The quality and performance of your vehicle’s tyres are vital to ensuring the safety and functionality of any vehicle.
From lawnmowers to private cars and light commercials, ensuring that the tyres on your vehicle or machine are in good condition is a must. With this in mind, it’s important to know when to change your tyres, ensuring that the tyres on your vehicle don’t get to a point where they compromise your safety. Here, we’ll explain some key indicators to look out for when it comes to your vehicle’s tyres. Check Tread Depth & Wear Tread depth is a vertical measurement from the outside of a tyre into its grooves and is an important indicator of the quality and wear of the tyre. Here in Ireland, tyres must have a tread depth of at least 1.6mm to be considered safe and roadworthy. If your tyre treads are less than 1.6mm, it’s important to immediately change your tyres, for both safety and legal compliance. While most tyres will have a built-in tread depth indicator that you can check, if you’re unsure of the depth of your tyre treads you can always visit a garage where the team can check your tread depth quickly and easily. Alternatively, tyre tread depth indicators can be bought online or in most auto spare shops. Pay Attention to Irregular Damage While your tyres are sure to accumulate some wear and tear over time, it’s important to pay attention to obvious damage that could reduce tyre performance. If your tyres are wearing irregularly, especially near the side of the tyres, it could be an indication that your wheels are out of alignment. As well as speeding up the wear and tear on your tyres, wheel alignment issues can pose dangers when driving and can go on to affect the steering of the vehicle if ignored. If you’ve noticed accelerated wear on either side of your vehicle tyres, it’s important to visit a mechanic ASAP to check the internal alignment of your steering and replace the tyres affected. Check for Bubbles & Bulges Experiencing large-scale bubbles and bulges in the walls of your tyres is quite a rare occurrence, but should never be ignored. If you check your tyres and realise that their walls are bulging, slightly or dramatically, it’s important to book an appointment with your local mechanic. Bulges in tyres usually indicate that the internal frame of the tyre is cracked or broken, which can allow air pressure to reach the outer layers of the tyre. This is an extremely dangerous tyre malfunction that can cause tyres to blow completely, meaning that you should never attempt to drive if you notice this fault on one or more of your tyres. Ensuring that you look after the tyres in your vehicle is a must to ensure the safety, legal compliance, and roadworthiness of your car or light commercial. If your tyres are malfunctioning or due a service, visit the Southern Tyres team today for a high-quality and cost-effective tyre service guaranteed.