Tyres Matter

These days it seems that everything is pitched against the motorist. More rules and regulations than you can shake a stick at, yet we still make every effort to stay safely on the road and that’s the point of this article. It may be tempting to cut corners and try to save money by making do with your car as it is and that is understandable, but a car that isn’t serviced properly will not run efficiently and may, in time, even prove dangerous.

The first thing then is to ensure that your vehicle gets maintained by way of an approved car servicing garage and MOT test centre. The second thing is to ensure your tyres are up to standard, that way you will stay safely on the road. The trouble is, tyres wear out and, on roads that often resemble the surface of the moon with debris everywhere, can get damaged by pothole strikes and the like. So how do you ensure your tyres are up to the job?

Repairing Tyres

Yes, this can and is done routinely and opting to repair, rather than replace a tyre, is understandable. However, some kinds of damage could put you and your passengers at risk, and replacement may be the only option. Tyres aren’t cheap as you well know and even a decent budget tyre with labour costs (if it’s not already costed into the price as is often the case), will be fairly expensive. Top echelon tyres can be frighteningly costly. With this in mind, it's understandable that owners want to repair rather than replace whenever possible. But what makes a tyre unrepairable and what kind of damage can be repaired?

So Can I Repair My Tyre Or Not?

Well, as with so many things in life: it depends. If the damage occurs in the central 75% of the tyre, a repair is usually possible provided there’s sufficient legal tread. If it occurs in the ‘shoulder’ area, you should get a new tyre fitted as the ‘shoulder’, the section between the central 75% and the sidewall, is as vulnerable as the sidewall itself.However, parts of the shoulder are actually reinforced with a steel belt, while the actual sidewall is usually just rubber. With this in mind, some owners may be tempted to repair damage to the shoulder, especially if it's close to the central 75%. That said, you must always go by the recommendations laid out by the manufacturer, because, as ever, safety is paramount. If in doubt it is best to take the problem to your local professional garage who know the rules and pitfalls of tyre repair and can advise accordingly. No reputable tyre fitter or garage is going to take the risk of repairing damage to this borderline area. British Standards specifically prohibits repairs outside the central 3/4 of the tread - which excludes the sidewall and much of the shoulder area.

Even A Nail?

Yes, it’s possible to fix a tyre with a nail in it, but only if the damage is, again, in the central seventy-five percent of the tyre. Also, the puncture must not be more than 6mm wide, and there must be no internal damage. Regulations state that a tyre must not have any of the ply or cord exposed internally or externally plus of course, the rest of the tyre must be in good condition with no bulges, cracks and the like.

What About Sidewalls?

A tyre’s sidewall is not reinforced, unlike the central area and flat part of the shoulder zone which is. This means that if an object pierces the sidewall, it will compromise its structural integrity, which will put you, your passengers, and other road users at risk. That’s why driving with a damaged sidewall is a very bad idea indeed. A damaged sidewall could lead to a blow out, which is when there is an explosive loss of tyre pressure. If this happens, it would be very difficult to control your vehicle, potentially leading to a collision, with all the risk to human life that entails. Unlike a slow puncture, as tends to occur in the central 75% of the tyre, a blow out (often related to sidewall damage) is immediate.

Old Tyres Expire

Aged tyres should be replaced even if they appears fine. Similarly, if you have a spare tyre that has not been used before, but is more than 6 years old, it should not be fitted. This is because tyre quality break down over time, due to factors like exposure to oxygen, ozone, heat and UV light. Older tyres can be brittle and lack flexibility both of which could spell problems down the road, namely an inability to deal with road strikes potentially causing punctures and deflation. The information printed on the tyre wall gives you its age. Know how to interpret that.

Internal Damage

It’s not really possibly for the average motorist to know if there’s any internal damage which is why it is recommended that a professional garage checks it out, since it’s impossible to see the inside of your tyre from the outside so it's not easy to determine if there’s any cord/ply damage. However the clues are there if the tyre has been driven on while flat or underinflated or if there are any visible bulges or bubbles on the sidewall. Further, watch out for irregular or uneven tread wear or any soft spots or distorted tyre shapes. This all points to damage you can see by eye. The offending tyre needs to be removed and inspected by someone who knows what they are doing.

So yes, modern motoring is fraught with rules, some of which are certainly questionable, but that’s beside the point. Even way back in the golden age of motoring, safety always came first. Nothing has changed in that regard.