Tyres are your only point of contact with the road surface.
You cannot neglect the condition of tyres or you could endanger not only yourself and your passengers, but also other road users. We recommend that you should check the tyre condition,on a regular basis or at least once a month.
WHY SHOULD YOU CHECK YOUR TYRES?
Did you know that you are not insured when driving on illegal tyres? Worn tyres reduce the performance of your car. Do not forget also that, worn tyres reduce the effectiveness of braking and acceleration, all vital for staying safe .
Every tyre fitted to a motor vehicle or trailer, must be fit for the purpose and be free from any defects which might damage the road or endanger any person. This means the tyre.
• They must be compatible with the types of tyres fitted, to the other wheels.
• They must not have any lump, bulge or tear, caused by seperation or partial failure of the structure.
• They must not have a cut or tear in excess of 25 mm or 10% of the sectional width of the tyre, whichever is the greater and which is deep enough to reach the ply or cord.
• They must not have any part of the ply or cord exposed.
• Check overall condition of tyres including, inner and outer
sidewalls .
• Check tyre tread depth.
• Check all tyre pressures.
• Check for signs of irregular wear, ie: alignment.
• Check and examine the spare tyre.
A tyre can be under inflated without looking flat. To be safe, you should check the pressures regular. To find out what the pressures should be, please refer to your vehicle manual. Pressures should only be checked when your tyres are cold. You must not drive on under or over inflated tyres. This will affect the handling of your vehicle, making it unstable.
The purpose of the tyre tread depth on tyres is, to allow the tyre to grip in the wet. Huge volumes of water on the surface of the road have to be squeezed out by the tread grooves. For example, at 60 mph, with a water depth of only 3 mm, the tyre has to clear over 2 gallons of water per second.
3 mm of water on a rainy day is not unusual. In rain puddles, you will often find as much as 8 - 10 mm. If this water is not rapidly dispersed, the tyre will begin to aquaplane - a sheet of water builds up between the tyre and the road - and a tyre loses all contact with the surface of the road.
This is exceedingly dangerous. The capacity to disperse water is drastically reduced with low and worn tread depth-so carefully monitor the depth on your tyres - YOUR LIFE could depend on it.
The legal limit for car tread depth is, 1.6 (across 75% of the tyre). However, the deeper the tread the more grip you have. It is important not to ignore the minimum tyre tread depth, it is illegal. For each illegal tyre, a fine of up to £2500 and 3 penalty points per tyre, may be received.
Is your tyre evenly worn across the surface? If not then it could be due to over or under inflation. If it is only on one edge, it could be due to a misalignment of your tracking and needs to be checked and rectified.
Unbalanced wheels can cause an annoying shake, it can also cause mechanical damage. We balance wheels as normal practice, after fitting new tyres.
Check the condition of your spare tyre, on a regular basis. It is not illegal to have a worn tyre stored in your vehicle. However, in the case of a puncture, if fitted to the vehicle it could be illegal.
It is better to be safe than have problems at the roadside.
At Chorley Street Garage, we carry a large stock of tyres, including, premium tyres of various brands. We are competative with our prices and we have the latest tyre fitting and balancing equipment needed, to include alloy wheels and performance tyres.
You can now choose your tyres, online at, Chorley Street Garage.
We will help you choose the brand and also the size of tyres that will meet your needs. Our aim is to help save you money on tyres. Just call in and view the prices, on screen, for yourself, or telephone 01204-521850 for details.
