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How to check if you need new tyres
As well as keeping your tyres for longer, you'll also save on fuel, enjoy better vehicle handling and, most importantly, stay safer on the road.
Published Nov 2024
3 min read
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Published Nov 2024
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Check your tyre tread
Make sure your tyre tread doesn’t go below the legal 1.5mm limit.
Check the wear indicator bars moulded into the tyre tread. If the wear indicator bars are visible or the tread has become invisible in places it's time to get a new set of tyres.
Avoid scuffing and hitting kerbs when parking your car
Remember, front tyres on a four-wheel drive car wear two times faster than the rear tyres
Check your tyre pressure
Under- or over-inflated tyres will cause wear to your tyres and use more fuel.
Check air pressure every two weeks and when the tyres are cool as cool tyres give a more precise reading.
Maintain the recommended tyre pressures at all times. The correct pressure for your tyre will be marked on it. It may also be found in the vehicle manual or on the tyre placard which is located either on your door pillar, inside the fuel cap or in the boot. It will be a PSI number. (Your tyre placard details the size, load and pressure requirements specific to the tyres needed for your vehicle.)
Go to a service station or auto repairer and check the pressure. Air pressure gauges can be used for free or you can buy your own.
Tighten valve cores and caps to prevent air leaks. Make sure all your tyres have a valve cap (this is the main seal).
Make sure dual tyres have the same air pressure.
With utes, panel vans four-wheel drives, check the pressure is right for your load (see your tyre placard and/or owner’s manual)
Act on your vehicle's tyre warning system.
Wheel alignment
If your tyres are unbalanced it can cause vibration and a rough ride. Getting your tyres professionally balanced is important for better driving, and you’ll enjoy a smoother ride. Get your tyres rotated at every service, or at least every six months.
You should get your wheels aligned by a professional when:
You replace your tyres.
Your car starts to pull to either side.
You reach every 10,000km (best to rotate your tyres as well as balance them)
Your steering wheel isn't straight.
Need an expert? Check out one of our mobile tyres technicians on the job changing a tyre.
Need new tyres?
Call the experts. RAC's mobile tyre service can come to your home or workplace to fit new tyres at competitive prices. Plus, members get 10% off.
Last updated September 2017
