Ever got anxious about damages to your car tires? This is something that most of us face sleepless nights about. In most cases, tire damage steadily increases and leads to catastrophic consequences at critical moments. Tire damage is something that should be nipped in the bud before it is late. If you are anxious about any damages to your tires, you should take steps to recognize and combat the same. Your car tires will take loads of beating each time you drive your car on roads. This has nothing to do with your driving abilities; regular driving will wear your tires down and this will eventually lead to irreparable damages.
Failures of your tires while you are driving can lead to problems which you would ideally be better off without. This will probably leave you isolated in a strange and unfamiliar location without any servicing center or other help nearby. You should know how to check your tires properly and investigate whether they are in proper shape or not. You can also think of consulting a professional mechanic or car expert with regard to checking your car tires for signs of any damage. However, there are little things that you can do yourself which will definitely help you recognize the problem without visiting your service station or local mechanic. You should also know how to keep your tires in reasonable running condition.
You should always make sure that the tread on your car tires should never go down below at least 1/16th of one inch or approximately 1.6 millimeters in total depth. If you drive quite regularly on surfaces that are wet and slick, you should have depth about twice of the figure mentioned above. How will you ensure this? You should snap up a tire gauge for measuring your particular tread depth just like it is done by car experts and other professionals. This is one of the oldest measures in the book and this will help you get an idea of the kind of tread depth that still remains on your car tires. This is an inexpensive activity and will not require you spend a single penny from your pocket once you purchase the gauge.
You can even go for the penny test. How is this done? You have to take a coin and insert the head downwards into the tread. If the entire head of the coin is still visible, this is an indicator of not possessing sufficient tread. You should immediately take your vehicle to your local mechanic and enquire about purchasing a new tire set at the earliest. Today’s tires come with many benefits and features that were usually absent in the tires of yore. There are special tread wear indicator bars present on today’s tires. These are usually built into car tires and are visible or invisible depending on the condition of your tires. Once the tread wears out, these bars start appearing steadily, sprouting out as flat rubber bars which run in a perpendicular direction to the tread direction of the tire. In case more than one or even two of these bars appear on a particular tire, this is a surefire indicator of low tread. This is even more clearly observed on tracks that are wet, especially after you move through puddles. The penny test mentioned earlier will help you check the depth carefully and you should also think about replacing your present set of tires in case the bars start appearing.
Tread does not involve all potential problems with tires. These problems can also arise with regard to the sidewall as well. However, you will find that checking sidewall problems visually can be an easy task which does not require much effort on your part. You should always investigate the sidewall thoroughly with a view towards detecting any cuts or other tracks. These are usually visible as grooves which are visible enough as far as the naked eye is concerned. This is one aspect that is supremely avoidable as far as you are concerned. Once these sidewall cracks start looking more alarming, you should take the vehicle to a service station or repair outlet at the earliest. This will help you avoid serious problems before they get out of hand. Prompt tire replacement is necessary in these cases.
There is often a little weakening observed when it comes to the external surface of car tires. What does this lead to? This usually leads to severe blisters or unnatural bulges which keep extending at an outward level from the remaining surface of the tire. This necessitates prompt repairing and even replacement if required. These weak areas can lead to sudden blow outs and will be problematic if you are driving on the highway or in secluded areas without service stations nearby. Always look for these little bumps and blisters very thoroughly and extensively in order to save yourself future hassles with élan. A little care and caution on your part will help you stop yourself from landing in a soup owing to these cuts and blisters.
You should also keep an ear out for vibrations while driving. While a little vibration is but natural when driving on poor quality roads, you should have an idea of the desired amount of vibration that is acceptable. Excessive vibration is a surefire indicator of some tire related anomalies. Most probably, this can mean disruption of balance or alignment of your tires or the gradual weakening of the shock absorbers. These internal problems usually cause higher vibrations and you should be alert with regard to picking up the same. If you are an experienced driver, you will know when your car vibrates too much and this will help you detect internal tire damages with ease.
If you are not and still feel unnatural vibrations emanating from your car while driving, take your car to the nearest mechanic as this is a sure sign of damages to your car tires. A little care and caution will help you check your car for tire damages successfully!