Proper Tire Care - Where the Rubber Meets the Road (Part 1)
Posted on Tue, Aug 30, 2011 @ 01:51 PM
Guest Blog by Colin Wells, Bentley Service Technician at British Motor Car Distributors
PART 1 (OF 2): WHAT YOUR TIRES DO FOR YOU
Your tires are the crucially important connection between your vehicle and the road. They are a key factor in how your car drives. Most of the time, tires aren’t the first thing on our minds, but when they don’t do their job, they are the first. Learning a little bit about why tires are important can help you understand why your technicians worry so much about them when we service your vehicle.
The wear pattern of the tire affects how the car drives, and it can be an important early warning that something needs repair. The contact patch is the section of tire that makes contact with the road and is where the tread is located. The way in which the tread wears can tell a story about the life of the tire. If the tire pressure is inadequate, less of the tire is contacting the road. With the pressure too high, the center wears out first. Too low and the edges see more wear. That big pot hole you hit might have disrupted your tire alignment, which makes the tire not perpendicular to the road any more, and once again you are not getting full contact.
The problem of not having a full contact patch can cause several problems. First, and most importantly, you aren’t getting full traction. When accelerating or braking, this is especially true. It doesn’t matter how expensive or fancy those tires are if they aren’t touching the ground. Secondly, your tires wear out faster. The history of the tire shows in its tread wear: a failing shock can cause a feather pattern; low pressure causes edge wear and bad alignment can cause all of the above as well as wearing out your tire in hundreds of miles, rather than the more normal thousands. The third problem caused by poorly maintained tires is the scariest, a sudden tire failure, also known as a blowout.
Because tires are so important, please feel free to contact your British Motor Car Distributors Service Department with any questions or concerns you have about them. In the meantime, happy driving!