Winter season is among the topmost seasons where there is harsh driving involved. This is where tyres play a role of huge importance because it is the tyres that have to navigate the wet, slippery roads of the winter season. Car Tyres Darlington are the main point of contact with the road, it is their quality and performance that decides how the vehicle is going to withstand the challenges of the icy and muddy roads of winter.

Tyre maintenance is a crucial task to do, and in the winter season, it becomes all the more important to take care of the tyres to ensure better safety and performance of your vehicle. It is important to ensure that your vehicle's tyres stay in good shape during this season. Tyres have to combat a lot during the winter season, such as muddy roads, snowfall, wet pavement, or icy protrusions on the road. Therefore, tyres should be prepared in advance before the temperature drops in the UK.

Why is it Important to Maintain Tyre Health in Winter?

During the winter season, the performance of your vehicle is significantly affected since it is difficult to drive on icy roads, as compared to smooth roads. For the winter season, it is important to have winter tyres fitted in to drive through tough roads. Even all-season tyres work fine for this purpose, but winter tyres are a better choice as they provide for stronger grip. In the UK, as temperatures hit below 7 degrees Celsius, you cannot depend on the summer tyres to provide grip on the cold roads.

Also, the muddy roads of winter fill the tyre tread with dirt. These icy roads may also have icy protrusions and foreign objects on the road that can cut the tyres. Therefore, tyre maintenance during the winter season is important to spot these defects. Spotting these small defects early on can prevent them from becoming a cause of an accident. If you neglect tyre maintenance during the winter season, then this will lead to faster wear and tear of the tyres, bad fuel economy, and increased chances of a road accident happening.

How to do Winter Tyre Maintenance?

Tyre maintenance should be done as part of regular vehicle maintenance and not only for the winter season. There is not much difference in the aspects of tyre maintenance when it comes to the winter season. However, the winter season requires taking some extra care of your tyres so that they can perform well during the cold season.

Here are some tips to maintain tyres during the winter season.

Tyre Tread Check. It is crucial to regularly check the tread pattern for any signs of wear and tear. See if the tread pattern is degrading from either of side or whether its middle part is going bald. Tread depth should also be checked, as the tread depth below 1.6 mm is not permitted. A lower tread depth puts the safety of your vehicle at risk. Therefore, tread depth has to be checked and maintained throughout the winter season. This ensures increased grip on the wet pavement and decreased risk of hydroplaning.

Damage Check. Cold season has harsh, icy, muddy, and slushy roads that make it difficult for the vehicle to ride smoothly. There are also unknown objects, icy protrusions, and debris on the road that can cause damage to the tyres. Therefore, tyres should be checked daily for any defects such as cuts, bulges, cracks, etc. These small defects, if left unnoticed, can become the cause of big defects or even damage to the vehicle. Therefore, tyres should be assessed for defects daily during the cold season or as frequently as you use the vehicle. This will help in keeping the condition of the tyre intact, and having them inspected before the defects puts the safety of the vehicle at risk.

Tyre Pressure Check. Proper inflation has to be assured during the winter season since tyres are likely to deflate due to the cold weather. Therefore, tyre pressure should be checked daily, and in case of under-inflation, get the tyres properly inflated. If you continue to drive on under-inflated tyres, then this will compromise the overall safety of the vehicle and make it difficult to handle the vehicle. This will lead to poor fuel economy and excessive tyre wear as you continue to drive with under-inflated tyres. To know the ideal pressure for your winter tyres, you can check in the vehicle's manual or get suggestions from a reliable tyre expert.

Use Winter Tyres. There are different tyres available to suit the varying weather conditions. For instance, there are summer tyres, winter tyres, and all-season tyres. While all-season tyres work well on the winter roads and provide for a good grip, but for better performance and increased grip, winter tyres are the best options. Winter Tyres Darlington have deep tread and grooves designed specifically to perform well on the slippery roads of the winter season.

At Douglas Tyre, we provide high-quality tyres at affordable prices. We also offer tyre and car repair services from our brilliant technicians.