How to Organise Your Car For Family Travel: Car Tyre Care Tips

If you’re going to be doing a lot of travelling this summer, you should be thinking ahead, saving some spending money, putting in your holiday request forms and planning a rough itinerary (too much prescription can see you missing out on spur-of-the-moment visits which can be the best part of any driving holiday). But you should also be thinking about your car, making sure it is in good condition to hit the road – especially the tyres which will, after all, be the part of your car that is in contact with those new and exciting roads. Let’s have a look at how you can organise your car, especially the tyres, for family travel.

Speedy and Weighty Matters

Did you know that your tyres are rated for both speed and weight? All tyres are so rated, and you should make sure that your car does not exceed either metric when you are travelling. Your tyres have a long alphanumeric code embossed onto them that contains all the information you need about your tyres, from their date of manufacture to their speed and weight ratings to details about the physical specifications of the tyre. As well as making sure that you keep your weight and speed at levels that your tyres can manage, you can help out by decluttering the car and only carrying things that are needed for each trip. It can be tempting to pile things into the car as a sort of short-term storage policy, but each bag of recycling or that stack of books to take back to the library can all add up surprisingly!

How Old Are They?

The age of your tyres is important, even if you are a meticulously careful driver who keeps their tyres pristine. As rubber ages, it begins to dry out, which can cause cracking and allow damage to take hold. As a general rule, carefully looked-after five-year-old tyres should be absolutely fine, seven-year-old tyres will begin to crumble and fracture, and ten-year-old tyres – even if completely unused and carefully kept lying flat on a shelf in a sheltered place – will almost certainly be too dry to be driven on for very long. It’s essential to regularly inspect your tyres for signs of aging, such as cracks in the sidewalls or a loss of tread flexibility. Neglecting your tyres can lead to sudden tyre failure, which is a serious safety hazard. So, if your tyres are getting on a bit, you can elevate your vehicle’s performance by buying new car tyres from DAT Tyres, so your road trip is not plagued with constant punctures and slow leaks.

Keep Them Clean

The best thing you can do for your tyres is to keep them clean. This might sound silly – how can a wash protect the integrity of the tyres? – but, in fact, there is method to this madness! Keeping your tyres clean, especially doing it by hand, with your hose and a soapy cloth, means that you will get to see your tyres up close and personal, and the lack of mud and dirt means that you will see the material of the tyres – complete with any signs of damage, such as dimpling, cracks or fractures, and even the subtle divots that can be the only indication of a puncture before the tyre loses all its air.

Just following these simple steps can help to ensure that your holiday goes smoothly – just like your drive to your chosen destination!