Your tyres singlehandedly connect the entire vehicle to the road. There's no doubt then that you have been extremely safe when it comes to maintaining your tyre life. Your vehicle's tyre condition affects everything - performance, fuel efficiency, ride quality and more. In most mass market cars, factory-fitted tyres are designed to last at least about 40,000-50,000 km. That's about five years of road life. Of course, tyre life also depends on how much abuse they deal with throughout their lifetime. It's important then to check the life of your tyre regularly and it takes is about a minute to do so. All you need to do is conduct the coin test on your tyre. Not sure what that is? Read on to know more.
1. A one rupee coin works best for judging the tread depth in the tyre. The deeper the coin goes, the more tread depth you have, ergo, the more life the tyre has left.
2. Ideally, about a quarter of the one rupee coin is submerged in the tyre, As the tyre treads begin losing depth, the coin will be more and more visible to the eye.
3. It's important to check all four tyres using the coin test method. This includes the spare tyre as well. If tyres are showing uneven depth, it could be due to alignment issues and you can resolve by wheel balancing. The process checks if the camber, castor and toe are in position, ensuring the tyre wears out evenly and gives you maximum traction and performance through its lifetime.
Newer tyres also come with a built-in wear indicator to tell you when to change the same
4. It's wise to get wheel alignment and balancing done during the service schedule or at least once in six months. Also, make sure to check the tyre pressure is as per manufacturer recommendations.
5. Newer tyres come with their own tyre wear indicator. Do make sure to keep an eye out on the same. At the same time, it's also important to pay attention on the tread wear. Uneven tread wear will force you to replace the tyres faster as it can affect other parameters.
