Save Money on Fuel by Checking Your Tyre Pressures!

Did you know that having under-inflated tyres affects the handling and grip of your vehicle which can cause it to behave in an irregular or unpredictable way? Furthermore it means that you have a much higher chance of suffering a dangerous blowout, especially on long distance high speed journeys. The tread on your tyres will also wear unevenly if it is over or under inflated and you will need to have them replaced more often.

 By keeping your tyres at the correct pressure your running costs will be reduced as you will save money on fuel. Under inflated tyres require more force to make them turn, and therefore… more fuel.

So… Where do you find the correct tyre pressure for your vehicle? Well there are a number of places to check this. Your vehicle user manual is usually a good place to start as this should also provide information on how much extra pressure you need if you are carrying a heavy load/trailer or if you are going to be travelling at a high speed for a long time.

 Other places it may be are on a label on the front door posts of your car, or on the back of the fuel cap cover. You can also check online at www.tyresafe.org/tyre-safety/tyre-pressure-check.

Now that you know the right pressure for your tyres you need to check that they are correct. To do this you will need some form of tyre pressure gauge like a foot pump or a digital pressure reader (all available at your local car parts store). Remove the dust cover on your valve and attach the gauge.

If your tyres are over inflated…

·         Let some air out by pressing the core of the valve in using a match (or something similar).

·         Deflate the tyre in short bursts and check regularly to ensure you don’t let too much out.

If your tyres are under inflated…

·         Ideally you should inflate your tyres when they are cold as a warm tyre can increase in pressure by 2psi (pounds per square inch).

·         Use a foot pump, plug in a 12v inflator, or use your local fuel stations tyre pressure inflator (these should have charts with all vehicle tyre pressures on them).

Make sure you check all of your tyres, including the spare! Once your tyres are inflated to the correct pressure, put the dust cap back on and you should be ready to go!

At all of our Merityre branches we offer Nitrogen Inflation. By filling your tyres with Nitrogen, they will maintain their correct pressure for longer as Nitrogen doesn’t leak through the tyre’s structure. Normal compressed air consists of mostly oxygen and water vapour, both of which permeate through the tyre casing. By filling your tyres with Nitrogen you will get:

·         Better road holding

·         Longer tread life – up to 25% increase

·         Reduced fuel consumption – Up to 5% reduction

·         No corrosion to the inside of the wheel.

 

You should check your tyre pressures at least once a month, before you go on long journeys, or whenever your vehicle is carrying heavy loads. If you are unsure of anything or would like help, bring your vehicle to your local Merityre branch http://www.merityre.co.uk/find_a_centre.htm and we’ll be happy to do it for you, completely free of charge. 

The Point Of No Return. Why Car Tyres Fail

Car tyres can fail for a variety of reasons. Some are more common than others but all are avoidable with a little foresight. So, let's look at some problems that can cause tyre failure, and learn how to avoid them.

Underinflation

Running your car tyres at too low a pressure has an immediate penalty. Underinflated tyres have higher rolling resistance than tyres running at the correct pressure. This means you waste fuel on pushing the tyres along the road. A less immediate but more punishing penalty comes from the same lack of pounds per square inch of air pressure inside the car tyre. Put simply, underinflated tyres can overheat. If the tyres overheat enough, it's bye-bye tread or tyre carcass – i.e. it's blowout time.
Inflating your car tyres correctly, to the pressure the car and/or tyre manufacturer recommends, is simple enough, and far less costly than new tyres or a spectacular blowout.

Overinflation

Given the above, it may seem logical to run your car tyres at a pressure higher than the one recommended. Wrong! Tyres running at too high a pressure lose compliance. Meaning? They can't cope well with road irregularities and will be more easily damaged. Such damage can occur deep within the tyre carcass and lead to a dramatic high-speed failure. Once again, the solution is to keep your tyres inflated to the correct pressure.

Excessive Speed

If you've saved a few pounds by buying car tyres that are under specified for your car's capabilities, there's no profit in preening yourself about it. Car tyres have a speed rating, denoted by a letter on the sidewall, for a reason. More highly-rated tyres have superior internal structures and can lose heat more efficiently than lesser items.
While your insurance company will take a very dim view of your running on inappropriate tyres, worse things can happen. Under specified tyres can fail, especially in hot conditions.
A good tyre bay will advise you on which speed rating is right for your car. Take the advice: always buy the right tyres.

Overloading

Car tyres carry a load rating as well as a speed rating and this too is with good reason. While overloading may not often affect passenger cars (except perhaps those used for towing), bigger vehicles can be seen wearing underrated tyres. This goes for 4x4s as well as pick up trucks and small to medium-sized vans.
Once again, a tyre bay is the source of knowledge – if in doubt, have your current tyres checked.

Road Hazards

Which road hazards? Good question, given the road offers plenty of hazards. Those particularly affecting car tyre integrity are pot holes, debris and kerbs. Hit any of these with any severity and you may damage a wheel, as well as a tyre. However, impact damage, even at parking speeds, can wreak unseen havoc within a car tyre.
When checking your car tyre pressures, look out for cuts, lumps and bulges – all can be harbingers of structural disaster in a tyre.

Excessive Wear

In these financially demanding times, it's understandable for drivers to try wringing the maximum life out of their car tyres. That said, taking a car tyre down to, or even past, the tread wear indicators moulded into its treads is false economy, not to mention dangerous.
This is another thing to check when you get down and personal with your car tyres. Remember that well worn tyres can lack structural strength as well as grip.

Article Resource

Merityre.co.uk are one of the leading UK independent suppliers of car tyres. Why not visit their website for an online tyre quote or contact your nearest fitting centre.

Tell Tale Tyres. What Wear Patterns Mean

Car tyre forensics seems like an odd concept. However, in many instances, a 'dead' tyre can give you as much information as a corpse in the hands of a police pathologist. Information? Yes, tell-tale signs that can tell you what caused the tyre's untimely demise. Such information is useful because in indicating possible faults, it can tell you what might require fixing to give your replacement car tyres or tyre the maximum possible life.

Let's start with the basics. The type of tyre wear pattern that's to be expected is straightforward, and is characterised by the tread's having been worn away to the extent that the tyres’ tread wear indicators are at or near level with the surface of the tread. So, the tyre has nearly finished its useful service life. Is this the end of the story? Not necessarily. The suspension geometry on some cars can mean that the tyres' treads don't necessarily wear completely evenly.

Other car tyre tread wear patterns tell a different tale. What must be borne in mind is that they don't necessarily tell it quickly – some wear conditions take a while to show that something is awry. For example, what does feathering on both outer edges of the tyre tread suggest? This pattern is the most likely indicator that the tyre has been consistently run at too low a pressure. Conversely, a strip worn around the centre of the tread indicates a tyre having been run at too high a pressure.

What about feathering on one edge of the car tyre tread? Should such wear be on the outer edge of the tyre, it suggests that the car's steering is misaligned, having too much toe-in. Similarly, feathering on the tread's inner edge indicates that there is too much toe-out. This kind of wear usually appears on both front tyres, as the steering will generally attempt to run straight and true. The fact that the steering tries to compensate for misalignment by effectively evening out the wear on each side of the car is no compensation in itself. However, it does advise you to have the wheel alignment checked before your new tyres suffer.

It's worth noting that feathering on one side of a car tyre tread occurring only on one side of the car indicates something other than misaligned wheels. In this instance, one-sided feathering is more suggestive of wear in the car's suspension joints, its springs and/or its wheel bearings. This pattern can also occur when the wheel's camber, its position in relation to the vertical plane, is incorrect. Camber change of this kind can be caused by wear in the aforementioned areas; damage to the suspension can cause the same problem.

'Cupping' is also a phenomenon that can show you something is amiss on your car. A tread with cupping (also called 'dipping' or 'scalloping') has patches of wear across its tread's surface. This can look almost like the tread surface has softened in places, or has been scooped away. Cupping indicates one of two problems or a combination of them. Wheels significantly out of balance can suffer cupping, as can car tyres under the control of worn shock absorbers. Cupping can affect rear tyres but it's more commonly seen on a car's front tyres.

As you can see, car tyre tread wear can be the result of maladjustment but wear and damage can give similar results. In the interests of your wallet, if not your life, pay attention to what your car tyres are telling you.

Article Resource

Merityre.co.uk are one of the leading UK independent suppliers of car tyres. Why not visit their website for an online tyre quote or contact your nearest fitting centre.

A Bit on the Sidewall – What Car Tyre Markings Mean

All car tyres have them but not everyone knows what the markings moulded in a tyre's sidewall means. At the very least, it is necessary on many cars to check the sidewall as the tyre pressure to be used can relate to the tyre size. However, this little trip through the meaning of the markings will inform, especially when the time to buy new tyres arrives.

Here, we can use a theoretical, typical car tyre. Let's say it's marked 185/55R13 91 H. Confused already? Don't be, things will become perfectly clear! Take the tyre markings one by one….

185 – This is the width of the tyre’s section in millimetres, i.e. the width of the carcass of the tyre, not its tread's width. 185 millimetres is a little over seven and a quarter inches.

55 – This figure refers to the tyre’s aspect ratio, which is the height of the tyre height expressed as a percentage of its width. 55 is a low-ish profile but aspect ratios can go as low as 30%. Low profile car tyres grip well and deform little but the cost is reduced ride comfort and poor protection against potholes, kerbs and road debris.
R – This couldn't be simpler. Here, R means radial.
13 – This number refers to the diameter of wheel the tyre will fit. Why this is expressed in inches rather than millimetres isn't clear but it is standard practice.
91 – This is the tyre load index, a code for the maximum load capacity of the tyre when driven at its maximum rated speed. The figure 91 means a rating of 615 kilograms.
H – This final marking shows the tyre’s speed rating. This H rating means the tyre can cope with extended use at a maximum speed of 130 miles per hour (210 kilometres per hour). The highest possible speed rating is Z. Car tyres thus marked are capable of maintaining 150 mph (240 kph).
There are numerous other markings on a car tyre's sidewall, some of which are for the tyre fitter's information. For example, if the tyre has a specific direction of rotation, there will be an arrow. A 'TWI' marking denotes where the tread wear indicator(s) are moulded into the tyre's tread. A coloured dot will show the tyre fitter where the tyre casing should sit on the wheel in relation to the valve. There will also be ECE (not EEC) type approval markings, possibly special construction markings, such as M&S (Mud and Snow), and a maximum pressure marking.
One marking that could be of interest to you is the DOT code. The last four numbers in this show the tyre’s date of manufacture. Four-digit codes began after 2003 so if your new car tyre has the code 2 5 0 9, it was made in the 30th week of 2009. Tyres over 6 years old must never be used.
All very interesting but do these markings matter to you? Apart from the aforementioned tyre size vs. tyre pressure element, the speed and load ratings are extremely important. Why? Because at best, using under-specified tyres is illegal and can invalidate your car insurance. At worst, the wrong kind of tyre can fail and cause a potentially lethal accident at high speed.

Article Resource

Merityre.co.uk are one of the leading UK independent suppliers of car tyres. Why not visit their website for an online tyre quote or contact your nearest fitting centre.