Tyres are an intrinsic part of any road based vehicle as they are the part that connects you to the surface you are travelling on. Finding good quality tyres for sale will have a huge impact on the performance of your vehicle and its safety. If you have ever tried buying a pair of tyres then you will know just how many tyre brands and tyre variations there are on the market. This can all be a bit daunting so if you need a little light cast on this rubbery shadow then keep on reading to find out more.
What is a tyre?
This is a ring shaped piece of rubber that bridges the gap between the road and our vehicle. They provide traction by providing a flexible cushion to absorb shock and uneven terrain.
Tyres are made from synthetic rubber and natural rubbers with many other chemical components such as carbon black added to the mixture. A tyre is made up of two parts, the body and the tread. The body is the space inside the tyre that holds the compressed air to give the tyre rigidity and the tread is the outer layer that sits on the road.
Tyres come in all shapes, sizes and materials and have many different applications. Different tyre brands also specialize in specific kinds of tyres and there are those that also produce a wide range of different tyre types.
Different kinds of tyres
There are a massive range of different tyre types so let’s have a look at some of these.
All Season Tyres
As the name suggest, these can be used year round and in almost any weather conditions. They are not the best in any kind of weather or terrain but rather they perform adequately on all of them. These are the most common tyres you will see on South African roads. They are quite complex in design as they need to be able to function on anything. They will provide good traction on dry, wet, slippery or even icy roads. As it’s not practical to swop your tyres out for every occasion, these are the most cost effective ones you can buy.
Winter Tyres
There aren’t too many places in South Africa that will ever need winter tyres but let’s explain what they do anyway. These are specifically designed to give you more grip on ice and snow covered surfaces. They give a lot more traction than normal ones due to their tread design. They will normally have very wide and deep grooves and silica is used in the rubber to stop the tyre from getting too cold. These will give too much grip on other surfaces and it would wear down unnecessarily fast so only use these in the right conditions.
Performance Tyres
Most luxury and premium cars will come with performance tyres as they are designed for sports cars and people that like to drive at high speeds. These are softer than regular ones and provide more grip and better handling. They will grip more at high speeds and withstand higher temperatures. These are only suited for dry conditions as they don’t dissipate water very well. The reason you don’t use these every day is because they are very expensive and they don’t last as long as the regular ones.
Wet Weather Tyres
Rain or wet weather tyres are designed to handle lots of water. If you live in an area where it rains for a few days at a time then these tyres for sale are a great buy. When the roads are wet the stopping distance and visibility is impaired. Sliding out becomes a real issue when traveling at speeds on a wet road. Wet weather ones are made to quickly disperse the water under the tyre so you have as much contact with the tar surface as possible. The tread on these are made to be extra deep so they quickly channel water away.
All Terrain Tyres
These tyres essentially have a 50/50 split between on-road and off-road capabilities. The tread blocks have just enough space to stop them from getting clogged up with mud and are cross cut to allow for water to move through the tyre. These are made to give a very even tyre wear so your tyres last longer. All Terrain Tyres have very good off-road traction, a bold tread pattern and give a very comfortable ride due to their over emphasizes tread when used on normal roads.
Run Flat Tyres
These types of tyres are becoming increasingly popular due to the benefits they provide a driver. Run flat tyres will allow a vehicle to keep moving safely even after they have been punctured, even when there is absolutely no pressure in the tyre.
These work by using a reinforced tyre wall that isn’t dependent on the air pressure to keep it rigid. If you get a puncture then you can quite easily drive for a few kilometers with no worry of the tyre failing. Some can travel up to 80 kilometers at speeds of 80 kilometers an hour.
Another benefit of run flat tyres is that they can blow out on the road as they don’t need the air pressure to keep them inflated.
Eco Tyres
If you want to save some money on fuel then eco tyres were made for you. These, also known as Low rolling resistant tyres, effectively reduce fuel consumption without reducing your car’s performance.
They work by using silica in the tread compound much like winter types do. This silica reduces the energy a tyre absorbs as its turning. The lower your resistance is when the tyre rolls, the lower your fuel consumption.
If you wanted to reduce resistance, in the past, this meant reducing tyre grip. The silica stops this from happening and what you get are fuel saving tyres for sale that can save you a lot of money in the long term. You can get up to a 4 percent drop in your consumption just by using these tyres.
Radial tyres
Normal tyres are constructed by using cross plies that overlap each other to form a strong surface that can be subjected to many different forces. These have their plies radiating from one tyre bead to another which creates a softer and more comfortable ride. There are stiff belts of steel and hard fabric that run around the tyre circumference and between the plies and the tread to give the tyre the support it needs.
Tubeless Tyres
Tubeless tyres get their rigidity by sealing the spoke well off the rim. This is normally achieved with specially designed spokes, a strip that runs around the rim. The tyre valve that is separate from the tyre is sealed with an O ring. Tubeless Tyres are airtight and this happens by adding rubber to the tyre material or by coating the inside of the tyre casing with Butyl rubber.
A tubeless tire will not blow out but rather deflate slowly, and thus improves safety.
Cross ply or bias ply tyres
This is simply the way that the plies run inside the tyre. In cross or bias ply tyres, the plies are fabric chords that run from one bead to another at an angle and therefore cross along the tyre, giving it its name.
4×4 or off road tyres
Off road tyres are specifically designed for use on rough, uneven and off-road tracks. These will give the best grip and traction you can get. They are very specialized and as a result are quite expensive. Off road tyres are known for their longevity and you can drive them for much longer than other types before they have to be changed.
Low profile tyres
These have a much shorter sidewall or a lower aspect ratio than other tyres. They have a much wider tread with a stiffer and wider apex. Generally speaking, low profile tyres with a 50 aspect ratio or less are considered low profile tyres.
How to change a tyre
You should now have a much better understanding of what kind of tyre you will want to use on your vehicle. Once you have purchased your tyres, you will want to swap them out with the old ones. This is how you should do that:
Step 1: Get your car on a flat and even surface. The even terrain will stop the car from rolling away from you. Make sure the car is well away from traffic and put your hazard lights on.
Step 2: In a manual car, put the car into first gear and pull up the hand break. In an automatic car, put it into park and pull up the hand break.
Step 3: Position a heavy object in front of the front tyre and behind the back tyres, a rock or brick will work here. This is an extra precaution to stop the car from shifting.
Step 4: Remove the jack and spare tyre from the car’s storage compartment. Place the jack under the car’s metal frame nearest to the tyre you want to change.
A lot of cars have molded plastic under the car’s rim, avoid this if you don’t want it to get damaged. Most cars will have markings on them to indicate where you can place the jack.
Step 5: Start raising the jack until it just starts to support the car weight without it raising off of the floor. Check to make sure the jack and car are stable and that the jack is perpendicular to the ground.
Step 6: Take off the tyre’s hubcap by loosening the nuts with your tyre spanner. Make sure you turn them counterclockwise. Don’t remove the nuts, just loosen them so the wheel is still on the ground.
Sometimes a lot of force is needed to loosen the nuts. Don’t be scared to put your body weight behind the spanner or use your foot. Just make sure you are indeed turning the spanner the right way or you could strip the nuts and need special machinery to get them off.
Step 7: Raise the jack all the way now until the tyre is elevated completely off of the ground. Make sure everything is stable.
Step 8: Remove your nuts all of the way now and make sure you keep them in a safe place.
Step 9: Remove your tyre now slowly. There might be some sticking due to rust and hitting the tyre gently with a soft mallet can help relieve this issue.
Step 10: Put your spare tyre onto the now exposed wheel hub and make sure everything lines up. Ensure you put the nuts in the correct way and always tighten the nuts in a cross pattern. So if you start at the top then do the bottom nut then the right and then the left. The order doesn’t matter but putting in the nuts like this will even distribute the pressure on the nuts.
Start off by tightening them with your hands and then use the wheel wrench to tighten them fully.
Step 11: Lower the car down now and make sure the nuts are secure by tightening them one more time.
Step 12: Remove the jack and replace your hubcap and put the old tyre into the area you got the spare tyre from originally. Take this tyre to a mechanic or tyre shop and get it fixed ASAP. You don’t want to be driving around with a flat spare or you might run the risk of being stranded if another tyre is damaged.
Why look at used tyres for sale?
If tyre prices are a big hurdle for you then there is another option. Used tyres for sale are much cheaper than new ones. The issue here is due to the fact that tyres experience a lot of wear and tear, you might run the risk of buying a set that is too damaged to be reused.
Make sure to check things like the tread wear, age, defects and any rot that might have set in since the they were stored. A tyre needs to have a minimum of 1.6 mm on the tread for it to be legal to use on South African roads. Check for any uneven wear and check the tyre wear indicators on the used tyres for sale too.
Your next tyre purchase should be a breeze now that you have all of this information at your disposal. If you are looking for some great tyres for sale Junk Mail is one of the best resources you will find on the net. Find everything from tubeless to used tyres for sale. Selling your wheels and tyres? Place your FREE AD on www.JunkMail.co.za today!
