How long should car tyres typically last?
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Your driving style has a lot to do with how long your tyres should last. So apart from no burnouts, what else can you do to extend the life of your tyres?
A car tyre can travel from 10,000kms to up to 50,000kms before needing replacement, although some tyres may last longer. But this is not the only indicator that you should trust. Age, driving style, and climatic conditions all play their role.
Want to know what condition your car tyres are in? Take a look. A healthy tyre has good visible tread with wear spread evenly over the surface of the tyre. There shouldn’t be any visible signs of cracking or crazing in the tread grooves or side wall.
How to know when your tyres need changing
No tyre expert can tell you exactly how long a tyre will last, however a rough guide is to take a look at your warranty. While there are many tyre manufacturers who warrant their tyres for five years for manufacturing and material defects, many experts recommend replacing tyres after six years. This is because the compounded effects of water, air and sunlight age the rubber in the tyres, making it brittle.
But the best way to work out if it’s time for a change is to look at the depth of the tread. All cars will have a tread wear indicator moulded across the tyre in the bottom of the grooves of the tread. A tread of any less than 2mm is getting close to the legal limit and will need to be replaced. This is because the performance of the tyres is dramatically reduced when the tread is worn down, particularly in wet weather.
There are several factors that will increase wear and tear on tyres. These include:
- Bad driving – If you perform stunts like burnouts, aggressive cornering and braking you can expect to wear your tyres down quickly.
- Covering long distances – Clearly, if you drive a lot and cover a lot of territory, your tyres will wear down more quickly. Make it a point to check your tyres at the end of every trip and, if necessary, pay a visit a local tyre shop.
- The position of the tyres – Front tyres will wear faster than rear tyres because of the movement of steering. This is why it’s important to rotate the position of your tyres to ensure they wear evenly.
- High speed – Increases heat and wear on the tyres.
- Excess load – Increases wear and tear.
How to extend the life of your tyres
It is possible to extend the life of your car tyres by taking a few simple steps:
- Store the car away from direct sunlight will minimise the damaging effects of UV rays on the rubber.
- Check that each tyre is wearing similarly and ask your mechanic to rotate the tyres at each service.
- Check that the wheels are correctly aligned.
- Drive carefully.
- Don’t overload your car.