How to look after your tyres - tips from Bridgestone

Taking care of your tyres has quite a few benefits, and it’s actually a lot easier to do than you might think!

Thanks to Bridgestone, we’ve got some pretty simple steps you can follow to make sure you get the most out of your tyres.

Bridgestone is rightly recognised as one of the best tyre brands available. They’ve got a huge amount of experience in making the best tyres possible, so they know a thing or two about making sure they can go the distance.

Regular tyre checks

When we say regular, we’re talking weekly. This will help you quickly spot any problems that may be brewing and give you an opportunity to fix them before they turn into big issues.

The things you should be looking for include tyre pressure, tread wear and depth, defects, punctures or cracks. Here’s a quick step-by-step tyre check guide to make things easier!

Get your tyres rotated

Rotating your tyres regularly means that they’ll be able to wear more evenly. Different vehicles use their tyres differently, for instance, some cars wear their front tyres more, whilst some wear their rear tyres.

By rotating your tyres around, it prevents one pair from wearing out much quicker than the other, and will allow you to go much further on a complete set of tyres. Here’s some more info about tyre rotations and why they're important.

Check that your tyres are inflated correctly

We covered this off in the first step, but it’s so important that it deserves its very own section. If your tyres aren’t inflated to the correct pressure, they’ll wear quicker than they should, which means you’ll need to replace them more often.

Also, having your tyres under or over inflated could reduce their performance and actually make your car harder to handle, as well as impact your car’s fuel economy, so making sure that these are right is super important!

You might also want to consider using nitrogen to inflate your tyres. Nitrogen can help maintain the ideal pressure in your tyres by reducing pressure loss.

Check how old your tyres are

When it comes to safety risks, driving on tyres that are too old is a big one! As with most things, tyres become less effective the older they get, even if they aren’t being used. Being exposed to the elements can cause the rubber to degrade, cracks to form and the steel belts inside your tyre to actually separate.

Most tyre manufacturers recommend that you replace your tyres after 10 years, regardless of their appearance.

Get a wheel alignment

Wheels that aren’t aligned properly will cause your tyres to wear more in places that they probably shouldn’t. Not only that, but they can also reduce your car’s handling and braking performance.

An easy way to avoid this is to get a wheel alignment done by a professional every 10,000km or six months. If you’re due for an alignment, you can get instant quotes and book online through AutoGuru.

Get your tyres balanced

When it comes to tyre balancing, also known as wheel balancing, well, it’s all the name really. It makes sure all your wheels are balanced so that none of them are putting excess loading on the steering components. If they are, this can cause uneven tyre wear.

A tyre specialist can balance your tyres/wheels by placing small weights in the required spots. They’ll use a special balancing machine to find out where these spots are. Find out more about wheel balancing.