Step 5:
Summer Wheels Check

Step 5:

Old or new – are my wheels fit for spring?

Before fitting your summer wheels, you must check whether they are still fit enough.

The tyre’s rubber is permanently under pressure and receives extra stress from the elements. That’s why, summer tyres should never be used more than five years.

The age of the tyre can be checked at the indication (DOT symbol) directly on the tyre sidewall. If the last four digits are, for example, 3315 it indicates that the tyre was manufactured in the 33rd week of the year 2015.

Note: Beware of wearing down your tyres to the bitter end. Tread depth contributes significantly to your safety. Frequent drivers wear away the tread very fast. Therefore, tyres and tread depth must be checked regularly. Five years are not a realistic benchmark for this kind of usage.

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Tread depth

What you need:

Tread depth gauge

For all summer tyres a minimum tread depth of 1.6 mm is mandatory. In practice, we recommend a notably deeper tread: three to four millimetres for summer tyres, a minimum of four millimetres for winter tyres.

Every car tyre has wear indicators, small bars located in the longitudinal grooves of the tyre tread. When the tyre has reached a tread depth of 1.6 mm, these indicators are level with the tread.

The height of the wear indicators is not always exactly 1.6 mm. Therefore, it is much safer to measure the tread depth by using a tread depth gauge.

Air pressure

What you need:

Tyre pressure measuring device

Depending on the car and load, various air pressure levels apply. The predetermined levels are stated in the manual, the sign on the fuel tank cap, or the B-pillar on the passenger side.

Tyre pressure measuring devices are available at most petrol stations and can be used free of cost. (Note: your fingers might get really dirty or covered in brake dust.)

Remove the tyre protection caps, place the device on the tyre valve, and increase or decrease the pressure by pressing the buttons (+) or (-). To check the pressure, press the buttons briefly and read the display.

Always adjust air pressure when the tyres are cold. Otherwise you might not get the correct results as air always expands in warm tyres.

Tyre balance

What you need:

Body shop

Abrupt braking manoeuvres or fast cornering lead to uneven tyre wear. The subsequent varying weight distribution is called imbalance.

Tyre imbalance results not only in steering wheel wobble but can also damage various car components (e.g. wheel bearing, wheel suspension or steering box).

Tyre balancing must always be carried out by a qualified body shop.

An imbalance of as little as 10 g per wheel acts like 2.5 kg at a speed of 100 km/h – a 250-fold. This makes clear why tyre balancing is crucial.

Rim check

Rims must also be checked for possible damages. No wheels must be fitted during the rim check.

In addition to the surfaces and outer areas it is important to also check the inner surface as well as the condition of the wheel hub.

Never repair rim damage on your own, as this might result in losing the warranty for your rim. This also applies to cast wheels. Even if they are repaired by an expert, you will lose your ALCAR warranty.

For multi-part rims it is not always necessary to exchange the entire rim. Often, parts, such as the spokes or the rim flange, can be exchanged individually.

Alcar

Life Hack:

Checking tread depth using a coin

To measure the tread depth of your tyre you can also use a regular 1 € coin. The golden edge measures exactly 3 mm.

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SHARE #SPRINGMYRIDE MOMENT WITH US AND WIN

Winning is easy, simply:

post a picture on Instagram and use the hashtag #SPRINGMYRIDE
increase your winning chances and leave the podium as a winner

To raffle

WIN A SET OF RIMS OF YOUR CHOICE

PARTICIPATE NOW AND WIN BIG

Silver or black, matte or shiny, 18 or 20-inch? It doesn’t matter – if you win, you decide! Among all raffle participants we toss up a complete rim set by AEZ, DOTZ or DEZENT. The raffle entry deadline is on 23.5.2018.

What you need to do?

Simply fill in the form by clicking on below link, keep your fingers crossed, and win.

And with a little bit of Instagram you can increase your winning chances even more! Simply click a picture during your springtime check, mark it with our hashtag #SPRINGMYRIDE and post it publicly.

Good luck!

» Join the raffle

Step 5: Summer Wheels Check

Step 5:
Summer Wheels Check