Ageing in tyres is a continuing process. You cannot stop it even if you store your tyres in the recommended environment. However, your tyres will age slowly if you store them under the specified conditions. These specifications include a dry and cold environment, absence of sunlight etc. According to experts, properly stored tyres preserve their qualities and features up to 5 years. According to leading tyre brands, you should change your tyres after 6 to 10 years because of their chronological age.
You can determine the time to change your old and worn Car Tyres Milton Keynes by looking at their sidewalls. The sidewall of car tyres has a manufacturing date. The last four numbers of the date of manufacturing date identify the week of manufacture, and the last two numbers indicate the year of manufacture. You have to consider this information to make a good decision afterthe recommended time.
Tyre Maintenance And Ageing
However, Tyres chronological age is specified clearly by manufacturers, but determining the exact date is not easy for a car owner. Tyres do not expire on a certain date like medicines. You must consider a lot of factors, such as maintenance, storage conditions, visual inspections, and driving conditions.
Car owners should visit a car service center for proper assistance because it is sometimes tough to assess the internal condition of tyres. Car tyres may seem healthy from the outside, but internally they become weak in some cases. Therefore, a proper checkup of tyres is essential to make a good decision.
Tyre manufacturers design high-quality and durable tyres. Therefore, you can expect to use them for many years. You must maintain your tyres properly to utilize their maximum potential.
If you consider driving conditions, proper rotation, and maintenance, you can use your tyres for an extended period. Loading capacity, speed rating, tread wear, sharp and hard objects on roads, and weather conditions are common factors that you should look at to preserve your tyres.
Tyre Ageing Occurs When You Do Not Use Your Tyres
Tyres may perform well and preserve their features for 5 to 10 years if you properly store them. There are a lot of factors that influence tyre ageing.
Let us look at some factors:
Oxygen:
Oxygen is the major environmental factor that damages car tyres. Air is not only outside the tyre, but it is inside it as well, in the form of compressed air. Compressed air has 21% oxygen. Therefore, tyres wear out quickly due to oxidation.
Sunlight:
Your tyres will experience wear and tear slowly if you store them away from sunlight. Sunlight has UV radiation that tyres may absorb to experience permanent damage. This type of damage is called photodegradation.
However, tyre manufacturers use carbon to slow down the process of photodegradation, yet tyres experience it in direct sunlight.
Ozone:
Ozone is oxygen with an extra atom, taking place due to pollution. Tyres wear out quickly if they are exposed to ozone for a long time. Therefore, keep your tyres away from potential sources of ozone.
Heat:
Heat is also a damaging factor. Your tyres will degrade slowly if you store your tyres in a cold environment.
Humidity:
Tyres should be stored in a dry place. Any kind of humidity will affect health condition of stored tyres.
These factors are important in tyre maintenance as well. You should maintain your car tyres according to these factors.
Save your tyres from direct sunlight, heat, friction, and other factors to preserve them for a long time. Moreover, avoid reasons that cause blowouts in tyres. Additionally, try to avoid sharp and hard objects on the roads as well.
Why Do Old Tyres Show Cracks?
Rubber is a biodegradable substance. Therefore, it experienced degradation naturally over time. Old tyres generally show small or wide cracks on their sidewall because their rubber material becomes old and brittle due to its natural tendency. Sidewalls may be small in the initial stage, but they become wide and deep in the next phase.
Cracks on sidewalls make tyres unable to provide proper grip and traction. As a result, they may slip at any time on dry or wet roads. Moreover, Sidewall cracks may be a reason for damage to the internal parts of car tyres. Therefore, you should change your cracked tyres as soon as possible.
Repair work for cracks is not a good idea, mechanics cannot treat the entire rubber of car tyres. However, you can hide cracks with masking options, but these aesthetic options are not enough to fix the problem.
When Should You Replace Your Old Tyres?
As mentioned above, chronological age of car tyres is 6 to 10 years. You can use your tyres for a long time if you drive your car always in good conditions and maintain your tyres effectively. You have control on the second option only. Changing driving conditions is not possible for any car driver.
Old tyres generally show some warning signs. You should detect these signs to change your tyres as soon as possible.
Sidewall cracks are a clear sign that your tyres are ageing. They are not able to meet your expectations in the future. Moreover, they are risky because of blowouts and poor gripping power.
Similarly, tyres are dangerous if they are experiencing tread wear. Bald tyres with cracks are highly risky for car drivers. Moreover, bald tyres are illegal if the tread depth is below 1.6mm.
Bulges are also not good on the sidewall because of the risk of blowouts.
Do not ignore these signs and change your tyres promptly. You can instantly change your tires with Mobile Tyre Fitting Milton Keynes, a new approach to changing or replacing car tyres. This approach is helpful if you do not have time to visit a garage or your tyres have a blowout or puncture.