A large percentage of people treat car issues reactively instead of proactively. If the battery dies, get it replaced. If the climate control stops cooling, get the coolant levels checked. Parking your vehicle long term can lead to more frequent problems
The life of Individual parts of your vehicle can be extended through proper care and maintenance.
How Long Term Parking Affects Car Tyres
Tyres like other parts of your vehicle respond well to regular care. Tyres tend to naturally lose pressure over time. When cars are left stationary, the part of the tyre in contact with the road starts to adopt the flat shape of the road. As the tyres lose pressure, they are forced to bear the same amount of weight with reduced air pressure, making them flatter over time.
If your vehicle sits in the same position for too long, the rubber starts to adopt the flat shape of the road, which can lead to flat spots developing on your tyre. This can be avoided by re-filling air in the tyres and driving the car for distances over fifteen kilometres so that the tyre has time to heat up and the flat spots are given time to disappear, once again making the tyre round.
How Incorrect Tyre Pressure Can Affect Your Vehicle
Tyre Pressure can affect a vehicle in many different ways. Some of the most common effects of incorrect tyre pressure are listed below:
Handling: When the air pressure in your tyre is perfect, it ensures that the weight of the vehicle is distributed perfectly, just as the manufacturer intended while designing the vehicle. This allows the car to function optimally. Under-inflated or over-inflated tyres can have a negative effect on the handling, cornering and stopping of a vehicle.
Tyre Wear: An overinflated tyre reduces the contact patch, causing a part of the tyre to bear the full weight, thereby wearing out the tyre tread faster. Underinflated tyres, on the other hand, can lead to damage to the sidewalls of the tyres while cornering.
Tyre Durability: The wear and tear on the tyre tread or the tyre sidewall has a major impact on the life of the tyre. Tyre tread affects everything- whether it is minimum braking distance, handling, grip or several other aspects of your driving experience. Ensuring the that your tyres are properly inflated will have a positive impact on your tyre tread, which will increase the lifespan of your tyres.
Fuel Consumption: A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the USA found that every 1% decrease in tyre pressure correlated to a 0.3% reduction in fuel economy. This occurs because underinflated tyres lead to increased drag, which means that the vehicle is forced to expend more fuel to attain the same speed.
Tyre Blowouts: When air pressure within the tyre gets too low, it causes the tyre’s sidewalls to flex more, and heat builds up within the tyre due to the increased friction. This increases the chances of a tyre blowout.
How to Ensure Proper Tyre Pressure
There are steps that you can take to ensure your tyres are properly inflated. These include checking your tyre pressure while the tyres are cold (in order to get the most accurate results), using nitrogen in your tyres so that tyre pressure is retained for a longer period of time, and checking tyre pressure at least once a month.
Long Term Parking Affects Your Car Batteries Too!
Car batteries, don’t react well to deep cycles like other batteries. While conventional wisdom dictates that we let the batteries of our electronic devices discharge completely before we recharge them, car batteries respond far better when they are topped up on a regular basis.
How Saeedi Pro Can Help
Saeedi Pro has several conveniently located service centres across Dubai, all of which can check your battery’s health and are equipped with nitrogen filling stations for your tyre. Saeedi Pro also provides mobile battery replacement and tyre repair service where we come to you for the repair. Get in touch or call to know more!
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