Merityre Article Archive

All car tyres are round, black things with sidewalls and treads, and they need to be inflated from time to time. So, they’re all the same, aren’t they? In fact they aren’t all the same and to say they are is just like saying all houses are the same.

This is about the difference between common aspects and specifics. True, every house has a roof, doors and windows but a two-up, two-down terraced property and a mansion, though they’re both houses, are clearly very different. The same goes for tyres, albeit less obviously. Here, we can consider five distinct types of tyre, and these will illustrate the differences.

Standard or all-season tyres are the most commonly fitted type of car tyre. As their name implies, they’re the jack-of-all-trades of the tyre world. They work well in both dry and wet conditions. They aren’t too noisy on most road surfaces and their fairly hard rubber compound gives them a long life. These factors represent compromises, of a kind that work for most requirements – and for most drivers.

Performance tyres, on the other hand, balance certain factors in order to enhance certain characteristics. Car tyres of this kind don’t last as long as standard tyres but their softer compound yields better grip. Similarly, performance tyres don’t appreciate colder conditions, which is why they’re often called ‘summer tyres’. They also don’t readily suffer significant wear. Performance cars – and demanding drivers – deserve performance tyres.

Winter tyres are car tyres for use when snow and ice are liable to be encountered. These tyres have a more marked tread pattern, which is great for giving the best grip and preventing snow and ice from packing in the treads’ grooves. They are also made using compounds that remain flexible even when thermometers are reading low. Some even have integral metal studs to maximise grip. The costs for these specific characteristics are twofold. First, winter tyres create a lot of noise, even on smooth roads. Second, in normal conditions, they wear very quickly and can damage the road surface. The kind of conditions where you’d need winter tyres are obvious, as is the fact that they can’t be used year-round.

All-terrain tyres are the top of the range tyres for unfriendly conditions. Their big, open, chunky treads can grip on loose surfaces such as gravel and sand. Knowing that such surfaces are liable to be in rough country, manufacturers make all terrain tyres with tougher, stiffer sidewalls so they’re less susceptible to damage from potholes and debris. These tyres are sturdy and generally long-lived, at the cost of a considerable noise level on smooth tarmac. There is a still more specialized tyre for adverse conditions. Mud tyres have an extremely large tread block pattern and are suitable for use only in muddy conditions.

Car tyres of this kind are often used on the kind of four-wheel drive vehicles that are actually taken on rough roads; this includes 4x4s that specifically go off-road regularly.

Finally, run-flat tyres are car tyres that are capable of still being used even though they’re no longer inflated because of a puncture. Now appearing on more and more modern cars, they allow you to retain control of the vehicle despite being at zero pressure. However, they can run flat only for a given distance and at reduced speed – your car’s handbook will have the necessary details.

Which type of car tyres you choose to buy is clearly a ‘horses for courses’ decision, largely depending on what you want from the tyres. However, should you be in any doubt, the staff at any good tyre bay will be happy to give you their professional opinion on what type will be best for you.

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Here’s something about car tyres that’s both interesting and thought provoking. Take a look at the sole of your shoe. Why? Well, you may not know it like the back of your hand but here, you’re looking at your shoe’s sole for a reason. The area of the sole of your shoe is approximately the same as that of a car tyre’s contact patch, the amount of tread it has on the road at any one time. Multiply this area by four and it represents all that’s stopping your car, and anyone on board, from sliding off into the scenery when travelling.

Now, say your car weighs one tonne. The car tyres’ four contact patches therefore have to keep one tonne on the straight and narrow. Or do they? In fact, they must often cope with greater loads. When you drive round a corner, you feel centripetal force (not centrifugal force) pushing you towards the outside of the car. Your car tyres create this force and while it’s unlikely that your car can create a cornering force of 1g, it might well do so under very heavy braking. So, during accelerationg, cornering and braking, that four shoe soles’ area is coping with keeping you on the road, rain or shine, summer or winter.

The law says that the minimum depth of the tread on your car tyres must be 1.6 millimetres, across the central ¾ of the tread around the complete circumference of the tyre. If you haven’t this amount of tread on your tyres, you might get 3 penalty points on your driving licence and a £2,500 fine. This is per tyre, so multiply it by four for the worst-case scenario.

There is, however, an even worse case scenario that affect car tyres. RoSpa, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents carried out some tests. On a hot rolled asphalt surface, a car with barely legal tyres travelled 36.8 per cent further before stopping. On a smooth concrete surface, the same car went 44.6 per cent further. Unsurprisingly, RoSpa recommends tyres be changed when the tread depth falls to 3 millimetres.

There’s another risk that worn car tyres create in the rain. You may have winter tyres, summer tyres, asymmetric tyres or run flat tyres. All have treads and when the treads are badly worn, their contact patches lose their ability to quickly dispose of surface water. When a tyre aquaplanes, it’s riding on a thin film of rainwater it can’t get rid of. Then, you have no appreciable grip and therefore very little control. There’s a memorable black and white picture, taken when Dunlop Tyre’s technical team identified aquaplaning in 1962. In it, a Mark Two Jaguar is shown at speed on a wet test track. White segments painted on its tyres’ walls show that the front tyres aren’t rotating at all – scary. Car tyres may have improved since then but like its cause, aquaplaning remains.

So, running your car tyres down the hilt tread-wise may be economical but it could cost you far more than you thought possible. Happily, you can keep a check on your tyre treads’ health. All tyres have tread wear indicator bars moulded into the tread pattern. When – or preferably a little before – these are no longer lower than the tread surface, it’s new tyre time. You can also buy a tread depth gauge from most motor parts outlets. Failing all else, you can check the tread depth using an old 10 pence piece. The ring of dots around the rim indicates 1.6 millimetres when the edge of the coin is pushed into the remaining tread. However, Matthew Dent didn’t retain this element when designing the ‘Royal Shield’ coins introduced in summer 2008.

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In the past, people used to change car tyres by hand. Some still might but this arduous procedure has been semi-automated for a long time. Here’s how professional tyre fitters change a car tyre, using a tyre machine.

 As the tyre to be replaced will probably have been in service for a long time, it’ll be reluctant to part from its wheel. The beads, where they abut the wheel, will be firmly stuck and this is where the tyre machine’s first weapon comes into play. After unscrewing and removing the valve to let the air out of the tyre, the fitter will position the wheel in the jaws of the bead breaker. One press of a pedal and the bead is ‘broken’ – separated from its location.

 Next, the fitter will lay the wheel flat on the tyre machine, clamping it into place. Since wheels – especially alloy ones – are both delicate and expensive, the equipment is designed to not touch the wheel rims directly. Having levered the upper bead upwards over the wheel rim, the fitter will engage the hooked head of the tyre machine under the bead. Another pedal press sets the machine rotating, to skin the tyre off the upper rim. Repeating this process for the lower bead separates the old tyre from the wheel.

 A little preparation of the wheel comes next. The old valve body is sawn off inside the wheel and if necessary, the inner faces of the wheel rims are cleaned. The old wheel balancing weights are removed. Having pulled a new valve into place with a special tool, the fitter will coat the wheel rims and the new tyre’s beads with a special compound. This is a lubricant that eases the fitting process though sometimes, a material with sealing properties may be needed.

 The penultimate stage of tyre fitting is essentially the reverse of the removal of the old tyre. The fitter uses the tyre machine to force the new tyre on to the wheel, bead by bead. Finally, a compressed air line is used to inflate the tyre, until its beads pop outwards to seal against the inner faces of the wheel rim. Throughout the process, the tyre fitter has done the controlling, while electricity and compressed air have done the heavy work.

 This leaves just the wheel balancing. The fitter will have already positioned the tyre correctly in relation to the wheel, using a coloured dot marking on the tyre. However, balance weights are virtually always required and there’s a machine to help with this task. The tyre fitter will clamp the wheel onto the machine. When the guard is closed and the machine starts, it will take the wheel up to a fixed speed, usually about 200 revolutions per minute.

 Using its onboard sensors and electronics, the balancing machine points out where the wheel weights should be fitted and how much they should weigh. Having fitted the weights – stick-on or clamp-on as appropriate – the fitter will run the machine once more, fine-tuning the balance with other weights if necessary.

 As we can see, what used to be an hour or more’s hard work is done in minutes. What’s more, if you watch the proceedings from the waiting area, you’ll know exactly what’s happening in the tyre bay!

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Car tyres can be punctured and go flat. When it’ll happen is unpredictable, although it’s never at a convenient time, but you can change a wheel quickly and safely. Details follow, assuming you have the necessary equipment; you may wish to acquire some of the items mentioned.

There is a cardinal rule about wheel changing – never attempt it on the hard shoulder of a motorway or busy road. If reasonably close to an exit or turnoff, you can ‘nurse’ your car to a safe spot but if you can’t, call your breakdown service. Trying to change a wheel inches from a busy traffic lane is far too dangerous to contemplate.

Your safe spot needs to have a firm, smooth surface. Park your car, turn on its hazard lights and set up your warning triangle. Then find the equipment you need. Your car will have a jack and wheel nut wrench in its toolkit and the spare wheel will be either in or under the car. The handbook will tell you where the spare lives and how to extract it. Before starting, have any passengers get out of the car and stand well away from the car and passing traffic.

And so to work. Ensure your car’s handbrake is firmly applied and that the car is in gear or, if automatic, is in ‘park’. Then, chock the wheel diagonally opposite to the one you must change. Now to position the jack. Place it exactly where the handbook says – nowhere else will do – and raise the car just enough to check the jack is firmly seated. Remove the wheel trim if one is fitted, cutting through any cable ties retaining it. Alternatively, if there are any, remove the wheel nuts’ caps.

Loosening the wheel fastenings can involve applying considerable force. Ensure the wrench engages completely before starting to turn each fastening – they’re usually loosened anticlockwise. The car’s weight stops the wheel turning and all you do now is slacken the nuts or bolts. Always apply force downwards. You may stand up and press on the wrench with your foot but support yourself against the car. If one fastening is an anti-theft locking nut/bolt; there’ll be a fitting you can use with the wheel wrench to loosen it.

Next, jack the car up until the wheel with the flat tyre is off the ground – and never place any part of you between any part of the car and the ground. Now, remove all but the topmost wheel nut/bolt. Then, you can support the wheel, remove the last nut or bolt and take the wheel off. Note that a wheel and tyre combination can be heavy so make sure you lift it with a straight back and a firm footing.

Now to fit the spare wheel. Lift it into place on the hub, align the nut/bolt holes and fit the topmost one. Turn it finger tight then replace the remaining fastenings, also finger tight. Lower the jack and remove it, then fully tighten the fastenings in a diagonal pattern. You can now put the equipment you’ve used – and the offending wheel and tyre – back where it belongs.

All finished now? Not quite. Nowadays, wheel fastenings must be torque tightened to a specific degree. You also need to check the pressure in the spare tyre, adjusting it if necessary; and of course, have the punctured tyre repaired or replaced. The first two tasks should be carried out as soon as possible, for safety’s sake.

Two further points remain. The first concerns making wheel changing as easy and safe as possible. Refinements exist and you may want to take advantage of them, buying a pair of heavy gloves and a reflective waistcoat, and acquiring anything else you might need. You may also want to practise a wheel change at home, when it’s warm and dry.

The second and final point concerns ‘space saver’ spare wheels. Your car may have one and restrictions of speed (usually 50mph) and distance apply to them. In some cars, after a space saver spare is fitted, some dashboard warning lights may illuminate. Some ABS, traction control and automatic gearbox sensors can be confused by the presence of a space saver spare. Once again, your car’s handbook will tell you about this.

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Car tyres might seem to be pretty mundane things but a little research reveals some fascinating facts and figures about them…

The first inflatable tyre was made of leather

In 1887 John Boyd Dunlop developed the first practical pneumatic tyres; not a car tyres but ones for use on his son’s bicycle. However, his December 1888 patent only lasted two yours – Scottish inventor Robert William Thomson had patented the idea in France 41 years earlier.

Dunlop Tyres is the sole supplier of tyres to British Touring Car Championship for 2003 to 2006 and the V8 Supercars Championship from 2002 onward. The company also supplies tyres to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and the American Le Mans Series.

In 1910, the BF Goodrich Company was the first to extend the life of car tyres by adding carbon black to tyres’ rubber compound.

In 1946, Michelin introduced the first radial car tyre.

Car tyres leave their mark. In the US, nearly 50 million pounds of rubber is worn off tyres every week. That’s enough rubber to make 3.25 million new car tyres.

Americans throw away between 240 and 260 million worn car tyres every year. Car tyres make approximately half a million cubic yards of landfill every year in New York State alone.

Not car tyres but truck tyres this time – it takes half a barrel of crude oil to make just one.

In Australia in July 1964, Donald Campbell set a new land speed record and took the car tyre to a new level. His car, the Bluebird CN7, had tyres 8.2 inches (21cm) wide and 52 inches (1.32 metres) high. Each tyre weighed 50 lbs (23 kg) and was filled with nitrogen at a pressure of 100psi. The car reached 403.10 mph.

A top Formula One pit crew can change all four car tyres and refuel in just 3 seconds.

Knowing how to maximize the life of your car tyres isn’t only a simple way of saving money in the long run. Looking after your car tyres also keeps you safe and legal; being neither can be very costly in more than a financial sense.

Run the tyres at the right pressure

This is a good starting point. Too little pressure wears the edges of the tread prematurely, lets the tyres flex too much and can cause overheating. Too much pressure increases the wear on the centre of the tread. Remember that, comfort and safety aren’t the only issues – running tyres at the wrong pressure is illegal.

Make sure your wheels are properly aligned

Misaligned wheels are another sure-fire tyre killer. Misalignment can make your tyres wear unevenly, wear the inside or outside edges and cause problems with both braking and steering. Moreover, a significant amount of such wear means you’ll have to throw your tyres away far too soon.

Drive sympathetically

 Your car may have traction control and ABS but you can still trash the tyres effectively despite them. How? By driving aggressively. Make sure you accelerate as gently as possible whenever you can and use the brakes carefully, not as though every stop is an emergency stop. Don’t forget that unnecessarily hard cornering shortens the life of your tyres. On a front wheel drive car, the front tyres wear more quickly because they have to transmit power to the road, and take steering and braking forces.

Drive slower

Consistently driving fast will wear out your car tyres sooner.

Choose the right tyres

You could get ‘long life’ tyres for your, which wear more slowly though they tend to be a little noisy. Tyres having a softer rubber compound will be nice and quiet and will wear more quickly. Always follow the tyre fitter’s recommendation of the best compromise for your needs.

Always keep your car under cover

All car tyres degrade over time. If you can keep your car in a garage, out of the sun, you can be sure your tyres will last longer. If you see a fine lattice of cracks has appeared in your tyres’ sidewalls after, say, five years, the tyres are unsafe and must be replaced.

Give your tyres a break

Remember that ‘traffic-calming’ measures shorten the life of your tyres but you can help your tyres out by driving intelligently. Always cross speed bumps slowly. Never straddle speed bumps. Instead, make sure that the only wheels on one side of your car pass over them. Keep an eye out for potholes, avoiding them where you can. When parking, make sure you never mount a kerb. Apart from making life easier for your tyres (and your wheels), these actions will prevent your wheels being knocked out of alignment, leading to wear – and possibly worse.

Using these proven top tips means your car tyres will last longer. This means you’ll save money by not having to replace your tyres before their useful life ends.

Have you ever noticed that tyres have moulded markings on their sidewalls? You’ll probably have spotted the maker’s name but does the rest mean anything to you? Can you tell what 205/70R14 88 T is all about? Perhaps not yet but understanding these codes could save your life. Why? If they show your tyres aren’t the right ones for your car you can arrange replacements.

We can start by breaking down the example above; the markings denote the tyre size, construction, and load and speed rating. How? Like this…

205 – This is the width of the tyre’s section in millimetres. The section 205 is a little over eight inches wide.

70 – This is the tyre’s aspect ratio, the sidewall’s height expressed as a percentage of its width. Here, the height is 70 per cent of the width. ‘Low profile’ tyres are fashionable so aspect ratio figures go as low as 30. Ultra-low tyres like this give tremendous grip but you pay for it, in a poorer ride quality and very little protection for your wheels against kerbs, potholes and speed bumps.

R – The next letter indicates the tyre’s construction. Here, R means radial.

14 – This next number is also simple. The figure 14 refers to the diameter of wheel the tyre will fit, in inches.

88 – Not so simple but extremely important. This tyre load index is a code for the maximum load capacity of the tyre when driven at its maximum rated speed. The figure 88 denotes a rating of 560 kilograms. Car tyres need to be correctly rated for load.

T – The last letter indicates the tyre’s speed rating. The letter T means the tyre can cope with extended use at a maximum speed of 118 miles per hour. The top speed rating is Z, which appear on tyres for cars capable of maintaining 149mph and above.

There are other tyre sidewall markings but most are for the attention of the tyre fitter. Markings show the tyre complies with EEC, ECE and US regulations. There might be an arrow symbol showing the tyres’ direction of rotation and there’ll be a ‘TWI’ mark indicating where the running surface’s tread wear indicator lies. There will also be a safety warning, perhaps the country of manufacture, whether the tyre is tubed or tubeless, and coloured markers showing the fitter where to fit the tyre in relation to the wheel’s valve.

All these are largely for the fitter’s information but there’s one marking you’re advised to note. The last four digits in the ‘DOT’ code reveal the tyres’ date of manufacture. Four-digit codes began after 2003 so if you see, for example, the code 3 0 0 8, the tyre was made in the 30^th week of 2008. You should never use tyres over 6 years old but a good tyre fitter won’t fit ‘new’ tyres that are beyond their sell-by date.

It’s true that checking your tyre markings could save your life, simply because underrated tyres could fail, especially under high speed/load conditions. The right tyres could save you something else –under-specified car tyres can invalidate your insurance.

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Your car tyres are all that keep you on the road and in dealing with heat, cold, wet and dry conditions and various surfaces, they have a hard life. Knowing what tyres are made of and how they’re built will help you understand how they cope.

Car tyres are built round an inner liner of halobutyl rubber sheet with additives that help keep air inside the tyre. The next part out is the body ply, which consists of three layers, one of rubber, one of reinforcing fabric and a second layer of rubber. Rayon, nylon, polyester or Kevlar have replaced cotton as the reinforcing fabric and it is the tyre’s one or two body plies that give it structural strength while making it flexible.

Externally, the car tyre’s sidewalls make it resistant to abrasion and chemical attack. Sidewall material includes antioxidants and antiozonants to help maintain strength and flexibility. This goes on in and behind the sidewalls on which you can see the tyre maker’s name and the various code digits that the confirm tyre’s size and rating.

The tyre beads lie at the edges of the sidewalls. They are bands of high tensile steel wire, coated with an alloy of copper or brass to prevent corrosion. The beads, inside their rubber casings, are strong points in tyres. They are what holds it firmly to the wheel and help seal in the air. The apex is the section that joins the bead and sidewall. Triangular in section, it is the cushion between the two.

Now for the belt package, the part that lies beneath the tread. This consists of a two rubber layers sandwiching a layer of steel cords. Here’s where ‘radial’ tyres gets their name; the cords run radially in the package. This steelwork gives the tyre the strength to resist dents from road impacts.

Like the sidewalls, the tread is a visible part of a car tyre. The tread compound is as important as the tread pattern. Tyres made of hard compounds wear well, while softer ones grip the road better. ‘Compromise’ is the watchword.

How are car tyres built? This process starts by wrapping the inner liner, body plies, sidewalls and beads around a special drum. The belt package and tread are then added. During this process, the components are ‘spliced’ together, before the ‘green’ (uncured) tyre is blown up and shaped. These tasks are generally automated.

Now comes the curing process. Though spliced, the various parts of the tyre have yet to be bonded together. This involves applying heat in a mould, to speed the chemical reactions between the different materials. During this stage, a rubber bladder, the equivalent of an inner tube, is used to force the tyre into the mould. Unlike an inner tube, the bladder is filled with steam, hot water or an inert gas. Tyre curing is done at very high pressure – about 350 psi – and at around 350 degrees farenheit. A passenger car tyre can be cured in around 15 minutes. Finally, the tyre is run on a mock road surface, to test for imbalance and local inflexibility. All tyres are visually inspected, some are even X-rayed.

So as this shows, there is more to a car tyre than meets the eye. It’s no wonder car tyres are tough enough for the tough job they have.

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Every year the motorist is faced with the ordeal of the MOT test, unless their car is less than three years old. The purpose of an MOT is to ensure the vehicle complies with road safety and environmental standards. Without it car owners are unable to obtain a tax disc for driving on public roads.

But what does the MOT tester look out for? Is it car tyres or fuel emissions? It can become expensive when the vehicle fails and needs to be re-tested. To help achieve a first time pass, this 10 point checklist highlights the main components that are included in an MOT test:

1. Brakes

The car’s brakes are tested on a ‘roller brake tester’ to assess their condition, performance and efficiency. Brakes that ‘lock up’ when applied may fail. Other areas to watch out for are loose brake pedals and signs of leaking brake fluid.

2. Doors and Mirrors

Ensure the doors open and close correctly, from the inside and the outside of the vehicle. Car locks need to work adequately. Wing and rear view mirrors must be present and in good condition. A cracked wing mirror may result in a fail.

3. Exhaust System and Emissions

The car will need to pass specific exhaust emission requirements, depending on its age and fuel type. The exhaust system should not have holes or leaks, often caused by rust.

4. Car Bodywork

Excessive rust corrosion, damage or sharp edges on the car’s bodywork may result in a fail.

5. Wheels and Car Tyres

The tread depth on a car tyre must be a minimum of 1.6mm. The car tyre needs to be the correct type for the vehicle and have no signs of excessive wear or damage. It is recommended to consult a car tyres specialist to check this. Ensure all the wheel nuts are present as any missing will result in a fail. Spare tyres are not tested.

6. Windscreen, Wipers and Washer

The wiper blades need to be in good condition and the windscreen washer must contain fluid. The windscreen cannot have any large cracks and must have clear visibility.

7. Lights and Indicators

All lights and indicators need to work correctly, including the hazard lights. Check that the headlamps dip to the correct angle and are not loose.

8. Seats and seatbelts

Ensure all seats are secure in the upright position. It is compulsory for seatbelts to be fitted in the front and back of a car. They must be the correct type and in good, working condition.

9. Steering, suspension and horn

All three need to be in good condition and work correctly. Make sure the horn is the right type for the vehicle. Ensure the wheels are correctly aligned and the car tyre pressures are correct, as these can affect the vehicle’s steering.

10. Registration Plate and Vehicle Identification Number

The registration plate needs to be in the correct format, legible and in good condition. Every car used after the 1st August 1980 must have its vehicle identification number clearly displayed.

Lights, brakes, suspension and car tyres are the four most common reasons why a car will fail its MOT. This checklist is intended as a guide to improve your cars chance of passing. If in any doubt we recommend consulting your local garage before taking the MOT test.

As oil prices continue to rise motorists need to find new ways to reduce fuel consumption. By spending an extra 5 minutes at the petrol station, checking car tyres are inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended pressure, fuel economy can be improved by 10%. This means a saving of £10 a week based on a weekly fuel spend of £100. In a year this adds up to a saving of £520, just by having correct car tyre pressures.

Incorrect car tyres pressure causes higher fuel use in two ways:

• Soft tyres increase rolling resistance on the road.
• If one tyre is a different pressure to the rest then there is an imbalance creating increased tyre resistance.

Both reasons make the car engine work harder and use more fuel.

Car tyre pressure should be checked weekly. Merityre Car Tyres has a useful video, providing tips and guidance on inflating your car tyres correctly.

By maintaining correct car tyre pressures money is also saved by:

• Increasing the life of the car tyre. Soft tyres wear faster and their sidewalls are damaged.
• Improving a car’s performance, especially braking and road handling.
• Avoiding a £2,500 fine per car tyre if they are deemed not roadworthy.

Five other suggestions by the AA for saving fuel consumption are:

1. Keep to the speed limit on motorways. Driving 15mph above the 70 mph speed limit increases fuel consumption by 20-25%.
2. Check the best route for your destination before departing. Listen to radio for updates on traffic jams and road closures.
3. Keep a safe distance from the car ahead. Tailgating causes excessive braking and acceleration, which uses more fuel.
4. Don’t drive with a roof rack as this can add up to 10% on fuel consumption. An open window can also disrupt air flow adding an extra 3-6%.
5. Use air conditioning only when really necessary. It can increase fuel consumption by 11%.

These suggestions and correct car tyre pressures will contribute to a small but significant reduction in fuel costs, benefiting the environment and helping to reduce our carbon footprint.