Tyre safety
Please I implore you to search for these materials because you will find them enriching especially these Ember season when the need for extra caution becomes imperative. For all these materials I am grately to my comrade in safety-Sab Osuagwu who crossed my path after reading my piece titled, Time to burn the bridge. In […]
Please I implore you to search for these materials because you will find them enriching especially these Ember season when the need for extra caution becomes imperative. For all these materials I am grately to my comrade in safety-Sab Osuagwu who crossed my path after reading my piece titled, Time to burn the bridge. In that piece I tried to appeal to the consciences of the average motorists especially the privilege few amongst us to stop passing the buck on the issue of road safety. Rather, that they should choose to make a change. In that piece, I cited the example of MADD [mothers against drunk driving] based in California, United States of America.
This week, I want to share a material my friend forwarded to my mail with the above title. Please read and add this to your archives, most of us operate motor vehicles on a daily basis and hardly ever pay any attention to one of the most vital parts of the vehicle which are our tyres. Unfortunately very few of us change this bad habit until it is too late. Did you know that tires expire four years after the date of manufacture and this date is stamped on the side of the tyre?
It is very easy to find out what the expiration date is on a tyre, if you check on the side of it, you will have a four digit number stamped on it, this number indicates the week and the year it was manufactured, the expiration date will be four years later. This number indicates that the tyre was manufactured on the 7th week of 2007 or which is the same February 2007 that would place the expiration date on February 2011. If we use expired tyres these are likely to burst and result in a very serious or even a fatal accident, it would be a good practice for us to check our tyres and make sure they have not passed their expiration date.
Another important point that we miss many times is proper tyre inflation most of the gas stations in Mexico will calibrate your tyres at 28 PSI and if you are going to travel they will even in many cases bring your pressure down to 24-26 PSI because they will “heat up on the highway and the pressure will come back up”. DO NOT ALLOW THIS
On the side of the tyre, you will also find the maximum allowable inflating pressure for that specific tire, some tyres have a maximum pressure of 32 PSI some are rated at 44PSI and some even at 50 PSI. Check your specific tyre to see what the maximum pressure is for your tyres, it is an acceptable practice to have your tyres a few pounds below maximum allowable pressure but not too much. Different tyres are designed for different pressures you will find your maximum tire inflation pressure on a small number next to the rim on the side of the tire, never exceed this pressure
MAX PRESS ACCEPTABLE
32 PSI 28 PSI
44 PSI 35 PSI
50 PSI 44 PSI
Lower pressure increases tire heat, infrared photography of tires tested at high speed damaging heat increases as pressure drops. Another important point to consider is the load we put on our tires, many times we overload our vehicles without paying any attention to the strain this puts on our tires, exceeding the maximum load rating on a tire may also lead to tire failure and could result in an accident.
Attached table shows the load index and maximum load carrying capacity per tire in pounds and kilograms. Load index 109 maximum load capacity 2271 lbs 1030 kg. The speed rating for which a tire is designed is indicated by a letter next to the load index, adjacent table shows the speed ratings in Km/h & Mph.
Passenger car tyre
18 Inch Wheel
The letters will indicate a tyre’s resistance to heat. Tyres are rated from highest to lowest resistance as A, B or C
Simbolo
Symbol Area
A Hot area
Area Caliente
B Normal Area
Area Normal
C Cold Area
Area Fria
TRACTION / TRACCION
Traction is a tyre’s ability to stop on wet pavement. A higher graded tyre should allow you to stop your vehicle on a wet road in a shorter distance than a tyre with lower grade. Traction is graded from highest to lowest as ”AA”, “A”, “B” and “C”
TREADWEAR
This number will give you the rate at which the tyre wears out, the higher the tread wear the longer it should take for the tyre to wear out. Hence, a tyre graded at 400 should last twice as long as a tyre graded at 200
WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TYRES
• Date of manufacturing
• Maximum inflating pressure
• Traction
• Treadwear
• Maximum load capacity per tyre
• Speed Rating
• Temperature resistance
• Tyre size
• We hope this information was useful to you, if you have any doubts or questions, please contact the members of your QHSES team they will be glad to assist you in any way they can, have a safe and successful day.