No matter if you are deep in residential urban London or all the way west on the rural coast of East Anglian Essex, if you are a mom, you are almost undoubtedly flat out all day. Juggling the school run, life admin, and parenting is no mean feat. It is no surprise that some things slip through the cracks. Often, these can be unobtrusive things like maintaining your tyres – unobtrusive, that is, until they fail on you, usually at the most inconvenient moment! Here are five tyre care tips for busy working moms that even the busiest parent can fit into their day. It will keep you safely on the road while you pride yourself on meeting all the deadlines, collecting the children at the right time, and looking great while you do so!
Look for Signs of Age and Damage
Keep a weather eye on your tyres. Take a minute or five every week to walk around your car, looking at the tyres. If you have time, get a torch and get up close and personal, checking your tyres for signs of damage or ageing. If you see any of these signs, make sure you consult your local garage – sometimes damage can be easily repaired or delayed if you act very promptly once the problem begins. If your tyres can’t be repaired, or if you don’t want to take a chance even on a well-repaired tyre, it might be time for a new set of tyres to give you peace of mind when your car is full of children. You can even book your tyres in London with Elite Direct.
Listen Out For Funny Noises
As well as physically looking at the tyres occasionally, you can also use your other senses while you are driving along. Changes to how the tyres sound on the road can indicate that something is going wrong. Vibrations or excess noise can mean that your tyres are not as well-fitted as they should be or that something has come adrift. Wobbles, or even the sensation of your steering not feeling as secure and responsive as you might expect, can indicate that problems have abruptly worsened, especially if your tyres have become noisier recently. Squeaks, squeals, and groans are all signs that something is causing friction where there should be none. Get these strange noises checked out sooner rather than later, as they will invariably not go away if ignored, sadly.
Keep an Eye on Pressure/Inflation
Modern tyres are designed to work best at optimal inflation levels, and this is so conducive to their correct operation that it has been enshrined in law as part of the MOT test—a roadworthiness standard to which all cars must adhere at all times. Checking your air pressure when you fill your car with fuel is simple: it is cheap, quick, and easy to top off the inflation levels to meet the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Rotate Often
Tyre rotation ensures that your tyres wear evenly. Without tyre rotation, your tyres will soon wear out at the front and outside edges, while the back and inside edges will be almost pristine. You can effectively double the lifespan of your tyres by rotating them every six to twelve months to even out the wear patterns. This is because tyre rotation means swapping the back right tyre to the front left, and so on, moving the least worn area to a high-impact area for a time. This means you can commute between London’s bright lights and culture and Essex’s peaceful tranquillity – it is known for its varied birdlife, among other things – many more times before you have to replace those tyres.
Declutter the Car
Finally, ferrying children about can mean the car becomes a mobile storage area. This can add a surprising amount of weight onto your tyres, which in turn causes more wear and tear. Simply cleaning out the car – say, at the end of every week – can help keep this clutter under control, lengthening the life of your tyres and keeping you on the road for more trouble-free weeks and months.
That’s the car sorted out – leaving you plenty of time for housework, another hour of work or another quick drive to the beach with the children!
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