Spring Car Maintenance: Check Your Tyres
As the warmer months start approaching, we’re here to get you on top of your tyre maintenance. Whilst it’s easy to get the outside washed and give the interior a quick sprucing up, tyres can be quickly forgotten about. However, as the only element of your car that actually makes contact with the road – making sure your tyres are safe and legal should be a top priority.
To help you make sure your tyres are fit for purpose, we’ve pulled together a list with 5 easy yet useful checks that will help keep your tyres safe and in good condition.
Tyre Condition
The first thing you should check is the general condition of your tyres. By assessing for any cuts, bulges, cracks, or visible damage on the sidewall or tread you can easily spot any issues that could potentially require a new tyre.
The sidewalls are especially important to check as they provide structural support for the tyre, absorb shock and contain important information regarding the load-capacity of your tyre.
If you spot any bulges or cracks, this means the tyre could fail, so it’s best to get this checked straight away. Lastly, keep an eye out for uneven wear on the tread as this could indicate alignment issues caused by potholes.
Tyre Pressure
The next check you should carry out is tyre pressure. Having the correct tyre pressure saves fuel, helps your tyres last longer, and most importantly keeps you, and any passengers safe. To check your tyre pressure, we recommend using a digital pressure gauge, and ensuring your tyres are cold for the most accurate reading.
Shop tyre inflators and pressure gauges
So, what happens if your tyre pressure is all over the place? If your tyres are underinflated, it can result in poor handling and waste your fuel. Additionally, overinflated tyres are prone to accelerated wear too.
Luckily, each tyre has a recommended pressure which can be found in the owner’s manual or on a sticker located inside the car, such as in the fuel filler flap, door frame or similar locations.
It’s also important to note that tyres can lose pressure at different rates, especially if your vehicle is carrying a heavy load. Before you set off on any spring getaways, be sure to check your tyres have the correct pressure to save any unwanted surprises.
Tread Depth
The tread depth of your tyre is vital for grip, especially on wet roads. The best way to check your tyres is with a handy tread depth gauge. By placing the gauge into the grooves of the tyre, it allows you to measure the tread depth accurately.
The legal minimum is 1.6mm across the central ¾ of the tread, but at National, we recommend replacing tyres when the tread reaches 3mm. This provides you with better grip and keeps you safe throughout any sudden spring showers.
If you don’t have a gauge, you can also use a 20p coin as a quick check! All you have to do is insert the coin into the tread grooves; if the outer band of the coin is visible, the tread may be too low.
Lastly, you should also check for tread wear indicators in the grooves, these act as a visual guide to show you when your tyres are approaching the minimum depth. By keeping your tyres well within their legal limits, you can improve the safety of your tyres, yourself and others on the road.
We recommend checking the depth across the width of the tyre, for example front, middle and back to ensure the depth remains legal across the whole width of the tyre. If the depths are different this may indicate a wheel alignment is required although some vehicles wear tyres more quickly on the inner edges than the outer due to the overall vehicle design or varying driving styles.
Tyre Age
Tyres degrade over time, even if they may look okay at first glance. That’s why it’s important to examine the sidewall of your tyre for what’s known as the DOT code. This handy 4-digit code tells you the week and the year your tyre was made. So, if you were to see “1324”, that means your tyre was made in the 13th week of 2024.
The National Tyre Distributors Association recommends inspecting tyres on vehicles that are 6 to 10 years old for damage, wear, or other signs of aging. Tyres can show signs of cracks where the tread and sidewalls are beginning to naturally degrade through age.
By knowing exactly when your tyre was made, you can replace your tyre when need be and help keep yourself safe on the road.
Tyre Load
The last thing you should check is your tyre load. There is an indexed number marked on the sidewall which tells you how much weight your tyres can safely handle. This is a crucial check if you are carrying heavy loads or towing extra weight like a caravan or trailer. Your vehicle will have a specific load rating which you can find in your car manual. Once you’ve located this information, all you have to do is compare it to the tyre’s marking.
Overloading can be very dangerous, so take extra precaution and always ensure you don’t overload your vehicle!
Free Tyre Check
A quick check like this, especially as we come out of winter, can make a big difference. If you carry out these simple checks, and encounter an issue that you’re unsure about, pop into your local National garage for a free Tyre Check – we’re always here to help!
Sign up for SPECIAL OFFERS
