Tyres are a crucial part of any vehicle and must be in real good condition round the year. Healthy tyres play a vital role helping your vehicle perform its best. Handling of a vehicle becomes challenging as its tyres turn old, worn and damaged. Bad tyres lead to many other issues too – like higher fuel consumption and stopping distance of a vehicle, etc. regular monitoring of the health and condition of your tyres is important for every responsible driver and vehicle owner. This is important for driving safely as well as ensuring optimal mechanical performance of the vehicle.
The question that people keep asking is how long you expect a tyre to last. They also want to know whether there is any way to know when an existing tyre needs a replacement. We talked to experts over these matters. Let us see what they have to say in the following sections of this post.
How long you expect a tyre to last
If you expect a numeric figure in term of how long a tyre can last then that is little hard to tell. There is a range of factors that come into play to determine the life of a tyre in term of number of years. Some of these factors include the following –
- An individual’s driving technique
- The type of road condition on which a vehicle is driven most often
- How frequently a vehicle is driven
- The place where a vehicle remains usually parked
- The quality of tyres installed
- The total distance it is driven annually
Each of these factors makes a significant difference to the lifespan of any tyre. Usually, a tyre has an average lifespan between three and ten years. However, automobile experts strongly recommend if a tyre has travelled 20,000 miles, then you should replace it immediately without counting the number of years it is in service. On the other hand, professionally trained tyre repair mechanics near me in London if a tyre is yet to travel 20,000 miles but completed ten years of service then it has to be replaced it with a new one. Taking the gist out of the information above we suggest you should replace your tyres every 20,000 miles of driving or every ten years whichever is earlier.
Symptoms that tell you immediate tyre replacement is necessary
There are certain tried and tested symptoms that show up on their own to tell you an immediate tyre replacement is necessary. If you ever encounter any of these symptoms then you should better get the tyres in your vehicle replaced promptly without caring whether it has travelled over 20,000 miles or older than ten years.
The symptoms include the following –
- A tyre loses air pressure fast
- Cracks appearing in the rubber of a tyre
- A tyre with worn down tread
- While driving at high speed you experience the wheels get wobbly
Fast loss of air pressure says a tyre is aged and has cracks
When a tyre becomes too old and aged it loses its strength and develops cracks. The air inside the tyre may easily escape from those cracks. Air also escapes from around the alloy. If a tyre loses air pressure fast then it could a sign that the tyre needs a replacement. Even new tyres lose air pressure but, in those cases, you inflate a tyre once a month. In terms of loss of air pressure this is the difference between a new tyre and an old tyre that needs replacement.
Cracks appearing on a tyre
Cracks may develop in your tyres because of several reasons. If you leave your vehicle parked for weeks and months together without driving it around cracks are likely to appear warns a mechanic who provides mobile tyre fitting service in London over the years. Even if you leave your vehicle parked in direct sunlight for hours together almost every day cracks may appear. Rubber is by nature pliable and tyres are made from rubber. Thus, tyres possess certain levels of elasticity. When a vehicle is in motion specially formulated chemicals get automatically released to keep the tyres lubricated. When your vehicle is left at the parking lot for maximum time or for days together the tyres do not get the special lubricants and thus dry out faster. Cracks appear on the surface of dried out tyre. The tyres also lose elasticity. These days vehicles left out in open spaces are exposed to UV rays. These harmful rays also contribute to development of cracks.
Worn down tyre tread
Brand new tyres measure a normal tread depth of about 8 mm. This measurement gradually shrinks with time. When you are driving your vehicle, its tyres create friction with the road surface which results in wearing down of tyres including the tread depth. The legal limits of tread depth of tyres is 1.6 mm. You must stay conscious so that the tread depth of your tyres never shrinks below 1.6 mm so that you can have the tyres replaced on time. Tyre experts and automobile mechanics recommend being on the safer side you should replace your existing tyres with new ones when the tread depth goes below 3 mm. the thinner the tread depth of the tyres, the longer distance a vehicle takes to come to stop. On wet or icy surface that distance could even be much longer.
Trained and skilled professionals who provide the service of mobile tyre repair suggest you should keep an eye on your tyres for worn out treads. This is usually one of the initial signs that the tyre needs a replacement.
Wobbly wheels and uneven tyre wearing
While driving especially at high speeds you may experience the wheels are wobbly. This is another indication that your vehicle needs new tyres without any delay. It is important for any vehicle to have balanced wheels. When the wheels are balanced the weight of the vehicle gets even distributed. Tyres wear out excessively when the wheels are unbalanced or the weight of the vehicle is not distributed evenly. When you experience wobbly wheels while driving, you should get into the depths of the problem and try solving it. If you are prompt and proactive in solving the problem you may not have to fit new tyres to your vehicle immediately, suggests a busy mobile tyre fitting professional at 24hr Mobile Tyre Repair London. On the other hand, if you ignore the problem then it is likely to damage your vehicle further very quickly.
