Page 51 - BRIDGESTONE PR REPORT - JULY 2025

7/3/25, 10:30 AM The most common mistakes in the care and use of your car's tyres | Web Release
consumption. Nor should you drive with high tyre pressure, above the recommended load: the rubber contacts the
road less and loses grip, premature degradation occurs in the central part of the tread and the vehicle’s dynamic

behaviour is worse.

To avoid all these problems, it is best to check the tyre pressure (when cold) once a month or before a long journey.
The manufacturer’s recommended tyre pressure is given in the vehicle handbook.

Do not rotate tyres to extend tyre life

Front and rear tyres are subjected to different work and loads, so wear is very uneven. Rotation is essential to

achieve more even wear and thus increase the service life of all tyres. Even and regular tyre wear on both axles of
the vehicle contributes to increased safety on the road, the axles react

in a balanced way and the driver has better control of his vehicle. It is advisable to rotate them between axles every
10,000 kilometres (or as stipulated by the manufacturer).

Excessive or uneven wear

Regardless of a tyre’s service life, its tread depth should be checked from time to time. According to the law, it must

have a minimum tread depth of 1.6 mm, a legal limit that is referenced by the wear indicators, marked by an
indicator in the shoulder area of the tyre. One trick to check for wear is to insert a euro into the tyre tread: if you can

see the gold edge, it is time to change it.

Equally important is to check that the wear is even. Front axle tyres, because of the configuration of the vehicle,
usually show uneven wear between the outer and inner shoulder. A tyre that is in good condition on the outside may
be ‘eaten’ on the inside.

Other irregular tyre wear, resulting in a less than optimal contact patch, can be caused by incorrect balancing and/or

alignment, or poorly maintained shock absorbers. In these cases the tyres are the messengers of the problem, telling
us what the cause may be and what needs to be rectified.

Faulty alignment, axle parallelism and balancing

Correct vehicle alignment, maintaining axle parallelism and wheel balancing (adjusting the wheel-tyre assembly by

means of counterweights to avoid imbalances) are essential to avoid irregular wear, vibrations and even steering
wheel trajectory problems (safety), apart from the risk of mechanical breakdowns. According to First Stop, tyre
distribution company, alignment should be carried out when tyres are changed or rotated between axles, once a year

or when between 15,000 and 20,000 kilometres have been driven.

Deformed or damaged tyres

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