How to Prepare Tires for the Season and Extend Their Service Life

The summer season is increasingly approaching in most of central Russia. This means that all car owners are getting their summer tires out of storage and preparing for tire mounting. It's worth noting that there's no need to rush. Timely tire replacement for the season is important, but it's also not worth overdoing it and changing tires too early. A few lost studs aren't worth the risk of unexpected morning frosts. Nevertheless, tire replacement will be relevant soon, and today we'll talk about what to pay attention to when switching from winter to summer tires.

By default, we assume that you've read our tips on why it's contraindicated to store tires in bags. Such storage causes a "greenhouse effect" that is extremely detrimental to the rubber mixture of the tires, significantly reducing both their service life and characteristics. Nevertheless, you should pay attention to the presence of cracks and flaking on the surface of the rubber. Bend the sidewall and tread as much as possible. A fine mesh of cracks is not critical, but it's already the first warning sign. If there are no deep cracks, the tires are suitable for operation. If your tires belong to the sports range, the likelihood of new cracks is especially relevant, since the rubber mixture of these tires is particularly capricious to low temperatures.

You should also pay attention to deformations. Haven't the sidewalls of the tire become deformed, and are there no deformations of the rim rings? This can happen with improper storage, and it's essential to identify such deformations at an early stage. Special attention should be paid to deformations of the tread. Subsequently, this can lead to vibration while driving.

If you're a happy owner of two sets of wheels assembled on disks and prefer to change them yourself, don't neglect balancing. Over time, especially with tire wear and disk deformation, balancing can lose its relevance.

Most importantly, don't forget that winter tires should also be sent to proper storage. You can read the full list of recommendations in our separate article on this topic.

Separately, it should be noted that to extend the life of the tires immediately after tire mounting, it's necessary to check the relevance of the wheel alignment and compliance with the recommended pressure.