TYRE MILEAGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 194, 18 August 1931, Page 15

TYRE MILEAGE.

ONUS ON THE DRIVER.

MANY POINTS TO CONSIDER,

Excepting perhaps petrol consumption, no subject so concerns the majority of motorists as tyre mileage. One motorist will tell another that he gets 15,000 miles on a tyre and the tread pattern is still showing, whilst another wonders why he never gets more than 10,000 miles per cover, with the same make of tyre on a similar car. After all it is not the tyres of a manufacturer that vary so much in mileage, as in the treatment they receive, and the speed and manner in which a car is driven. One of the main factors in tyre service is constant maintenance of correct inflation. When tyres cost more than they do to-day, and gave only about a third of the mileage, motorists gave more attention and care to tyres than they do now. The fact is, that tyres have become so trouble-free and so long lived, that many motorists become careless as regards tyre treatment. After all there is only cotton and rubber in a tyre, and what these materials witnstand is really amazing, particularly if they receive a reasonable amount ol attention. Actually, tyres themselves are remarkably consistent nowadays, and vary very little in the service they are capable of giving. After lack of correct inflation, the chief causes of variation in wear are attributable to misalignment of wheels/ which causes a scrubbing In extreme cases this can ruin any cover action between the tyre and the road, in a short time, and the only remedy js to have the wheels checked over for alignment, which can be done by any competent motor engineer. Then again., another trouble that is noticeable on many cars to-day is that covers, particularly on the front wheels, show evidence of patchy wear. Loose wheel bearings— a bent axle, an untrue wheeze amongst some of the causes of this trouble. Brakes that are not truly circular, or bind at one spot, causing a much greater retarding effect at some points, will also

cause this uneven wear. Covers that have stood in oil for some time also suffer in this respect, for oil is particularly harmful to rubber. When it does get on a cover it should without delay be removed with a rag and a little petrol. Then again, variance in tyre life is controlled to a" considerable degree by the manner in which a car is driven. Sudden acceleration, heavy breaking that skids tyres along the road, sustained high speed, rough use of the clutch, all take toll on tyre life, and that is why some motorists invariably get greater tyre mileage than do others.

TH