The different types of tyre and maintenance

You might tire of talking about tyres, but these are extremely important elements of your car, being the only part that touches the road.

And they need to be in good working order to do their job effectively. You will know that they should of course be inflated to the right level, but also they need other general care and attention on a regular basis and so the pressure is not the only thing that you should check with regard to the tyres of your vehicle.

There are two different types in fact, called cross ply and radial ply, which are made slightly differently. Cross ply tyres will as a rule be thicker walled, be cheaper, last a little longer and have slightly worse grip, whilst radial are the opposite of each of the elements above.

You should have the same type of tyre on all of the wheels of the car for the obvious reason that the different types perform slightly differently and therefore it makes sense to have the same type on each wheel of the car.

New cars these days will invariably be fitted with radial ply tyres, but there are still cross ply ones available. There are legal restrictions and requirements in place with regard to tyres and you must read about and understand these.

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