As the one component of your car that comes into contact with the road, tyres are more important than many of us realise. Getting a good set of tyres for your car is essential, but how long can you expect them to last? Even the best set of tyres will eventually start to show signs of wear and tear, which can ultimately impact the safety and performance of your car if left unchecked. Often, tyres are the most important component of driving, and sadly, the most overlooked. Since all your acceleration, braking, and torque from steering are transmitted through the tyres before your car can move anywhere, it doesn’t matter how great your car is – without the proper tyres, it’s not going to perform as well.
How Many Kilometres do Tyres Last?
How long your tyres are going to last is a question that doesn’t really have a set answer since there are lots of different factors that can contribute to wear and tear. For example, the type of roads that you drive your car on regularly will have an impact. Somebody who mainly drives on smooth, flat roads, for example, is probably going to get more out of their tyres compared to somebody who lives in a rural area where most of the roads are rough and uneven.
Some of the main factors that can increase wear on the tyres include:
- Driving Style: Things like locking the tyres when braking or spinning the wheels when you accelerate can increase the tyre wear
- Speed: The faster you are driving, the higher the temperature of your tyres, which increases wear over time
- Alignment: if your wheels are not aligned, this will lead to the tyres becoming worn more quickly, and often unevenly
- Load: Carrying a heavy load in your car regularly puts more pressure on the tyres, ultimately increasing the wear
- Position: Front-wheel drive cars tend to show a larger degree of wear on the front tyres, and the front tyres are more likely to wear sooner compared to the back tyres
- Pressure and inflation: Not keeping your tyres at the correct pressure and inflation when driving will increase the wear, regardless of whether the tyres are over-inflated or under-inflated
How Long Should Tyres Last KM
If you are investing in new tyres for your car, then it’s only natural to wonder how long they are going to last so you know that you are going to get the most for the money you’ve spent on them. However, the truth is that it can be hard to say since there are several factors that might be out of your control that will impact the speed of wear. To get as much life as possible from your tyres, it’s important to keep up with all the things that you can do to increase the tyre lifespan.
These include keeping the tyres at the correct pressure and inflation, driving at safe speeds, avoiding harsh braking or harsh accelerating, and driving carefully over potholes or bumps in the road wherever possible to avoid misalignment. If you notice any signs of misalignment such as the car pulling to one side when driving or vibrating or unstable steering, you should have the wheels aligned as soon as possible to prevent further unnecessary wear on your tyres.
How Long Do Tyres Last KM
While there’s no magic number for how many kilometres you can drive before you need to get your tyres replaced as there are many factors that affect the wear, the best way to determine if your tyres are going to need replacing soon is the tread depth. Along with this, you should also consider the age of your tyres when determining whether or not they will need to be replaced.
In Australia, your tyres’ tread depth should be at least 1.6mm to be considered legally roadworthy. To make it easier for you to figure out if your tyres are fine or barely legal, most tyre manufacturers now feature tread wear indicators in the form of small bars across the grooves of the tyres at exactly 1.6mm so that you can easily see when you need to have them replaced. Once the tread and the tread wear indicators are flush, it’s definitely time to get a tyre replacement.
Any tyres that are more than ten years old should be immediately replaced, and tyres that are over five years old but have not yet worn to less than 1.6mm tread depth should be checked by a professional yearly. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the tread depth might be fine, but your tyres may still need to be replaced since rubber will crack and deteriorate with age.
How Many Kilometres Should Tyres Last – How To Improve Your Tyres’ Lifespan
The good news is that when you get new tyres fitted on your car, there are several things that you can do to keep your tyres in good condition and make sure that they last for as long as possible. Some of the main ways that you can do this include:
- Check the Tread Depth
Tread depth is one of the main factors to consider when you replace your tyres. You should easily be able to see if your tyres are the correct tread depth by checking the tread wear indicators or small blocks of rubber moulded into the grooves. These blocks will get closer, and eventually be flush with the surface of the tyre as it wears.
- Check the Age
Experts suggest that if your tyres are more than five years old, you should replace them. Even if your tread depth is still legal, over time, the rubber will have lost its suppleness. You can easily check the age of your tyres by checking for the manufacture date that should be stamped on the sidewall of the tyre. This is usually a four-digit number where the last two digits will represent the year of manufacture.
- Check the Pressure
Regular checking of the tyre pressure will go a long way when it comes to extending the lifetime of your tyres and making sure that you get the most from them. Driving with tyres that are under-inflated or over-inflated will put uneven pressure on the treads, eventually causing an uneven pattern of wear. Along with the wear on the tyres, if you are driving with under-inflated tyres, it is not only more dangerous but will also decrease the fuel economy of your car. It’s a good idea to check the air pressure at least once a month.
- Check for Uneven Wear
It is a good idea to regularly give your tyres a once-over to check for any signs of uneven wear and tear. If a tyre is wearing unevenly, this is a clear indication that there is more than just normal stress being put on the tyre, and something might be wrong that will cause your tyres to wear down much faster. Wearing suspension, driving without the right tyre pressure, or wheel misalignment can all be issues that cause uneven wear on the tyre.
- Keep the Wheels Aligned
To make sure that you are getting the most out of your tyres, it’s a good idea to have your wheel alignment checked around twice a year. Issues with the wheel alignment can often seemingly happen out of nowhere and are often caused by common things like accidentally hitting a kerb when parking or driving over a pothole in the road. Because of this, you should always be alert to any of the signs that your wheels might be misaligned such as pulling to one side, wobbly steering, or the wheels not correcting when you straighten out of a turn. These are all signs that your wheels are out of alignment, and the longer you leave the issue, the more uneven wear it will put on your tyres.
- Rotate Your Tyres
Since your tyres will rotate differently depending on the placement, it’s a good idea to occasionally rotate them to even out the wear. If your car is a front-wheel drive, for example, then your front tyres are going to wear out faster compared to the rear tyres. Regularly rotating the tyres will help to keep the difference in wear between the front and rear sets to a minimum. The more often you rotate the tyres, the more evenly they will wear, and the better your car’s performance will be.
How Many KM Should a Tyre Last?
For an average set of tyres, on a car that is driven carefully and kept in good condition, it’s reasonable to expect around 40,000 km. However, how you maintain your types is down to you and this could either extend or reduce the life cycle.
The mileage you can expect to get from your tyres can vary a lot between cars and drivers. How much mileage you can get from your tyres will be very different to somebody else due to differences in driving styles, local road conditions, your car, and even the tyres that you have fitted.
