GOOD MOTORING
Keep track of tyres
H. Kishie Singh

IN the last few weeks, much has been discussed about tyres, which are one of the most crucial components of your car. They are your only contact with Mother Earth. Good road holding is of paramount importance, especially these days with the new cars that have top speeds of 180 kmph and more. Roadholding means straight-line tracking, going around corners and, of course, braking.

Some time ago when tubeless tyres came into market, I was asked, repeatedly, by car owners, "Why can’t I put a tube in my tubeless tyre?" I was really amazed by this question. If you walk into a tyre shop, you have a choice of brands. Most of these brands offer both tyres, tubeless and tyres with tubes. Now why do you want to buy a tubeless tyre and put a tube in it, especially when a tyre is available specifically designed to be used with a tube?

Now I am being asked an even more amazing question "I have a tyre with tube, can I remove the tube and make it tubeless?" Why on earth would anyone want to do that? A tyre is not like a pair of shoes that can be worn with or without socks. A car, and all its components, are all high-tech and designed to perform a specific task. You can’t improve upon what the manufacturer has designed. The answer is yes, you can take the tube out of your tube-type tyre and make it tubeless. But to what effect, for what purpose? If the rim is in a good condition and so is the tyre, it may work. But what about the manufacturer’s warranty?

However, one thing that won’t really work is the ability of the tyre to retain air. The tube that you use is made of rubber and butyl. Butyl is a synthetic compound that holds air better than an old-fashioned rubber tube.

The compounds of a tubeless tyre are different than those of a tube-type tyre. The most important feature of the tubeless type is that it has a butyl lining. This helps in retaining the air. Without this special lining, there will be seepage of air. So, remove the tube from your tube-type tyre, and you’ll be inflating it every other day.

It has been mentioned in this column many times that you should pay attention to manufacturers’ recommendations. The roadside mechanics are no experts. Ignore them. And if nothing else, depend upon your own auto sense.

There is another example of why you must carry out the final check on your car yourself. Someone sent his car for work to the dealer. The rear shock absorber was making a noise. The dealer changed only one shock absorber. Normally, this would be acceptable but the car had done over 75,000 km. This means that the other shock absorber was also almost at the end of its life span. It’s like getting one shoe resoled. The effectiveness of the new shock absorber was 100 per cent, but the same could not be said about the other one. The could result in an uneven ride and the car misbehaving around corners.

Since your car and your safety can be at stake, you must carry out the final check, not your driver or mechanic.

Happy motoring.

This feature was published on September 4, 2004