Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to avoid a nail, chunk of metal or shard of glass sitting in the road that could damage your tires. However, there is something you can do about this problem: give your tires a fighting chance against the most common kinds of tire damage with regular maintenance. We're here to help at Capitol Toyota! We're happy to check the pressure on your tires, rotate your tires and check the steering and suspension settings for any alignment problems that can strain your tires. So they're as tough as possible for the road ahead. Below are six common ways that tires can become damaged, and how you might avoid them.
6. Center Wear
When your tires are correctly inflated, the ideal "contact patch" is achieved -- the amount of tire that rests on the road as you drive. If the tire is overinflated, the center of the tire's tread may bulge out slightly, reducing the contact of the tire toward the edges of the tread. As a result, the center of the tread will be subjected to more wear. Furthermore, powerful sports cars that can apply a lot of torque to their wheels can also suffer additional wear to the center of the tires, especially during understeer or wheelspin.
5. Shoulder Wear
By contrast, if your tires are underinflated, the middle of the tire may sag inward, causing more force to be applied to the edges of the tire's tread nearest the sidewall. Or, if your suspension, steering or alignment are improperly set-up, or are knocked out of whack from a pothole or fender-bender, you might find your tires wear rapidly on one side near the shoulder.
As a rule, you want to replace your tires when the tread becomes too worn. If your tire pressure is properly adjusted, the forces are spread out across more of the tire, so wear is evenly distributed, and your tires last longer. If you experience wear localized to one area of the tire, you'll still need to replace the tire once the tread is worn there -- even if there is deeper tread elsewhere.
4. Curb Rash
"Curb rash" usually describes the damage your wheels receive when you get a little too close to the curb when parallel parking. The wheel rotating against the concrete curb creates unsightly gashes in the wheel itself -- but it can damage your tires, too. It can scuff or cut the sidewall, or even cause a separating between the bead of the tire and the wheel, leading to a blow-out. This damage is the easiest to avoid simply by paying close attention when you park. (Some of the latest vehicles from Toyota can even help by steering into a parking space automatically with Intelligent Park Assist!)
3. Sidewall Damage
The sidewalls of your tires are thinner and more vulnerable to puncture than even the tread. It's the air inside the tire that gives it strength to support a huge vehicle, not the sidewalls. That means it's quite possible to sustain a cut or gash in the sidewall that leads to a flat tire. Making sure you've got the correct tire pressure will help maximize the toughness of your tire's sidewalls as well.
2. Punctures & Cuts
Of course, the most common cause of unexpected tire damage is road debris -- nails, screws, bits of glass and other random trash that can find its way under your vehicle's tires and lead to a flat. It's simply not practical to try and avoid these objects. In most every case, they'd be too small to see until you got too close to them to avoid anyway. The best you can do is inflate your tires to the right pressure so they're as strong as possible.
If you do suffer a puncture in the tread of the tire, head to our service center and see if we can repair it before you decide to replace it!
