Winter is Fast Approaching – Top 10 Tips for Winter Car Tyre Care

‘Winter is coming’, oh! This phrase reminds me about the famous HBO show, “Game of Thrones”. Winter is around the corners in my place and had already arrived in some other parts of India and rest the world. Sometimes the winter season becomes very harsh and proved to be dangerous.

You can’t control the weather but you can make yourself prepare for the cold conditions. Both human and vehicles need great care during winters thus you must make great effort to keep safe your car and other personal commutes.

A tyre is one of the most important parts of a vehicle and they are the only things between the road and the riders. Maintaining your tyres especially in winters will help you stay safe and save money too. I have featured top 10 tips for winter car tyre care and sure that it will help you keeping your car tyres safe in cold weather.

1.Prepare for Winter

Winter doesn’t come steadily, it comes suddenly and thus it becomes necessary to be prepared for the freezing conditions. Instead of cancel your drive due to snowfall in the morning make sure to equip your vehicle with winter car accessories and make your commute winter ready.

You will need to include few winter car parts to avoid inconvenience in low temperature and also have to follow few tips.

• Winter wiper blades
• Get a winter oil service
• Check if your car ignition working properly or not
• Examine the battery, lights and breaks
• Check the cooling and heating exhaust system
• Winter survival kit

2.Install Winter Tyres

Winter tyres are completely different from the summer tyres and no doubt you will need them in winters. Normal tyres or summer tyres get hard and non flexible just below 10 degree Celsius. Winter tyres on the other hand are made with different rubber compound and are ideal for cold conditions.

These tyres remain flexible and soft even in the coldest weather conditions and provide optimum grip. These winter tyres are made to bear the severe mountainous snowy conditions. 

Don’t look at the calendar and wait for the winter months, instead look at the weather forecasts. When the temperature goes below 10 C it means the time has come to install winter tyres for rest of the winter season.

3.Practice Winter Driving

Driving over thick snow is completely different from driving on a normal road. If you are a first time driver and new to winter roads then you must do practice winter driving before hitting the road.

• Skidding – Skidding on slippery icy road is a common thing and if you don’t know how to handle it, you may meet an accident. The most common car vehicle handling problems occur during winters are over-steering and under-steering.
• Braking – You must also the proper way of braking during winters. Apply steady and balanced pressure for anti-lock brakes and push if there are non anti-lock brakes.
• Water covered ice are more slippery and can take more distance to stop.

4.Check the Tyre Pressure Regularly

Winter or no winter you must check the pressure of your car’s tyre regularly. Lower air pressure can cause more stress and fast outwear of tyres and other problems. You must examine tyre pressure once a month and for doing you may need to go to gas station regularly. Buying a compact tyre pressure gauge can help you in measuring tyre pressure without applying much effort.

5.Examine the Tyre’s Thread

Some people don’t change tyres after the winter arrives and if you are also one of them, this tip is for you. Your tyres may have got wore during the summers and a completely worn out tyres will enhance the chances of car skidding on snowy roads. 

Without enough grip your car will begin to slide on the road and can cause heavy causalities for both you and nearby people. These days there are many service centers have opened for tyres and there your tyres will get new threads if needed. 

6.Swap the Tyres Often

Swapping your regular and winter car tyres will increase their life and provide better grip on slipper snowy roads. No doubt it is true that winter tyres are not appropriate for summer drives neither summer tyres are good for cold seasons thus swapping would be a great practice to perform.

Doing this will not only save your time and money, sometimes it can be proved life savior too. The pressure on back and front car tyres are different thus swapping front and back tyres often can also increase life of tyres.

7.Avoid Over-Speeding

The thread of tyres get easily wore out when we hit brakes while driving on a great speed. Over-speeding on a slippery snowy road can cause fatal accidents and thus you must avoid over-speeding in winters. No matter how big threads your tyres have, they can’t prevent collisions and accidents if speed of the vehicle isn’t uncontrollable.

Few tips to avoid collisions during winters:

• Slow down
• Keep great distance with other vehicles
• Gear down on hills
• Keep the lights on
• Don’t pass sanding trucks and snow plows

8.Install Snow Chains if Required

Wheels get spin and skid usually during winters and sometimes regular winter tyres also don’t work properly. You will need to equip your tyres with something to provide extra traction and snow chains can do this job perfectively.

Snow chains come with different strength and pattern and you are easily available on every car parts store. You can even order premium quality snow chains from online stores if you don’t find them nearby. They are easy to install and detach thus you can single handedly outfit snow chains over your tyres to get extra grip on snow packed roads.

9.Always keep Stepney (Spare Tire)

Stepney or spare tyre is a must to carry car parts while driving and in winters they become more essential. You don’t what is beneath the layer of snow and the chances of getting your tyres punctured increases. 

Chances of collisions also increased while driving on icy roads and you may need to change tyres, thus carrying extra tyre becomes necessary. If you travelling to remote areas and have little space inside your car you should carry two spare tyres. It may be difficult to find gas stations in remote areas and in winters too.

10.Few Rules to Follow During Driving in the Snow

If your place gets a heavy snowfall you must follow few rules to drive safely in the snow. Reports have shown that the percentage of road accidents increases during winters and you must look for the best tips to be the nest victim of accident.

I have also listed must to follow winter driving rules and everybody should strictly follow these rules:

• Get your vehicle serviced before hitting road
• Stock it with winter car parts
• Check lights, battery and ignition
• Examine windshield
• Slow down and switch on your hazard blinkers 
• Avoid bright lights as they reflect
• Park your car and stay inside whenever encounter heavy snowfall

Bottom Line:

Driving in winters was never easy and sometimes situations get out of control. You must prepare your car for the cold weather and you may need to change your regular car tyres. Wheels tolerate the whole weight of the car and thus need most of the care. 

During winters it becomes essential to take more care of your car tyres and thus you must look for top winter car tyre care tips to make your winter rides comfortable and convenient. The tips featured above will surely help you in altering your personal list of best car care ideas during winter season.