Check your tyre pressures!

I've just replaced the front tyres on a Mercedes A class. The customer thought that he had a wheel alignment problem as the outside edges of the tyres were worn away. These symptoms are a classic sign of running the tyres under inflated and sure enough, upon checking the pressures they were about 10 PSI below their correct reading. Now this customer had only recently had a rear tyre replaced at a fast fit centre, so why hadn't they checked his pressures then? Anyway, I was able to demonstrate to the customer that his tyres were under inflated and 2 tyres were ordered and duly fitted (£56.00 each inclusive of VAT, new valve, balance and disposal of old tyre - bargain!).

We fitted these in the local Toys R Us car park as it was convenient for the customer.

On chatting with the customer, he said that he HAD been maintaining his tyre pressures and always did so at the same petrol station near where he lived.

So, the point here is that you should always check your tyre pressures as doing so ( and topping up the pressure) means that you will get the maximum life from your tyres. Also, it is also true that quite often the air line gauges at petrol station forecourts are inaccurate because of the abuse that they get, so having a footpump and your own pressure gauge is a wise investment