In this post, we shall take a look at the top 5 tyre maintenance tips to follow this summer to enhance the safety of your vehicle. Note that these tips are valid for cars, as well as two-wheelers. During each season, there are some specific measures we need to adopt in order to maximize our safety and the health of our vehicles. These are healthy practices which can make all the difference in the end. Let us delve deep into habits which you should inculcate to remain safe during the upcoming summer season.
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Top 5 Tyre Maintenance Tips for Summer
Avoid Air Overfilling and Underfilling
The first critical aspect of tyre pressure is air overfilling or underfilling. As the names suggest, when you fill more air in the tyre of your vehicle than recommended, it is called overfilling and vice-versa. The user’s manual of every vehicle clearly mentions the ideal tyre pressure. In fact, these can be different for front and rear tyres in some cases. Regardless, it is imperative that you strictly adhere to the directions and guidelines issued by the manufacturer. They have done intense research to come up with the exact number for tyre pressure. Hence, following that is a great reference point. Overfilling and underfilling can cause rapid wear and tear at particular points in the rubber of the tyre. In fact, it could even be dangerous to drive in such conditions. Hence, you must avoid both of these scenarios.
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Summer Air Pressure
The user’s manual also directs the vehicle owners about the different tyre pressures depending on the weather conditions. During summer, the atmospheric temperatures are high. While driving, the temperatures rise further as high heat is produced due to friction. If you overfill air in the tyre, it is possible that the tyre might burst under hard acceleration. This is due to the fact that heat causes the air molecules inside the tyre to expand. Hence, they exert pressure against the rubber. If the summer air tyre pressure is not maintained, the expansion could be fatal due to a tyre burst. In fact, we see so many accidents during summer due to this very reason.
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Nitrogen Filling
You must’ve heard about filling Nitrogen gas in the tyres instead of regular air. The reason is connected to the previous point. Regular air expands with the rise in temperature. However, Nitrogen molecules are bigger than Oxygen molecules. On top of that, they don’t expand with temperature. Also, the regular air leaks from the tyres with a rise in temperature even if the vehicle is parked. That is also avoided if you use Nitrogen. Therefore, the issues of leakage and expansion due to high temperatures are avoided by using Nitrogen. While it is recommended that you completely deflate the tyre before filling Nitrogen, you can also mix it with regular air if it is not readily available everywhere.
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Tyre Treads
The most direct way to measure the condition of automobile tyres is to analyze the wear and tear on the treads. Generally, if the treads are worn out, the vehicle will start losing grip and traction. Also, the braking power of the vehicle will be impacted negatively. Due to a flat surface, the tyres will skid under hard braking and even hard acceleration. One could simply measure the depth of the tyre treads. Mostly, it should be at least 2 mm. Anything lesser than that would warrant a tyre replacement. Unfortunately, people don’t pay enough attention to this aspect and keep using the tyres until the wires come out. That is extremely perilous. Such tyres could get damaged at any time. If you are driving at a relatively high speed and the tyre breaks down, the vehicle will get uncontrolled and potential consequences could follow.
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Tyre Nozzle Cap
Finally, the last point on this list of the top 5 tyre maintenance tips for this summer is the tyre nozzle cap. Many vehicle owners deem the tyre nozzle cap trivial. However, it is an important component of a tyre in a car or two-wheeler. While the obvious application is to prevent the air from leaking, it also serves a purpose which can prevent damage in the long run. It protects the Schrader valve of the tyre from dust, water and other environmental elements. In this manner, the air inside the tyre is maintained for a longer period of time.
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Author’s Note
All these points are quite easy to follow. In fact, you can take care of all these aspects yourself without consulting a professional. You just need to keep an eye out for the company-recommended tyre pressure for various scenarios and ensure that the mechanic fills the air accordingly. Moreover, you should keep track of the tread-wear. These two are the most critical areas for safer riding and driving during the summer season. These are great habits to inculcate.
