Tyre Care Pays You Back, Starting With Pressure

Finding: the largest saving in tyre ownership is not a cheaper tyre but a longer-lasting one, and the habit that most reliably delivers it is also the dullest: keeping the pressure where the vehicle’s maker says it should be. Everything else on the list helps, but it helps at the margin.

The tyre care ranking below runs from the habit that costs least and protects most, to the one that matters only when something has already gone wrong. It excludes the price of the tyres themselves, which varies by size, brand and vehicle too much for any single figure to be useful.

The habits side by side

The right column is the honest one. Each habit has a limit, and knowing it stops you spending money on the wrong fix.

Pressure comes first, and it is cheap to check

An under-inflated tyre flexes more with each rotation, runs hotter and wears faster on its outer edges. An over-inflated one wears down the centre and gives a harsher ride. Both cost you tread, and an under-inflated tyre also adds to fuel use.

The correct pressure is stated by the vehicle’s maker, normally on a placard on a door pillar or inside the fuel flap, and in the owner’s manual. It is not the number printed on the tyre’s sidewall, which is the maximum the tyre can hold and not the pressure the car wants. Check it when the tyres are cold, because pressure rises as they warm up on the road, and adjust it for load if the manual says to. The manual also gives the interval for checks and any change for a heavy load or a long trip, so follow that and not a number from an article.

Rotation and alignment: even wear is the goal

Front and rear tyres wear differently, since they do different jobs. Moving them around the car on the schedule in your owner’s manual evens that out, so the set reaches the end of its life together and not one tyre at a time. The manual also says whether your tyres can be rotated at all, because some staggered or directional sets are limited in how they can be moved.

Rotation will not repair a tyre that is wearing unevenly because the suspension is out of line. The signs of that are the car pulling to one side, a steering wheel that sits off-centre, vibration at certain speeds, and a pattern of tread wear that is heavy on one edge. Potholes, kerbs and rough roads can nudge the settings over time. A check of alignment and balance is worth doing when those signs appear, and what wheel balancing is and why it matters explains the balance side in plain terms.

Repair a puncture properly, or replace the tyre

A puncture does not always mean a new tyre. A hole in the central tread area can often be repaired, and the usual professional method involves taking the tyre off the rim and inspecting it from the inside before sealing it from within. A quick plug from the outside, while tempting, does not let anyone see what the object did to the inner structure.

Where a repair is not appropriate is just as important. Damage to the sidewall or the shoulder, a large hole, or a tyre that has been driven on while flat usually means replacement, because the structure that carries the load has been compromised. Repair limits are set by tyre makers and industry standards, so ask the technician what applies to your tyre and why, and ask to see the inside if you want to be sure. A technician who explains the decision, whichever way it goes, is doing what a good one does. If you are unsure how to judge a workshop’s advice, a guide to whether your mechanic is helping you save money covers the questions worth asking.

Drive in a way that lets tyres last

Hard braking, fast acceleration and sharp cornering remove tread. None of this means driving slowly. It means looking ahead so you brake earlier and more gently, and taking corners at a speed that does not make the tyres squeal. Loading the car well also helps, since excess weight loads the tyres further, which is why the manual gives a separate pressure for a full load.

Storage and spares

If you keep a spare set or a spare tyre at home, store it clean and dry, out of direct sun and off a hot surface. Sunlight and heat age the rubber and can crack the sidewall. A spare that has lived in the boot for years should still be checked for pressure and age before you rely on it, since a spare’s tread is rarely the problem and its condition often is.

Where the money really goes

The fair counterpoint to this whole list is that some tyres wear out faster no matter how carefully you treat them, and tyre choice does matter. A tyre matched to your vehicle and your driving will do better than one chosen on price alone, which is the subject of how to choose between winter, all-season and standard tyres in Australia. But a better tyre is not a substitute for keeping the pressure right, and when you are deciding where the next dollar goes, the cheap habits come before the expensive purchases.

Check the pressure this weekend, on cold tyres, against the placard.

Sources: vehicle owner’s manual and tyre placard for the pressure, rotation and load recommendations specific to your car (document supplied with the vehicle); tyre manufacturer care and repair guidance (specific to each tyre make and model; no single page applies).