Life is a busy, and sometimes very hectic place to spend our time. When something goes wrong in varying degrees don’t they say, “that’s life”? Life is full of surprises. Pleasant and…less so. We’ve all experienced it. You’re driving to work, on your way to family vacation, or on a date night when it happens: disaster strikes. On the highway, a back road, or even in the driveway the tire blows out. As a car owner, a blown tire sometimes is truly a part of life that is unpleasant. But the good news is, it can be avoided most of the time! Here are some tips to avoid a blow-out and in case a tire needs a change.
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Under Pressure
If your car is a modern one it likely has a tire pressure light that will trigger when pressure is becoming too low. If your light does come on, check your tire’s pressure and meet the minimum but don’t surpass the maximum! Overfilling the tire can cause uneven wear and damage the same as having too little.
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A clear driveway makes a happy owner
If you’re a DIY-er by nature, it can be tiring to need to clean up the mess left behind. But if you’re working in your driveway, that mess can cause some serious headaches if you miss some of it! Too often you might find nails, glass from a busted bottle or other debris that might puncture the tire’s surface. In the past I found that a razorblade had become embedded in the bottom of the tire’s surface. I needed a new one due to some of the blade piercing the sidewall additionally. Avoid this by cleaning up thoroughly!
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Usual wear and tear
Has your car felt like it hasn’t handled or stopped the same as it usually does? It’s probably time to check the condition of your tire or tires. Just one that is wearing unevenly can cause your cars handling and braking to change and worsen. Be sure to check the condition of your tires when this begins to occur. Finding cracks in your car’s tire? It’s probably time to change over to a new one. Has a bulge formed in one of them? It’s definitely time to seek out a new one! Keep an eye on your tires regularly!
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Tight Squeeze
You’ve probably experienced this as well: A lug nut or lug nuts that won’t loosen no matter how hard you try. Perhaps you got your car back from an oil change and tire rotation then later had a need to access the tire or brakes. Find the lug nuts too tight? Most likely what they did was for the sake of speed, and they used an impact gun or air drive ratchet to tighten them. This will take the lug nuts tightness far beyond their torque specs and can damage the wheels themselves if they really overdo it. The same goes for you at home! Don’t use an electric drill or air ratchet to tighten your lug nuts. Use a standard ratchet, your hands, and a cross bar at most! An air ratchet or electric drill are good to loosen, but never tighten.
A blown tire is never fun, and an inevitable part of life as a car owner. But with the tips above, we hope to make it a little less frequent! Have a blown tire currently and need tips on what to do? Check out our post on this subject here. We hope you have found this article informative and enjoyable. Happy motoring!