Taking care of your vehicle is important.

Your tyres are one of the most safety-critical aspects of your car. They’re also, crucially, some of the most common parts that encounter wear and tear, since they’re in constant contact with road surfaces (and in Northern Ireland that can mean a lot of rough roads). That means they’ll likely need to be checked, and possibly one or two replaced – before you finally decide: I need to scrap my car.

The team at Euro AutoSpares have created a list of typical tyre problems you might need to look out for and what to do when you find them.

1. Illegal tyre tread depths

The government in Northern Ireland advise you carry out weekly checks on your vehicle to ensure it’s up to code and safe to drive. They advise that when taking a look at your vehicle you are also ‘checking the condition of the vehicle’s tyres for damage, air pressure and tread – there must be at least the legal minimum 1.6 mm of tread and preferably more than 2 mm.’ – www.nidirect.gov.uk.

Your vehicle will fail the MOT test if it does not meet the legal minimum tread but it is also very dangerous as tread allows your vehicle to grip the road, particularly important in wet or icy conditions. Make sure to check your tread regularly and if you don’t think the tyres are worth replacing you can always scrap your car with us.

2. Over inflated or under inflated tyres

Driving with under inflated tyres can massively reduce their lifespan. Overinflated tyres on the other hand will lead to premature degradation in the middle of the tyre – not to mention heightening the risk of a dangerous blowout. So contrary to what some drivers believe, slightly over inflating them is not always better!

Kwikfit provide this handy online tool which will tell you what your tyre pressure should be when you input the registration of your vehicle. Use the tool now.

3. Misaligned and unevenly worn tyres

This is exactly what it sounds like. Essentially, when not all of your tyres are pointing in quite the same direction, you can end up with tyres that are visibly more worn on one side than the other. This is very annoying and can lead to you replacing your tyres more often than you need to. However, it is an easy fix if you go to your local mechanic or garage.

4. Slow punctures

Slow punctures are actually more common than you think with the first sign being your vehicle pulling to one side. Firstly check if there is anything stuck in your tyre like a nail or piece of glass. If that search isn’t fruitful and you can’t find any other evidence of a puncture then check the pressure daily to ensure it’s not dropping. However if the search is fruitful then grab your spare tyre because you’re going to need it!

Tyre issues are a pain and most can be solved quickly and easily. However if these issues are rising often and your car is becoming too expensive you may want to think about sending it to a reputable end of life vehicle treatment facility. If so then click here and get in touch with us.