Advertisement
Tyres are one of those grey-area topics that people hate to discuss. They’re expensive, they’re necessary, and a plethora of sizing options often opens a can of worms online. It’s easy to forget just how important these heavy rubber things are to a four-wheel drive, or any car for that matter.
They are the only thing connecting your pride and joy to the road surface. They are responsible for handling characteristics, brake performance, off-road capability and even general road safety. Tyres such as my Maxxis Trepadors or Razr MTs cost just under $700 each. Yep, bloody expensive… So why do people neglect them? If you treat your four-wheel drive’s tyres correctly, you could get tens of thousands of kilometres out of them. But if you don’t give them the attention they deserve, you could easily be replacing them annually, burning through your hard-earned cash which would be much better spent on beer.
I’m here to save you guys as much money as possible, so I’ve comprised 6 of my top tips to help prolong the lifespan of your tyres and get the most out of them! Let’s get into it.
Tip Number 1 – Alignment
An incorrect wheel alignment is one of the biggest causes of premature wear in Australia. There’s a lot of different factors that can impact the wheel alignment of your 4×4, including the lift height, adjustable suspension components or lack thereof, driving style and hazards you may or may not have hit.
Things like castor, toe and camber are all individual elements of a wheel alignment that can be adjusted and therefore can be misaligned. The biggest issues for tyres are camber and toe.
Camber is the angle of the tyre/wheel in relation to the flat road. Negative camber would mean the top of the tyre is leaning in towards the car, like on a race car for example. This might be great for racing application and assisting in turning, but on a 4×4 or everyday car, it will wear out the inside edge of the tyre a lot quicker than the rest of the tyre which we don’t want!
Toe is another important element of wheel alignment which refers to the angle of which the tyre is facing inwards or outwards when looking from above. When the steering wheel is straight, you want the tyres to be facing dead straight to. If they’re slightly toed in or out, it can very quick scrub out your tyres and result in rapid wear and shorter life.
Advertisement
A poorly aligned 4×4 will also have issues with pulling you to one side of the road or even diving left or right under braking. We recommend a wheel alignment by a trusted workshop at least once a year, or after every big off-road trip to avoid the above!
Tip Number 2 – Pressures
Pressures are one of those topics where every man and their dog has an opinion, and sadly, there isn’t really one correct answer that covers all bases when it comes to tyre pressures.
Advertisement
The best tip I can give you guys is to refer to your manufacturers factory fitted tyre placard which will usually be found in the door jambs in the front of the vehicle. This will let you know the optimal tyre pressures to run when loaded and unloaded.
Keep your tyre pressures at their recommended PSI will help prolong the life of the tyre, maximise fuel economy and provide optimal steering response. Depending on how pedantic you might be, I generally check my tyre pressures every 2 weeks, or every second tank of fuel.
If you leave your pressure checks too long and find you’ve been driving around on half the recommended PSI, the damage could’ve already begun to the tyre. That’s what we’re trying to avoid.
Tip Number 3 – Balance
Unbalanced wheels and tyres aren’t just a common cause of annoying vibration but can cause uneven tyre wear. If you can picture your wheel and tyre having a heavy spot and when spinning, that heavy spot is going to behave differently when in contact with the road than a light spot.
Balancing your wheels and tyres should be something you do pretty much whenever you get the car aligned or at least serviced. All wheels and tyres, even when brand new, will need balancing. To balance a wheel properly, you need a computer balancer machine which spins up the wheel, locates where the heavy or light spot is and advises the technician to add wheel weights to those appropriate areas. This will help illuminate any strange vibrations through the car and help prolong the tyre life with even tyre wear.
Tip Number 4 – Avoiding Hazards
Road hazards seems like an obvious one, but you’d be shocked at how many people we see hitting obstacles like they’re in monster trucks. On the road, there are obstacles like gutters, potholes and even road debris. Off-road, there are sticks, pieces of dumped rubbish, natural obstacles like ruts, and everything in between.
What all these have in common is that, if you’re unaware of them, you can cause damage to your expensive tyres. On the road, if you hit things like potholes at speed, you risk damaging the sidewall of the tyre or pinching the tyre. You even run the risk of denting and cracking rims which can lead to a slow puncture and tyre damage.
Off-road, you risk stakes, pulling tyres off their bead and general punctures. Avoiding obstacles and hazards wherever you can is an easy way to maximise the life of your 4×4 tyres. Even though they’re built tough, a little mechanical sympathy can still go a long way.
Tip Number 5 – Rotating
Rotating tyres seems like a silly thing to say. “Aren’t my tyres always rotating?”. You’re not wrong, but I’m talking moving the fronts to the back and sometimes the lefts to right! In a lot of cases, four-wheel drives only ever have 2 wheels driving them at a time when on the road, which means that those 2 drive wheels will wear out quicker than the non-drive wheels.
Rotating these around every 6 – 12 months will help keep all the tyres wearing evenly and mean you won’t be in the awkward situation of just having to replace 2 at a time.
Tip Number 6 – You Get What You Pay For
This final tip isn’t really one that will help you prolong the tyre life, but more-so just a reminder that when it comes to tyres, you really do get what you pay for.
Cheaper options might seem appealing at the time but they’re often cheaper for a reason. They might be made of inferior compound that can wear out quicker, or even have less ply’s on the carcass and sidewall making them more prone to punctures.
A good quality set of well known and well tested 4×4 tyres will give you confidence, longevity, puncture resistance and optimal performance both on and off the beaten track. When it comes time to make your next tyre purchasing decision, make sure you do your research!
Hopefully with these 6 tips, we’ll help save you thousands of dollars over the lifetime of your tyres and four-wheel drive! Stay safe, and I’ll see you out on the tracks!
Advertisement
TRY SLOWING DOWN!!
VERY debatable whether the tyre pressure placard on the vehicle applies once tyres are changed from conventional to muddies.
Tyre pressure for LT rated tyres has nothing to do with the sticker on the car. I am not surprised thou, most of the “advice” you publish has no engineering basis. Just like the caravan dealer I bought the van from telling me to keep the tyres at 42 psi wehn they have to be at 65 to carry the load. And then my ARB compressor, rated at 100, would cut out at 45. According to ARB that’s all anyone would ever need. Well, they did change the pressure switch for one that works, from the workshop test kit.
So please, don’t treat your readers like idiots, some have technical education.
Just for your info, look up the 4 psi rule. It apples to LT tyres only, and only on hard surface. If you only drive on the bitumen maybe you don’t need a 4×4.
I was pleasantly surprised thou lately when the top tyre tested by Bob Jane came as the one I bought few months ago. But I read US tyre reviews and tests to help me chose.
Are you serious? What you’ve mentioned above is basic common sense. If your readers don’t have the sense of mind to consider these points of their own volition, then they should NOT be travelling outside populated areas of the country. They’re obviously too dumb to stay safe and a risk to those who are tasked to rescue / recover them when they inevitably come unstuck!!