Effects of Poor Driving Habits on Your Car's Tires

There are several driving habits that will adversely effect the life expectancy of your tires. Poor driving habits can also result in dangerous situations when oblivious to the handling or speed rating characteristics as well as the present conditions of your tires.

In today's market and as it has always been, "you get what you pay for." Tires are offered from an inexpensive base tire which is designed to do little but roll and have barely acceptable handling in wet and dry conditions, to high dollar tires with more capability than the driver or car. To expect more with much less sets the stage for disaster.

Hard acceleration accelerates the tread wear considerably. Spinning the rear tires is the worst scenario and can actually spin the tire on the rim. If this happens, the balancing on the tire has been negated. In the worse case the tire can come unseated at its bead and deflate.

Hard cornering on non-performance tires is extremely destructive to the tires. These are tires with a high sidewall such as the second number in the size being an 80, 75 or 70 series tire -- for example a 235/75/15. If a camera is placed under the rear of the car facing forward the effect on the tires becomes apparent. In a hard turn, the tire bends so badly that the tread is no longer in contact with the pavement. The car is actually riding through the turn on the sidewall. The easiest way to prove this point is to rock your car from side to side and observe the tires. If you are driving tires in this category you will be amazed at the amount of flex. If you have a performance tire, it becomes much harder to rock the car, if at all.

Hard braking, such as continuously approaching an intended stop too rapidly, puts a tremendous strain on the tread of any tire. There will always be a certain amount of slip, which will cause uneven wear patterns. Locking up the brakes for any reason can destroy tires on the first occasion due to the flat spots created by the sanding effect of sliding the tires.

Striking the curb with the side of the tire or driving through pot holes is the largest contributor to immediate tire failure. This type of action tends to separate the plies on the tire, allowing air to infiltrate between the plies resulting in a bubble on the side of the tire. Once this has happened the tear always increases to the point of catastrophic failure.

Operating the vehicle on tires with low air pressure will cause two things. It will raise the temperature in the tire drastically, which will put the tire at risk for separating in the tread area. It will also severely compromise the handling.

Poor driving habits are a result of complacency, over confidence and ignorance of the tire's capabilities. All tires have several attributes that everyone should be aware of, and modify their driving habits to remain in a safe envelope. Tires have their characteristics in the terms of ratings stamped on the sidewall. The ratings to be concerned with are the load rating (amount of weight they can safely carry) at maximum air pressure, speed rating (ability to dissipate heat at highway speeds), handling ability (A to C, A being the best) and traction in wet weather (A to C, A being the best).

The average car weighs in at close to 4,000 pounds. The purchase of an inexpensive tire with a load rating of 900 pounds per tire with a low or no speed rating sets the stage for trouble. The tires are only rated to carry 3,600 pounds with the maximum pressure. Add passengers and they are severely overloaded. Reduce the tire pressure by a couple pounds and their load-bearing ability is further reduced. Couple this to a tire with poor handling rating and poor temperature dissipation and the vehicle's capability has been severely compromised.

Check your tire pressure regularly, slow the acceleration from a stop, avoid hard braking and protect the sides of the tires from curbs or potholes and they will last an inordinate amount of miles.