With a big truck comes big responsibility, and much of that responsibility comes down to proper truck maintenance. A big part of that maintenance means ensuring your truck tyres are fit for the road and able to not only cope with the many miles ahead, but the differing road and weather conditions you might face along the way. There are a number of things you can do to ensure your truck tyres get you and your load from A to B safely.
Signs Your Truck Tyres May Need Attention
In addition to regular maintenance of your truck tyres, you should also be mindful of the signs of general wear and tear and specific problems that could affect your tyres on the road. Some of these include:
- Over or under inflation: Over inflation can cause your tyre tread to wear in the centre, while under inflation can cause premature wear to both edges of your tyre tread. Both of these issues will affect the way your truck handles the road and will cause your tyres to need replacing sooner than normal.
- Vibrations felt while driving: It's normal to feel a little vibration through the steering wheel when driving, but if this becomes more pronounced it could mean that your tyres and wheels need to be aligned.
- Wear to one edge of your tyres: If your wheels are showing noticeable wear on the outer or inner edge, this could indicate that your wheels need aligning.
- Truck pulling to one side: An underinflated tyre will often cause your truck to pull to one side. Properly inflated tyres will not do this.
How To Check Your Own Tyres
Whether you are checking truck tyres, crane tyres or AG tyres, it is important that you know what to look out for. Ideally, you should seek the advice of a professional, but when you are miles away from nowhere it is handy to know common problems and signs of wear to look out for. Here are some of the things you can check for yourself:
- Measure the depth of each tread: Always have a tread depth gauge available on your truck. You can use this to measure the tread depth of each tyre at regular intervals.
- Check for flaws in your tyres: Look out for cracks, imbedded nails, uneven wear and bulges in the tyre wall.
- Check your tyre pressure: You can do this yourself with a good quality pressure guage.