How to Check Your Tyres At Home
Posted on: 6 February 2018
If you take your car to a reputable tyre dealership, a thorough inspection of your vehicle's tyres can be conducted. This is done by raising your car up on a hydraulic platform that allows the inside and outside of each tyre to be looked at closely without any danger of the vehicle falling onto the inspector. Although it is sometimes tempting to raise your car up on a jack so that you can get a better view of the underside of your tyres, you should never do this. Jacks can give way and if your head is underneath your car when one does, then you are at risk of considerable injuries. What checks should you make at home to your tyres and how do you do so safely?
Confirm Tyre Tread Depth
To be legal on the road, your tyre tread depth should be maintained. Buy a gauge and insert it into the tread of each tyre at several points around them. This will ensure sufficient tread is maintained all around the circumference. Remember to move your car back or forth a little so that you can reach the underside of each wheel, too.
Inspect the Outer Wall
The outer walls of tyres can start to show signs of ageing. This is usually due to exposure to the sun which can cause the compounds in the tyre's rubber to stratify. Look for signs of the outer wall either bulging or presenting what look like deep scratches. If you notice either, then it is time tyo replace the offending tyres with new ones.
Inspect the Inner Wall
Looking at the inner portion of each tyre is tricky. This is because it is usually dark and hard to get down low enough to see. Rather than raising your car on a jack, park it such that the left-hand side wheels are raised up on kerb from which they cannot slip. This will give you enough room to shine a torch on them and look for the usual signs of wear. Once you have looked at the left-hand wheels, manoeuvre your car so the other side is temporarily raised. This way, you can give visual inspection to the inner portion of the right-hand tyres, too.
Check Inflation
Although many drivers only check their tyre pressure once in a while when they fill up, electrically powered pressure meters and pumps are relatively cheap to buy making the job easy to do anywhere. Owning one means being able to check your tyres' level of inflation at convenient moments at home, not just when you happen to pass a filling station.
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