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Car tyres are wonderfully resilient things, explains motoring journalist Iain Robertson, but they have to tolerate so many motoring foibles that simply checking the legal tread depth is only the start of tyre care. While you might find it unusual that I am starting this story by relating to caravan and trailer tyres, I have very good reasons to do so. Holidays are when we prepare our mobile motor homes, or trailers, often for the long haul to a fabulous location. The carpets get vacuumed, the surfaces are all cleaned and the cupboards are restocked. However, to do little more than kick the tyres and check their pressures is foolhardy indeed. Quite often, the family caravan sits unattended, on hard-standing, or in a back garden, seldom turning a wheel since it was last parked up. Only a very few careful owners will remove the wheels and place their ‘vans’ on blocks. They have good reason to do so, as this is often the only way to check that the tyres and the wheels are in good order. Clashing with kerbs, or rocks at the roadside and even in camp-sites, can slice a rubber tyre and buckle a wheel. However, a lot of the damage, no matter how good are your driving skills, can occur on the inside edges of the wheels, which are out of your normal line of sight and can be too readily overlooked. A cut in a tyre sidewall is a weakness, as well as being illegal, if not replaced. However, a nasty knock can also create a blister in the sidewall, which will lead to a blow-out, the effects of which can be very scary, especially at motorway speeds, with all the family on-board. Yet, it is also worth highlighting that rubber tyres age. They crack and become weak with advancing years (an all too familiar tale!). A visit to a Mr Clutch Autocentre is a good start to placing a sensible safety ring around your caravan, or trailer. You see, Mr Clutch also services and replaces worn, or damaged, vehicle tyres, at highly competitive rates. Its friendly and skilled staff will show you the problem areas, while also providing a cost-effective solution. Much the same applies to your car tyres. We seldom think too much about mounting kerbs outside schools, or on shopping trips. After all, we think that we are doing the right thing by parking off the roadway. However, the damage, however slight, that might be incurred can have longer term implications and expensive alloy wheels can be both difficult and costly to replace, especially when fitted with attractive, ultra-low profile tyres. Tyres are wear items. Yet, we still need to take care of how we use them and frequency of use does play its part in maintaining both legal requirements and higher safety levels. Mr Clutch will do its part in keeping down your car running costs but, if you want to avoid falling down a money pit, you need to take some additional care too.
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