It doesn’t matter what kind of vehicle you drive; without a good set of car tyres, you’re going nowhere. The tyres on your car, truck, or SUV are section to the road. They can affect everything from your traction to your handling to your fuel economy.
Unfortunately, despite their importance, most people drive on their tyres longer than they should. This decreases the performance of your vehicle and places you in a dangerous situation. In fact 2017, 738 traffic fatalities occurred in your vehicle’s performance.
Knowing how long your tyres should last can help you avoid tire-related problems when driving. It’s also important to know the signs that indicate it’s time to buy a new set. This guide will help you learn everything you need to know.
How do we Make Tyres Last?
The short answer is that it depends on many factors. The type of tyre you buy, the climate you drive in, your driving style, the tyre’s rubber compound, your vehicle, your maintenance routine, and the tyre’s overall age will all influence how long a tyre will last. The tyre age is another critical factor that determines how long a tyre will last. Tyres wear down over time; it’s inevitable. However, driving with bald tyres is a risk, and you should be very careful before you decide to take that step.
A general rule is that a tyre should last about four to five years or 60,000 to 75,000 miles. You may fit the year threshold first if you don’t drive often. If you drive many miles, you may hit the mileage threshold long before the year’s guideline.
Different Types of Tires
There are four general categories of vehicle tyres: all-season, summer, winter, and all-terrain. The type of tyre you buy and the climate you drive them in will influence the rate at which the tyre wears away. For example, all-terrain tyres are meant for driving off-road. If you regularly drive with these tyres on pavement, they’ll wear away more quickly than the manufacturer intended because you’re using them in a manner they’re not designed for.
Tyre Tread and Treadwear Ratings
Tyre manufacturers must put a treadwear rating on each of their tyres. Tread depth is a critical measurement that indicates when car tyres should be replaced. This is a number rating given to the tyre based on its performance against a control tyre. The control tyre is assigned a treadwear rating of 100. Monitoring tyre tread is essential for ensuring the safety and performance of your vehicle.
Each tyre is then given a rating based on its comparative performance against the control tyre. So a tire with a rating of 200 will have taken twice as long for the tread to wear away as the control tire. If you’re curious about your tyre’s tread wear, you can look it up on the NHTSA database of tyre ratings. It also should be printed on your tyre, but depending on the age and wear of your tyre, it may not be legible.
Most tyres on the market today have a rating in the 201-500 range. The higher your tyre’s rating, the longer it should last.
15 per cent are rated below 200
25 per cent are rated 201-300
32 per cent are rated 301-400
20 per cent are rated 401-500
6 per cent are rated 501-600
2 per cent are rated above 600
Driving Style
The more aggressively you drive, the faster your tyres will wear. Aggressive driving can lead to worn tyres, which compromise your vehicle’s safety and performance. This is because you’re putting more demand on them. If you’re the type to step on the gas when the light turns green, you’re wearing away your acceleration tyres faster than necessary. To see if this is happening to you, take a look at the tyres that receive power from the engine. If you have a front-wheel drive car, it’s your front wheels. Rear-wheel drive cars will have you looking at the back tyres.
When your acceleration tyres are noticeably more worn than your other tyres, it means you’re accelerating too hard. The tires are working extra duty to grip the road as increased energy and torque are applied to your vehicle’s acceleration.
This same sort of accelerated wear happens if you brake hard too often. This also requires the tyre to work harder and thereby wear away faster.
Rubber Compounds
Not all tyres are built the same. Using the same tyres that your car came fitted with can ensure optimal performance and safety. Different rubber compounds are used depending on the tyre’s final intended use. Summer and performance tyres tend to have softer rubber compounds designed to excel in higher heat. Unfortunately, the softer rubber also tends to wear faster.
Winter tyres tend to have harder rubber compounds because the rubber needs to stay functional in frigid temperatures. While this means you’ll have more complex wear, it does put the tyre at a bigger risk of chipping. This is especially true of winter tyres for snow and ice driving. Take them for a more significant rise on asphalt, and you’ll find them wearing away incredibly fast.
Climate
Colder temperatures result in a drop in tyre pressure. Don’t forget to check the condition of your spare tyre, especially if you live in extreme climates. This means that those living in colder climates are at greater risk of driving on under-inflated tyres. At the other end of the spectrum, those living in extremely warm climates are at risk of their tyre pressure rising and creating excess friction with the road.
The sun’s heat is also damaging to rubber. If your vehicle is in the sun for long periods, your tyres could dry out and become brittle.
Maintenance Routine
Do you have a routine for maintaining your tyres? If not, you might not get the entire helpful life out of them. Including the spare wheel in your maintenance routine ensures that it is in good condition when needed.
Start by checking your tyre pressure and treading regularly. This will ensure even treadwear across each tyre individually and as a set.
It would help to have your tyres balanced, rotated, and aligned. Balancing your tyres helps them rotate smoothly and evenly, reducing the shake and vibration that can happen when your tyres aren’t balanced properly. You should permanently have newly installed tyres balanced.
Aligning your tyres will maximize their life by ensuring the tread wears evenly. It adjusts the tyre to the correct tilt so that it has the ideal contact patch with the road. When you let it have, a misaligned car will veer off to the right or left. This means that only one side of the tyres is in contact with the road because the tyres aren’t tilted or aligned correctly.
Finally, you should regularly rotate your tyres. Rotation prevents irregular and uneven wear, extending your tyres’ life. Your vehicle owner’s manual should tell you how often and how your tyres should be rotated. Most manufacturers recommend rotating your tyres every 5,000 to 8,000 miles driven.
How your tyres are rotated will depend on your specific vehicle. For a front-wheel-drive car, the two front tyres are shifted straight back. Then, the rear passenger is moved to the front driver’s side position, and the rear driver’s side tyre is moved to the front passenger position.
Rear- and four-wheel drive vehicles should have the rear tyres shifted straight forward, while the front tyres will flip sides and move backwards.
If your vehicle requires different-sized tyres, then rotation isn’t possible.
Inflation Rate
If your car tyres aren’t properly inflated, they will wear away faster than they should. Tires are designed to operate at peak performance within a specific range of air pressure. This range of air pressure also matches the size and weight of your vehicle. This enables your tyre to air pressure Orangeville when driving down the road. An adequate air pressure range matches your vehicle’s size and weight, allowing you to inflate your tyres to the manufacturer’s recommended air pressure. This will ensure even contact with the road across the tyre’s width.
Too much air in your tyres will result in the centre of the tyre bulging out. This means the middle of the tyre will wear away long before the outer edges even begin to see wear. Too little air in your tyres will cause the outer edges to wear faster than the middle of your tyre. When either of these situations happens, you’ll have to replace the tyre sooner than its expected useful life. Driving on a tyre where half the tread is missing is dangerous.
The other component with air pressure is to check that you have the right amount of air pressure for the vehicle you put the tires on. One of the many jobs your tyre has is to help cushion your vehicle’s ride. A softer rubber coon which impounds and a more considerable wall help create this cushioning. Sometimes, people think less tyre pressure will also help with this. It doesn’t.
Instead, it creates excess stress on the tyre’s sidewall, which can cause the tyre to fail much sooner than it should. You should also consider this if you want to change your car’s wheel size. Changing the wheel size will change the size of the tyre required for your vehicle, which can also change how your tyres perform and wear.
Age
Tires are only good for so many years. Tyre age is a crucial factor to consider when buying new tyres, as older tyres may not perform as well. So when buying tyres, you want to buy a set that is more recently manufactured. Buying four or five-year-old tyres means you’re buying tyres that are nearly at the end of their useful life despite never being used. Old tyres have leached polymers and oils that keep the rubber soft and pliable. This makes the tyre prone to cracking and shredding apart.
Another time when age becomes an issue is when you’re storing a vehicle. Tires are meant to be driven on. Vehicles that sit for too long can suffer from tyres with flat spots or dry rot. If you have a vehicle in storage, you want to drive it periodically or store it without the weight of the tyres.
Check Ycares Today.
Now that you know how long tires last and what causes them to wear, you’re ready to take care of your vehicle’s tires. Check the tread depth to ensure your tyres are still safe to use. Head out to your garage or driveway and take a look at the tread on your tyres. Monitoring tyre tread can help you determine when it’s time for a replacement. If it’s in good condition, then check the air pressure. This will help you confirm that the tyres are in good condition.
If you find that your tyres are worn and ready for replacement, don’t wait. The sooner you replace them, the safer you’ll be when driving on the road. Once you have new tyres on your vehicle, keep this article in mind so you can take care of them and get the full, useful life out of them.