Just like us humans, our cars wear shoes too in the form of tyres. And just like us, their shoes have to be replaced once they have worn out or are damaged. You wouldn’t want to go for a run with holes in your shoes or be at risk of slipping on a wet floor would you?
With that, here are 3 simple ways to check if the shoes of your car need to be replaced.
1. Tyre Treads
They provide traction, they allow water to escape on wet surfaces, they are important.
In Singapore, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) legally requires tyres to be replaced when they reach a tread depth of 1.6mm for safety reasons.
An easy way to know if your tyre treads are too worn out is by looking at the tread wear bars—small horizontal bridges that form between the treads at a lower depth. If the tread wear bars are flushed with your tyre treads, it means the tread is worn to 1.6mm & needs to be replaced immediately.
For a more precise measurement, tread depth indicators could be used.
2. Bulges or Bubbles
One sure-fire way to tell if you need to replace the tyres of your car immediately is if there are visible bulges or bubbles anywhere on their surface. This means that the hard internal frame of the tyre has been damaged, allowing air pressure to reach the flexible external layers.
Such damage resulting in bulges or bubbles on your tyre could be the result of driving over a pothole or driving on low tyre pressure. You should never continue driving for an extended period in this state as the structural integrity of the tyre has been compromised and the likelihood of a tyre failure especially at highway speeds is greatly increased.
3. Age
If you’re reading this now in 2021 & the last time your tyres were replaced was when the iPhone 6 was released in 2015, you might want to head to your workshop for a replacement.
Tyres are made of rubber which naturally degrades over time giving them an average lifespan of 6 years from their manufacturing date. Older tyres are more prone to issues such as hardening & sidewall cracking, resulting in an unsafe drive.
Fortunately, it’s quite easy to tell the age of your tyres. Just look for a 4-digit code stamped on the sidewall of your tyres. The first two digits refer to the week and the last two digits refer to the year of manufacture.
Bonus Tip!
Check that the dust caps on all 4 tyres are intact. As tiny as they might be, dust caps play a vital role in keeping water & dirt out of your tyre valves, eliminating any risk of wear & tear from occurring. They also act as a secondary air pressure seal, preventing your tyres from losing pressure.
This article is brought to you by MoneyMax Leasing, your SMART Automotive Financing Hub.
