When inspecting your tires, remove any nails or stones that are lodged in the tread before they penetrate the tire and cause a puncture. If, when removing a nail, it appears that it has already punctured the tire, leave it alone, mark the puncture, replace the tire with a spare, and have the punctured tire repaired as soon as possible.
Regularly inspect your tires for cracks and bulges, especially on the side surfaces. Periodically remove the wheels and clean them from dirt on both sides. Inspect the wheel rims for rust or other damage. Aluminum wheels are often damaged by curbs when parked; steel wheels can also bend. If the damage is serious, you will have to replace the wheel.
When installing new tires, they need to be balanced: balancing must be repeated as the tires wear out, and also in the event of loss of balancing weights. Unbalanced wheels themselves wear out quickly and contribute to the wear of suspension and steering components. Wheel imbalance manifests itself as vibration at certain speeds, usually around 50 miles per hour. If the vibration is felt only on the steering wheel, this means that only the front wheels require balancing. If the entire car vibrates, then the rear wheels are also unbalanced. Wheel balancing is performed by many workshops.
Tread depth - external inspection
Branded tyres have indicator strips that become visible when the tread depth decreases to 1.6 mm. The position of the indicators is indicated by triangular marks on the sidewall of the tyre.
Tread depth - manual check
Alternatively, the tread depth can be measured with a simple and inexpensive device known as a tread depth indicator.
Checking tire pressure
Check your tire pressure regularly. When checking, your tires should be cold. Do not check the pressure immediately after a long drive, otherwise you will get an incorrect result.
