Merityre Article Archive

It’s that time of year again. The days are short, the nights are long, precipitation is up and the mercury’s dropping. Your car’s tyres may be nearly new but there are limits to what they can do. So here are a few tips to help preserve life and limb even in the worst conditions.

There are no such things as magic tyres, despite some people’s believing that their car tyres have prestidigitatory properties. In fog, for example, your tyres won’t stop you instantly, just because you haven’t seen the line of cars up ahead in time. Equally, your tyres can’t suddenly give you enhanced grip because you need to swerve around a similar obstacle. Drive only as fast as you can see.

Rain is another condition that requires caution. Standing water in particular can be extremely dangerous.  Car tyres can dispose of surprisingly large amounts of surface water. However, when there’s too much to shift, they ride on the water surface instead. This is aquaplaning; in short, it equals no grip. Drive only as fast as your tyres will allow.

Floods are an altogether different matter. Hitting a large body of water standing a third of the way across a road at speed might give you vicious steering pull but you’ll get through if you allow for this. In deep water, your car tyres will cope admirably but your car might not. Many cars nowadays have a low-mounted air intake. If this inhales water, the engine will be wrecked. Don’t enter floodwater unless you’re certain of its depth. Keep to the crown of the road where the water will be shallowest. Keep the engine revving, to prevent water entering the exhaust and drive slowly – you have a car, not a boat. If in any doubt at all, find another route.

Snow and ice and car tyres don’t always mix. Winter tyres are a boon and it’s worth considering acquiring a set, especially if you live somewhere that experiences these conditions regularly. The usual, all-round car tyres can’t get a grip on ice and snow, even if they’re gracing a 4X4. When conditions are really bad, you may need to consider some additional hardware. ‘Snow socks’ are a new idea. These tough, woven tyre covers are easy to fit, quiet and grippy. However, they don’t last long on tarmac. The alternative is snow chains; not so easy to fit but far tougher, if noisy.

Above all, winter driving requires caution. Grip is always compromised to some extent and if you try to drive normally, losing control becomes a very real possibility. Remember also that your vision is likely to be compromised as well. Remove snow or ice from your car’s glass before moving an inch and always think about stopping distances. Modern electronic aids, such as traction control and anti-lock braking systems help but they’re no more magic than car tyres are. Should the worst come to the worst, and vision and grip both come under the general heading of appalling, you don’t have a choice. Stay at home!

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We’ve all driven past them. Tyre bays might offer the best prices, two car tyres for the price of one, special deals on four-tyre sets and all manner of other tempting offers. This is, of course, just advertising and, as Joseph E Levine said, “You can fool all the people all the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough.” Now, it’s true that car tyres are often a distress purchase but even so, knowing what makes is good tyre bay is knowledge worth having.

So, what makes a good tyre bay? The answer is a two-word one: products and services. Here, it is not only the range of products and services but their quality that matters. Here’s what to look for in your car tyre-buying expeditions.

It’s obvious that a tyre bay is there to sell you car tyres. What you need to know first is whether the tyre bay is going to sell you new tyres.  If you can, take a look at the stock on the shelves – you’re looking for the DOT codes. If this has three digits, walk away – four-digit codes came in after the year 2000. The way to read a four-digit code is easy to understand. The first two figures represent a particular week in the year denoted by the last two figures. So, a tyre marked 5009 was made very near the end of 2009. Car tyres have a six-year shelf life – and you can always check the tyres’ age before they’re fitted.

Speaking of tyre fitting, tyre bays have this down to a fine art. Given that car wheels and tyres live in a grimy environment, some grubbiness is acceptable even in a good tyre bay. However, untidiness should be frowned upon. If the tool cabinets are well organised, they’re liable to be well equipped. Similarly, tidy floors and a lack of overflowing bins and dead tyres underfoot denote an efficient workshop.

Wheel alignment is a service offered by many tyre bays. The days of the old Dunlop optical alignment gauge, effective though it was, are long gone. If you see computerised, four-wheel geometry wheel alignment, maybe with the involvement of measurement using lasers, you can rest assured that you’re in a good tyre bay. Remember that poor wheel alignment is a car-tyre eater.

Much the same goes for wheel balancing, which is an essential part of tyre fitting. On unbalanced tyre/wheel combinations, car tyres work less well and wear out faster. In the (very) old days, a balancing kit that involved sitting a wheel and tyre on top of a milk bottle was touted. Computerised wheel balancing is the norm nowadays – accept nothing less.

Many tyre bays are no longer transfixed, work-wise. Putting the tyre fitting and wheel balancing machinery into a van, along with an air compressor, equals mobile tyre fitting. You may take advantage of this service and some tyre bays offer a ‘call and inspect’ service, particularly for car fleet operators.

While there are other services offered by tyre bays, such as air-conditioning checks, the above suggest that a tyre bay offering these goods and services is up-to-date as well as on the ball. This in turn suggests that one very important element of tyre supply and fitment will be available and reliable. Never forget that the staff in a good tyre bay can advise you about choosing the best car tyres for your needs.

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Merityre.co.uk are one of the  leading UK independent suppliers of car tyres. Why not visit their website for an online tyre quote or contact your nearest fitting centre.