Maintaining Truck Tyres

Did you know that you should service the tyres and wheels on your car as often as you service the oil, filters or brakes? Many people do not understand this and think that once those wheels and tyres have been fitted, that they will be "good to go" until they need new covers. To a certain extent this may be true, but it may mean that you are buying new tyres much more often than you should be, simply because they have not been readjusted properly. What do you need to know about this issue?

Off the Vehicle

When a tyre is first fitted to its wheel, the combination will need to be balanced so that there are no imperfections or vibrations when the vehicle is in use. In other words, a certain amount of ballasts may need to be fitted to the periphery of the wheel so that both the wheel and the tyre can spin in harmony without any "wobble."

On the Vehicle

However, that is only part of the equation, and the new wheel/tyre combination has to be adjusted when it is fitted to the vehicle. In other words, it needs to be aligned carefully so that it will track down the road properly, provide the driver with the proper amount of control and, crucially, save as much rubber as possible.

Of course, a rubber tyre will naturally degrade due to friction, but it is supposed to last for a certain number of kilometres in a hypothetical situation. This is based on the tyre being properly aligned so that it does not favour one side or the other and, consequently, wear down more quickly than it should.

Triple Alignments

This is quite a complex area, and a technician will need to adjust the way that the wheel and tyre is presented to the vehicle in three different areas.

• Firstly, it should never sit perfectly square, or at 90° to the road surface, but should lean slightly inward towards the top. This is known as negative camber and helps to ensure that the tyre does not scrub out towards the edge.
• Secondly, it will need to be adjusted in relation to the steering mechanism so that it will present as little resistance as possible and can turn effectively as and when needed.
• Thirdly, the combo will need to be adjusted so that its toe angle is either outward or inward, and the technician will use specialised tools to determine this reading.

Recheck

All of this work will be done when you get new tyres fitted but you will need to take the vehicle back in periodically so that these angles can be checked once again. If you do, you'll find that you get much more value for money out of those new tyres.

To learn more about tyre alignment, contact an auto mechanic in your area.