Good motoring
Being tiresome on tyres

Indian road conditions can take the toll on the tyres of your vehicles
H. Kishie Singh

On a recent trip to Delhi I saw two commercial vehicles which had burst tyres and two sedans with punctured tyres. An unusual sight in these days of radials and tubeless tyres, as punctures are rare.

Next day at the marketplace, I heard the owners of some commercial vehicles complaining about the tyres. Dozens of CUV owners were facing the problem of tyre burst. That many of tyres could not be at fault. It had to be the road. On NH1, work has been at a standstill for the past four to five years — worse, there is no maintenance or repairs. As a result, the road has sunk and the surface has become wavy. The shock absorbers of vehicles are taking a beating. However, the shockers take the secondary impact, while the primary impact is absorbed by the tyres. There is a tertiary impact to the steering.

This problem is only on NH1. When you head for Chandigarh from Ambala, this highway is NH22 and the road is smooth. On NH1, due to the surface of the road, the tyres are being subjected to a constant pounding. The tyres flex, heat builds up and the side-walls begin to de-laminate. If you are lucky, the tyres die on you slowly. But if you are unlucky, the tyre bursts and in extreme cases, it may even catch fire.

Constantly checking your tyres is all important. However, no amount of checking tyres can prevent you from picking up problems along the journey. The only remedy is to stop every 100 km to let the tyres cool down.

This is the condition of NH1 and despite that the government has seen fit to increase the speed limit.

Driving on a road with an uneven surface creates another problem. Your car has a tendency to wander. This means constant correction with the steering wheel. This increases the friction between the tyre and tarmac and results in a heat build-up which may result in a tyre blow-out. What to do if you get a tyre blow out. There will be an immediate change in the handling of the car, "blow-out" does not mean a bang. The tyre could just disintegrate and you'll be running on the rim.

In case of front tyre blow-out, the car will pull to one side. To brake will be your instinctive reaction. If you brake, the weight is transferred to the front and the swerve will be stronger. Don't brake. Take you foot off the accelerator. Let the vehicle slow down on its own. Steer to a safe place. In case of a rear tyre blow-out the rear-end will fish tail and weave. Gently bring the car to a halt. It is fun looking after your car. But in India the weakest link in the motoring chain are the roads.

Happy Motoring!

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