The Important Functions of Tires and Why Is It Important To Maintain The Tires Of Your Car?

By Wil Yeo of Avanigroup.com

Tire maintenance is an often overlooked aspect of car safety as car owners often focus on various exterior aspects and functionality of the car such as waxing and grooming, car engine & radiator system etc. The importance of properly maintaining your car tires cannot be overemphasized as tires are the only contacts between your car and the ground surface. Any damage done to the tires could result in unstable handling and potentially dangerous especially when the vehicle is going at high speed.

Major Functions Of Tires

There are 4 major functions of tires and they are as follows:

*    To support the weight of your vehicle - a average car weighs between 1.4 to 1.8 tons which is equivalent to the weight of about 30 people. The air and the build up pressure in your tire play the important role of supporting the weight of the car plus the driver and passengers on board.

*    To absorb road shocks - the tires, together with the car's suspension system act as shock absorbents to reduce the effect of bumpy roads felt by the driver and the passengers in the car.

*    To transmit traction and braking forces - being the only contact between your car and the road, the rough surface of your tires provide traction when your car is moving off and also, provide the necessary braking when your car is coming to a stop.

*    To change and maintain the direction of travel - the tires turn according to the turning of the steering wheels, thus changing the direction of travel. 

Why Is It Important To Maintain Your Tires?

It is important to maintain your tires for a few main reasons:

1.     Tire are the only contact between your car and the road. The proper pressure level will ensure that it provide the right level of shock absorbent, required traction and braking, provide proper directional steering and lastly, support the weight of the car and the passengers within the car.

2.    Whether you like it or not, your tire loses pressure either on a continual basis due to passage of time or whenever your tires hit a hard object such as a curb or went pass a high hump.

3.    Tires can experience uneven wear and tear among the tires due to weight variation, over or under inflated tire will also result in uneven wear and tear on each individual tire.

After knowing why the tires are important to your car's safe handling and your safety, here's some tips on help you in knowing how to properly maintain your tires:

*   Know your tire pressure rating - this information is usually provided and can be found in the car's user manual or in the glove box or at the car's door jamb.

*   Keep to the required tire pressure, by checking your tire pressure on a weekly or monthly interval and when the tire is cold - which basically refer to one that has not been driven on for at least three hours. The reason behind is that tires that are 'hot' after some traveling will demonstrate higher pressure thus produce inaccurate result.

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