adminuse. A vehicle’s mechanical condition is the foremost consideration in ensuring maximum mileage from your tyres. The suspension, including parts such as shock absorbers, ball joints, bushes, and bearings, must be in good working condition.
Failure on these parts may result in mechanically-induced tread wear, negatively impacting on the tyre’s mileage and life.
It is, therefore, critical that all worn-out suspension parts be replaced, as they reduce tyre life and adversely affect vehicle control.
Wheel alignment
In general terms wheel alignment adjusts all tyres so that they roll in a straight line.
It consists of adjusting the angles of the wheels so that they are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the ground, thus maximising tyre life and ensuring straight and true tracking along a straight and level road.
Wheel alignment can be affected when tyres and/or suspension parts are changed, or when a vehicle’s body is accident damaged.
The primary angles are camber, caster and toe. When these angles are out, the wheel either becomes tilted or slanted with the tread not touching the ground properly resulting in irregular wear. A wheel affected by alignment wear will have excessive tread wear on one side of the tyre as exhibited in the attached diagram.
We always recommend four-wheel alignment incorporating both front and rear wheels. Alignment is done using special equipment that is capable of reading the wheel angles and relative positions. GT Radial dealers can assist you with this service that helps you save money by getting maximum benefit from your tyres.
Wheel balancing
Wheel balancing is a process of attaching metal weights to a wheel component, particularly the rim, to ensure that the centrifugal forces are countered and acting equally on the wheel component.
In tyre and rim manufacture, it is possible that some areas may get more material than others thereby creating heavy spots with the opposite becoming weak spots.
As the wheel is in motion, the heavy spot tends to pull the lighter spot resulting in the tyre bouncing on and off the road or vibrating, giving an uncomfortable ride.
This can be seen through uneven tread wear as some portions of the tread wear faster while the others wear out slower.
Speeding
Speed kills. It does not kill people only, but can be detrimental to the life of the vehicle parts, including tyres.
Heat is one of the worst enemies of tyres as it softens rubber and affects the bonding of tyre components, in addition to increasing the rate of tread wear.
Excessive speed generates a lot more heat within a tyre.
Some heat radiates from the wheel drum, generated from excessive braking. All tyres are manufactured to perform to specific speed limits.
Exceeding these limits exposes tyres to excessive heat build up beyond their capacity to radiate and can result in component break up.
All tyres are manufactured with the speed symbol on the sidewall and it normally comes after size description and load index, for example, 185/65R14 86H GT Radial.
The letter H is the speed symbol.
The table below gives speed symbols and the corresponding speed limit.
It should be noted, however, that even as the tyres are capable of high speeds, drivers should remain guided by the official road regulations.
Load
Vehicles are primarily designed to carry load, however, there are limitations to their load carrying capacity. Excess load beyond the manufacturer’s specifications can be damaging.
Load increases stress levels within the tyre, increasing heat build up and ultimately leading to tyre failure. Load must also be evenly distributed on a vehicle to ensure that all wheels share the load equally to avoid overloading some tyres. A balanced load also makes vehicle control easy. Just like speed, tyres are designed to operate at certain load limits.
The accompanying table shows the load indices and the corresponding weight.
General good driving habits
It is imperative for drivers to observe general good driving habits for lives to be saved on our national roads.
Examples include smooth take-off and braking, observing speed and load limits and taking caution when driving over hazards, among other things. We have all witnessed drivers spin or lock their wheels at take-off and braking sharply and excessively due to road hazards and overspeeding leaving skid marks, which are evidence of excessive tread wear.
While such behaviour may attract attention and create excitement, it is certainly bad for the tyres and the general safety of the public. Cautious driving is recommended at all times.
When driving over hazards, it is important to reduce speed and negotiate through the hazard carefully.
The impact of hazards on tyres is minimal at low speed compared to that at high speed.
The danger with such an attitude is that you expose your tyres to impact damage that can break the casing cords and/or breakers.
Conclusion
There are many more aspects to tyre care and maintenance, but it is our hope that the little appreciation you have acquired in this series will assist you to go a long way in improving your handling of tyres, saving lives on the road as well as saving money in your pocket.
As you prepare to make your journey to the various destinations during this festive holiday, we encourage you to thoroughly check your tyres for pressure, sidewall cuts and penetrations, and irregular tread wear.
Corrective measures, where defects are noted, should be taken before you embark on your journey to eliminate possible causes of downtime and/or accidents on the way.
Once all your checks have been completed, we recommend that you set off well on time to avoid having to speed to make up time.
I have noted that travelling early in the morning while it is cool will help to eliminate heat and fatigue.
During this time, the road is also cool which means your tyres will not be affected by heat and therefore they will have less tread wear and last longer. At this point the cycle reaches a full circle with repeated use and as your tyres wear out and you will need to replace with another GT Radial.
GT Radial Tyres are available at all reputable dealers nationwide.
May I take this opportunity to thank our customers, both dealers and end-users alike, for the support they afforded us during the year. Given that the year has not been smooth sailing, I am glad to say through your sacrifices, and trust in us and our products we have managed to keep providing you with a great product at affordable prices.
It is with great hope and excitement that we look forward to serving you in the coming year.
We at Maxiprest Tyres, the official distributor of the international award-winning GT Radial brand and Triangle truck and bus tyres, hope that you have a cheerful and safe festive season, and we look forward to continuing driving you safely into 2013 and beyond.
Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
Online Reporter