SIMPLE DRIVEWAY
CHECKS EVERYONE
CAN DO!
If you think your tyres a wearing unevenly
you can check your toe in at home by jacking
up your front axle and putting thumbtacks in
the tyre tread in identical spots both sides,
then rotate the thumb tacks up so they are
in the middle of the rotation at the front and
measure between the two, once you have
your measurement roll the thumb tacks to
the back in the same spot and measure it.
This will give you an idea of whether you
need to get an alignment done.Ens uring you have the right kind of tyre for
the touring you do is incredibly importantThe way a 4WD is driven plays a big part in how long the tyres last. Coming in to a corner too fast,
accelerating rapidly or braking heavily all do the same thing - they unbalance the vehicle and
shift the majority of its weight on to one or two tyres, instead of spreading it across all four. These
heavily loaded up tyres fl ex, transferring the load to the outer edges of the tread, often beyond the
point where it can maintain effective grip. What this means is that not only does the tyre begin to
slide, but it wears unevenly. The side wall (the thinnest part of the tyre) is also much closer to the
terrain, increasing the risk of staking a tyre.
Being smooth is the key here. Take corners at safe speeds, slow down earlier if you approach
an obstacle, make fl uent gear changes and resist nailing it if the track ahead is all clear.WHEEL
BALANCE
DRIVING STYLE
Wheel balance is another big thing that most people don’t consider
when it comes to getting your tyres to last longer. The best
example of this is a 35in tyre would have to be balanced more often
than a 31in tyre would need to be balanced. As you go up in size
the side wall gets bigger and the dynamic balance (the balance
of the tyre as it’s rolling) changes. Over time the tyre’s sidewall
softens and fl exes more. This causes the balance to change and
the tyres to shake at certain speeds. If you haven’t had your tyres
balanced since they were fi rst fi tted to your rims, chances are
they’re wearing unevenly.When you get your balance checked do a wheel rotation including your spares. Always try to keep them
in pairs, which is easy if you have two spares, but obviously harder if you only have one.
A basic way to remember it is: move your fronts to be spares and rotate the rear to the front on a
diagonal to ensure even wear, and then move your spares to the rear. This will ensure that your tyres
wear in an even pattern and give you the value from your tyres. If you only run one spare you can do
a fi gure 8 rotation, this still runs the same diagonal swap front to back but one of the back tyres gets
swapped to the spare and vice versa in a fi gure 8 pattern.
If you have a spare that has minor damage and don’t want to run it except as a designated spare
then you can just do a diagonal swap front to back? If you don’t do regular tyre rotations you could end
up with unevenly worn tyres between the front and rear, which means you are not getting the full life
from your tyres.
Get into the habit of rotating your tyres every six months or 10,000km. The benefi ts of an evenly worn
set of tyres far outweigh the hassle of jumping on the end of a breaker bar or rattle gun for an hour.5 AND 6 TYRE ROTATION
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
Make Your Tyres Last