Tyre maintenance: The one rupee coin test

Each part of a car needs to be synchronised with the other perfectly to make it run better and deliver the best fuel efficiency. Of course, going to a workshop every time just to get the tyres checked is a tough task in terms of time and money spent. All modern cars come with a tread wear indicator. Though there's another option to check the health of a tyre is this do-it-yourself technique using a rupee coin. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to do it.

Step I: Take a one rupee coin and put it in the tread. This will give you a quick estimate of the tread depth by judging how deep the coin goes.

Step II: Repeat this process for all tyres and see how deep the coin goes in every tyre.

Now, if your tread depth is the same in each tyre, there is nothing to worry about. However, in case there is considerable difference in the tread depth, then it’s a sign that your car is eating away rubber in that tyre. The best remedy to this is to get the alignment and balancing done to check if the camber, castor and toe are in position. Irregular tyre wear and tear happens mostly due to driving on bad roads and the best way to reduce it is by getting the wheel alignment and balancing checked every 3,000 kilometres or when you notice the car is not able to maintain a straight line.

Another factor that signals irregular wear and tear of the tyre is when you feel a change while stopping the car. Three wheeled brakes is a sure shot signal that the tyre wear and tear is irregular. Three wheeled brakes happen primarily in two scenarios: when there is irregular tread wear from one of the tyres and when there's a problem in the brake hub of that particular wheel.

NOTE: Whether a tyre tread has lived its life or not is indicated by the wear indicator but also enough attention has to be paid on the pattern of the tread wear.