The larger a vehicle is, the higher it’ll cost to repair. That’s why many automotive professionals and experts emphasize the importance of maintenance and knowing when you need to do repairs. Just like any other vehicle, tires are crucial parts of trucks; hence they should be treated with care.
Truckers must keep their tires at peak performance at all times. That’s because tires are the only contact trucks have on the road, making them the most important safety feature of any vehicle. Of course, there’s also the obvious reason that you can’t drive without perfectly functioning tires.
Therefore, you should do everything you can to keep your truck’s tires in fine condition. Here are crucial tips for truck tire maintenance and repair to help you do just that.
Maintain Proper Air Pressure
Whatever truck you’re using and tires a truck uses, it may be light truck tires or commercial trucks; you have to ensure they’re properly inflated. Maintaining proper tire pressure is the most important maintenance tip. Driving on under or overinflated tires only spell disaster.
For example, driving with underinflated tires cause excessive heating, which harms tires heavily. That’s why truck drivers should manually check tire pressure before hitting the road. In addition, factors like temperature also affect tire pressure, with cold temperature exposure reducing it.
Check Tire Tread Depth
The tread of a tire or track refers to the rubber on its circumference that makes contact with the road or the ground. As soon as you drive, the tread depth of your tires wears off, which limits their ability to provide traction. That’s why you should check to see how much tread life your truck tires have periodically.
The standard way to check tread depth is to put a penny with Lincoln upside down between the treads. If Lincoln’s face is visible, it’s time to replace them with a new one that has fresh treads.
Perform Tire Rotations And Wheel Alignments
In connection with tread depth, the placement of tires affects the evenness of the wear their treads absorb. This is why having your truck’s tires rotated is necessary. Rotating tires periodically balance tread wear for each tire which extends their shelf life.
The recommended time to rotate tires is once they’ve gained 6,000-8,000 miles. While you’re at it, have your wheels aligned as well. Wheel misalignment is a natural occurrence caused by incidents such as driving over potholes, hitting road debris, or minor collisions.
You can check wheel alignment by seeing if your steering wheel is off-center. Another way to determine misalignment is feeling slight vibrations when driving on a highway.
Improve Driving Habits
The way you drive also has an impact on tire life. Your driving habits can shorten or maintain the expected shelf life of your tires. Each one has a speed rating and load index, which specify the safest speed it can comfortably drive and load it can carry.
Make sure you follow both the speed rating and load index of your truck tires. Exceeding them regularly will shorten their shelf life. Another useful tip is to avoid forcing tires when they’re stuck to prevent damaging them.
Adhere To Roadside Safety
Traffic rules and signs are there to promote safety for all vehicles on the road. It’s also there to keep you, your truck, and others safe when you’re servicing or changing your tires while on the road. So follow them because they’re for your own good.
Always position your vehicle as far off the road as possible when changing or servicing your tires. Also, keep yourself on the opposite side of the traffic when doing them.
Don’t Neglect Minor Issues
Deal with a tire problem once you find one. Procrastinating will only cost you more when it comes to your tires. Fix problems immediately.
That’s why you should conduct regular inspections just to see if each tire is still in good condition. It’s an effective proactive approach that will lessen repair costs.
Conclusion
Tires are an essential part of your truck. You should be responsible for taking care of each of them to ensure that you can drive safely regularly. Keep them in good condition until they need to be replaced to maximize usability and minimize problems and expenses. If all else fails, you can always purchase new tires online. Triangle Tires offers a variety of quality truck tires for your vehicle.
Author Bio
Frank is an energetic salesman. On his free days, he spends his time writing and reading about quality tires and vehicular parts. He says it’s because of his love for cars ever since he was a kid when his dad started teaching him about automotive parts.
