When it comes to having your car serviced you have the routine down. You are on top of regular oil changes, you change the brakes when needed and you check your transmission fluid on a regular basis. But what about your tires? Have you been neglecting them?

Many use the old penny test to check the condition of their tires. For those unfamiliar that is when you compare the tread levels on the tires to where they line up with the penny, but there’s more to it than that.

So here’s what you need to know about tire maintenance in order to ensure that you have tire safety in mind.

Tire Safety & Ride Quality

The condition of your tires actually directly affects your car’s ride quality. More specifically, tires affect your car’s handling, ride, braking ability, and overall safety. On a monthly basis, it is recommended that you check your tires to make sure that they have the correct air pressure, tread depth, balance and wheel alignment. As a luxury car owner, you should be able to keep a close eye on the air pressure and tread yourself. However when you take your car in for regular auto service at Foreign Affairs Auto, you will want to consider adding a wheel alignment, tire rotation, and balancing to the list of things needed to be checked.

Sitting Idle

If you have a vehicle that sits in storage or it is a vehicle that you don’t drive on a regular basis, then the chances are that sitting idle for an extended period of time has had an effect on the quality and safety of your tires.

For example, an idle car can lead to degradation of tires and suspension; the suspension rubber will deteriorate when not driving. Rubber needs to be used consistently to remain in top condition. So when you take your vehicle from idle to full use, after long periods of being idle, then your tires can experience cracking and flat-spotting quickly.

Tire Age

Ample tread depth or not, old tires can be a significant hazard on the road. The reason that tire age is a factor in the effectiveness of your tire and tread really comes down to how rubber degrades over time. As with any rubber, cracks can begin to form as the rubber ages which can occur on both the visible and unseen areas of your tire. Eventually, the rubber on the tire can cause the steel belts in the tread to separate from the tire itself.

Tires that are 6+ years then they are classified as unsafe. If you’re not sure how old your tires are, like if you purchased your vehicle used or you got your tires secondhand, you can look for a code on the sidewall of the tire that can indicate how old it is.

Now when you are considering how old your tires are, it’s important to note that this doesn’t only include the 4 tires that are currently on your car. But this also includes the spare tires that are under your trailer or on the back of your G-Class Luxury SUV. These tires are still considered in use, this means that these tires will also lose their effectiveness and safety after about 6 years.

This is a reason to be quite wary when purchasing used tires especially since you often will not be able to determine how old the tires actually are.

Other Factors

Other factors that affect your car’s tire quality and safety:

  • Temperature- More specifically heat and sunlight, can expedite the aging process of your car. If you live in a particularly warm climate, then it’s best to keep a closer eye on the condition of your tires.
  • Storage- Just because your tires aren’t mounted onto a vehicle doesn’t mean that they don’t age. While in storage,  your tires can still age, but at a slower pace than if they are on a vehicle.
  • Usage conditions like inflation, driving habits, curbs and rough road conditions and irregular use can all speed up the rate of tire aging.

If you own a boat or trailer, then you don’t want to forget about these tires too.  Often times these are the worst culprit since they are used infrequently throughout the year and are in storage the rest of the time and are sometimes stored outside where fluctuations in temperate and climate can cause rapid aging.

Auto Service and Tire Safety

The safety of yourself and others on the road is of the utmost importance – which is why tire safety and auto service is so important for cars and any other vehicles you might have.

Contact Foreign Affairs:

Foreign Affairs! Schedule an appointment for service. You can find us located at 1681 N Military Trail, West Palm Beach, FL 33409.