Safety and Comfort Lets find out
There is no denying in the fact that the tyres are the most ignored parts in the vehicles. While most car owners go gaga over the features and the way a car looks, the tyres remain the unsung heros of a vehicle. Why? Well, the tyres are only contact patch between the road and the vehicle and is critical in maintaining the grip. Without the proper grip, any vehicle would spin off and go out of control. How tyres are important the safety of the vehicle as well as the comfort of the passengers? Let's find out.
Even though the tyres take up a lot of space in the car's frame, each tyre's contact area with the ground is less than the size of your palm at any given time. It is critical to ensure that the tyre is in top physical condition to ensure optimum grip from the road surface. The small contact patch of the tyre to the ground affects everything from braking, traction, handling, steering and comfort. At high speeds, failure of the tyres can cause massive consequences.
Tyres are designed to get maximum grip from the surface at any situation. Be it soaking wet or slippery, a tyre will try to gain maximum out of the situation to provide maximum traction. All the road going tyres get grooves or treads that work in many ways and these are one of the most important part of the tyres. The treads on a tyre wear out over the time and after a few thousand kilometers, the treads become shorter. Treads on the tyre maximizes the grip on the road surface. The grooves interlock with the road surface to provide the best grip possible. During the wet road situations, the treads ensure that the water is dissipated quickly from the tyre's surface, which in turn helps in maximizes the wet road grip. It should be noted that older tyres with smaller grooves are more prone to experience aquaplaning than new tyres. One should always keep an eye on the tyre's surface for the depth of the treads. Anything below 1.5mm is considered as dangerous.
Also, it is important to know that only the grooves do not ensure that a tyre is safe. It also largely depends on the life of the tyre. The main ingredient of the tyre is rubber and over a period of time, the rubber hardens. Hard rubber provides a much lesser grip and can cause the vehicle to skid under hard braking, hard cornering and quick acceleration. All the tyres come with a shelf-life and one should consider checking the date of manufacturing when buying a new tyre. If the vehicle is lying idle for more than a couple of years, changing tyres should be considered even if there is a plenty of tread left on them.
Tyre inspection is important and there should be a visual inspection of the tyres every now and then. A quick look on the tyre's sidewall can reveal a lot about it. Any cut marks or bulges are danger signs and the tyre should be replaced immediately if any of such signs occur on the tyre. Bulges can be manufacturing defects and can be replaced under warranty but one should not use a tyre with a bulge regularly, especially for high speed drives. Sidewall cuts are very dangerous too Sidewalls of a tyre flexes a lot and any cut on it weakens the structure considerably. A lot of flexing can cause the tyre burst and the vehicle go out of control.
Maintaining the optimum tyre pressure is also an integral part in the safety of the tyre. Right amount of tyre pressure ensures that the tyre works normally. Overinflating the tyre can cause less amount of traction on the roads as the contact patch between the tyre and the road reduces. Under-inflating the tyre causes the tyre to flex considerably and heat up quickly. It can even cause the tyre to burst. Under filled tyres are also more prone to aquaplaning. Overfilling and underfilling the tyres are also not very comfortable for the ride. It is always important to follow the manufacturer's recommended tyre pressure.
Comfort can also be hampered by the extra weight on the vehicle. Overloaded vehicles put extra amount of pressure on the tyres and they can burst under the load. It is always advised to not fill in extra people in the vehicle. More people than the number of seats can cause serious issues in the tyres. Also, due to the load, the suspension and the tyres do not work as they should and the level of comfort deteriorats considerably.
By Sugandha Singla October 20, 2018 at 05:43PM
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