Also check it before going on a long trip or when you plan to carry extra load. It is not an adjustment of the tires or wheels themselves. Improper tire alignment can cause your tires to wear unevenly and prematurely. Common irregular tire tread wear conditions from improper alignment include the following:. When you run your hand over the tread blocks, they will feel like saw teeth.
This is often caused by a combination of improper alignment settings, such as excessive toe and caster. One-sided shoulder tire wear: This type of irregular tread wear means the inside or outside shoulder rib of the tread is significantly more worn than the other ribs. Also known as camber wear, excessive positive or negative camber often causes this type of wear.
Race cars use tires without tread because smooth tires provide better traction in dry conditions. If the ground is wet, however, drivers will suddenly find themselves needing the grooved tread that siphons water away from the tires.
Otherwise, water will come between the tire and road surface, causing the driver to lose traction and hydroplane. The tread patterns of a tire are designed to displace water so that the tire and the road maintain contact.
If you only drive on dry, flat ground, you will be fine with a smooth-surfaced tire. Not paying attention to this driving safety detail could land you in legal trouble. By law, motorists in the UK are required to have a tyre tread depth of at least 1. Bear in mind that to qualify as legal, your tyres must have tread of 1. According to Confused. Having tyres with effective grip can significantly lower your stopping distances, making you better able to brake when you need to.
This is especially important when you need to perform an emergency braking manoeuvre. The simple fact is, a good level of tread could make the difference between you bringing your car to a stop safely or colliding with other road users or objects. Although the legal minimum is 1. Tests commissioned by the British Rubber Manufacturers Association and conducted by MIRA revealed that stopping distances can increase significantly once tread depth gets below 3mm.
MIRA carried out tests on five different tread depths ranging from 6. It found that stopping distances started to rise markedly at depths of below 3mm. In a bid to combat this, some premium tyre manufacturers such as Michelin are now developing tyres with deep vertical tread patterns that provide effective braking throughout the life of the tyre, even after the tyre tread depth has reached 3mm. However, tyres must always be replaced at 1.
Tyres with a low tread depth also increase the risk of aquaplaning. This occurs when a layer of water builds between the road surface and the wheels of a vehicle, causing a loss of traction that prevents effective braking and limits handling. The tread in tyres is carefully designed to help disperse water. Tread depth indicators are there so you can visually determine whether you have reached 1. Replace any tyre where the tread ribs become flush with the indicator bars.
Just as vehicles, drivers, and driving habits are different from each other, not all tyres are the same and they can wear at very different rates. For instance, high performance tyres for sports cars wear more quickly than touring tyres for a family sedan. Two common causes of early tyre wear out and irregular tyre wear are improper inflation pressure and out-of-spec wheel alignment conditions.
Not only do vehicle manufacturers specify the inflation pressures for the front and rear tyres to optimise performance for ride comfort, handling and fuel economy, they also take into consideration tyre wear. Proper inflation pressure helps optimise distribution of vehicle load, acceleration, braking, and cornering forces in the tread.
If the tyre pressure is too low, or even too high, the contact patch of the tyre tread is not optimised to handle the wide variety of jobs it is asked to do. Check the pressure in all of your tyres, including the spare, every month. Also check it before going on a long trip or when you plan to carry extra load. It is not an adjustment of the tyres or wheels itself. Improper tyre alignment can cause your tyres to wear unevenly and prematurely.
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