what you’re hearing is rubber getting left on the road so do not squeal them and avoid doing donuts, or burn-outs.

The driving habits that cause the greatest tire wear are cornering, aggressive starting, and hard braking. Riding the brake and swerving back and forth will also expedite wear. Accelerate smoothly, coast (but not in neutral) and reduce speed before hitting the brakes whenever possible, and be smooth and steady with steering inputs when taking corners.

The more cautiously a driver accelerates and brakes, the longer the vehicle’s tire treads will last.

9. AVOID POTHOLES AND OBSTACLES

All potholes can damage automobile tires, but potholes on asphalt roads are the most destructive. The potholes on an asphalt-covered road have sharp, unforgiving rims. The rims of asphalt-road potholes force a tire to flex and stretch, which can cause abrasions, punctures and tears. Any time your tires come into contact with obstacles like holes or debris, it contributes to a shorter lifespan. The greater the velocity with which a driver hits these types of potholes, the greater the odds are of tire damage or failure occurring which means a trip to the nearest tire shop to purchase a new set.

Unfortunately, you can’t control the quality of the roads you drive on or how often they are repaired. You’ll inevitably face potentially damaging surfaces on the road like debris or potholes. Hitting potholes, curbs, and other obstacles can cause damage to your tires and wheels. These impacts can lead to sidewall bulges, cuts, and even internal damage,but, your behavior as the driver significantly impacts how long your tires last. If you’re careful about steering clear of branches, trash, potholes, bumps, and other problems in the road, your tires will last longer than if you just blew through them without a care. Whenever possible, avoid driving over such obstacles, especially at high speeds. If you can’t avoid a pothole, slow down as much as possible before impact.

10. AVOID GRAVEL ROADS

The three-quarter-inch rock on gravel-covered dirt roads is made of crushed quarry rock. It is sharp and jagged and does more damage to highway tires than almost any other driving surface does. If a vehicle is equipped with off-road tires, gravel-covered dirt roads are not a major concern, but tires designed for highway travel do not typically fare well on gravel roads. If you cannot avoid driving on gravel you should make sure to drive slowly, drive in the center of the road when possible, use existing tire tracks if there are any, leave extra space between you and the vehicles ahead of you and pass with great caution if you find yourself behind a slow moving vehicle.

11. DON’T SPIN YOUR TIRES EXCESSIVELY

Avoid excessive tire spinning when your vehicle is stuck in snow, ice, mud or sand. The centrifugal forces generated by a free-spinning tire/wheel assembly may cause sudden tire explosion, resulting in vehicle damage and/or serious personal injury to you or a bystander. Never exceed 35 mph/55 kph, as indicated on your speedometer. Use a gentle backward and forward rocking motion to free your vehicle for continued driving. Never stand near or behind a tire spinning at high speeds, for example, while attempting to push a vehicle that is stuck or when an on-the-car spin balance machine is in use.

12. AVOID OVERLOADING YOUR VEHICLE

Excess weight can put extra stress on your tires and lead to premature wear. Check your vehicle’s load capacity in the owner’s manual and avoid overloading it. Additionally, when towing, make sure to adhere to the recommended towing capacity to prevent straining your tires.

13. AVOID DRIVING WITH A FLAT TIRE

Thanks to advanced tire technology, flat tires aren’t as common as they once were, but they do still happen. Driving on a flat tire can increase the damage to the tire and/or wheels which can cost you more money, and it can pose a safety risk to yourself and other vehicles on the road due to the flat making it difficult to drive in a straight line. When you drive on a flat tire, the wheel rim pinches the tire close to the road and shreds the inside lining of the tire. If you continue to drive on a flat you can grind, damage or bend the rims, which can lead to permanent damage. The result if you do so: Instead of repairing a tire, you now have to replace it. Brake lines, rotors, calipers, and suspension components could also be damaged beyond repair when you drive on a flat tire.

Of course, you never want to sacrifice your safety for the sake of your tire, so if you have to drive on it to get out of harm’s way, go ahead and drive on it at slower speeds with your emergency blinkers on until you reach safety.

14. ALWAYS USE MATCHING TIRES

Mixing and matching tires on your vehicle is a big no-no. While you may think it will save you some money in the short run. It will actually decrease your car’s handling, increase premature and uneven tire wear, and make your daily drives less safe.

15. TAKE CARE OF FLAT TIRES AND LEAKS

Flat tires happen, and so can pinhole leaks. If you know one of your tires has a leak or is damaged in anyway, get it looked at and repaired by a tire expert. They may be able to patch it, or they may recommend replacing the tire. Either way, you don’t want that one bad tire to negatively affect the other three, so you should address it as soon as you can.

16. PROPER STORAGE

If you have a set of seasonal tires, proper storage is essential to maintain their quality. Store your tires in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight and sources of heat. If possible, keep them off the ground to prevent flat spots from forming. Consider investing in tire covers to protect them from environmental factors.

17. REGULAR TIRE INSPECTIONS

Regular tire inspections are essential to catch any potential issues early on. Perform a weekly tire inspection looking for signs of damage such as exposed steel belts, cuts, bulges, punctures, sidewall gashes, or signs of uneven wear.

Inspecting your tires regularly can help you address problems before they become major safety concerns.

Check Your Tread Depth: When you check your air pressure, you can also take a look at the tread depth. Over time the tread on your tires will wear down. This serves as a good indicator you need new tires. To check the tread on your tires you can buy an inexpensive tread measuring tool at any auto parts store, or you can give the penny (USA) test a try: stick a penny (Lincoln’s head facing down) into the shallowest groove on the tire. If the top of his head is visible (which means you can see all of Lincoln’s head), your treads are getting dangerously low and it’s time for new tires.

You can also use a quarter (USA): Insert a quarter into the tire tread upside down, with Washington’s head going in first. If the top of George’s head is covered by the tread, your tires are OK, do this test at multiple points around each tire. If the top of his head is visible at any point around the tire, you need new tires.

Stay on top of things. Check for tread wear indicators at least once every two months if you drive a lot or drive far distances.

Check Your Side Walls: After checking tire pressure and tread depth, it’s time to check the sides of your tires for damage and wear. You will be looking for cracks in the rubber, spots which look more worn down and bends in the wheel rim. Damage to your side walls can be the result of poor alignment, low tire pressure or even careless driving habits. If you notice any of the above on your tires, have them repaired or replaced as soon as possible. Thin sidewalls and cracks are the number one cause of blowouts.

18. REGULAR MAINTENANCE

There are many systems throughout your vehicle that can impact the loads put on each of your four tires. The brakes and suspension are absolutely the most important. Healthy brakes and suspension components will help reduce the overall wear and tear put on your tires.

Overall vehicle maintenance contributes to tire longevity. Keep up with regular oil changes, brake inspections, and other maintenance tasks. A well-maintained vehicle puts less stress on your tires, helping them last longer and perform better.

WHEN TO REPLACE?

Even after following these steps, tyres need to be replaced once the tread wears out. Don’t go bald! It is not only unsafe to use worn-out tyres but can be life-threatening especially at high speeds or in wet road conditions.

When it is time for new tires, find a tire shop that participates in tire recycling. Your tires may get a new life as tire-derived fuel or shredded rubber mulch on a park path and so you participate in avoiding one of waste management problems.

CONCLUSION

Tires are foundational to your vehicle’s performance and safety. By adopting proactive care and maintenance strategies, you can make your tires last longer, wear evenly, ensure an optimum handling performance and a smoother and safer ride.