Most of us devote some of our time to ensuring that our cars are maintained to a certain standard. Our car maintenance regimes will normally encompass servicing and cleaning, and we will either do most of the work ourselves, or we will entrust it into the care of others.
But one of the most overlooked aspects of many cars is their wheels and tyres. These simple, non-mechanical objects are arguably some of the most-crucial components of any car, and without them we would not be able to drive anywhere!
Why is it important to maintain wheels and tyres?
Wheels and tyres go hand in hand and perform a number of functions on all cars. Firstly, they enable our cars to drive everywhere; without any wheels and tyres, there would be no way to propel our cars.
Car manufacturers also select specific wheel and tyre sizes to complement the size of the car they are to be fitted to. For example, if you were driving around in a Range Rover Sport, you wouldn’t expect to drive around on 13-inch wheels!
Tyres are obviously wrapped around all the wheels on every car on the road, and ensure that we have comfortable and safe journeys.
They help our cars to stay on the road thanks to the tread patterns and rubber compound used within them, while the profile of each tyre ensures that our jaws remain intact whenever we drive over bumpy surfaces.
If we do not maintain the wheels and tyres on our cars properly, we can end up with a car that is unsafe and uncomfortable to drive, not to mention illegal!
How to look after your wheels
Unfortunately, all wheels are vulnerable to wear. However, the good news is that there are certain steps you can take to ensure the longevity of your wheels:
- Mind your parking – one of the classic ways of damaging your alloy wheels is by “kerbing” them. In a nutshell, each time you park too close to the kerb, you will almost always end up scratching the side of your wheels. By ensuring that you don’t park too close to the kerb, your wheels will be scratch-free;
- Check the ingredients of wheel cleaning products – a lot of people aren’t aware of this fact, but some alloy wheel cleaning products contain acids that are designed to remove any dirt and grime stuck on them, but they can also destroy the clear lacquer coat on the wheel surface, which will then encourage corrosion;
- Clean your wheels regularly – give your wheels a good clean with an acid-free solution and a firm alloy wheel cleaning brush.
How to look after your tyres
As with the first point I made on how to look after your wheels, don’t park so close to kerbs that you end up scratching the tyre sidewalls. Sometimes kerbs can contain sharp objects that can cut into the tyres, resulting in the need for new replacement tyres!
Mark from the GK Group also recommends purchasing only premium brand tyres, as they will last longer, provide a better grip on the road, and, therefore, have a lower total cost of ownership.
Finally, check your tyre pressures on a weekly basis. That will help you to identify and address any tyres that might have slow leaks from punctures, for example.
Featured Image Source (credit: derekadk)