Road Hazards and Your Tires

Avoid road hazards, and you'll avoid tire repair and the very costly replacement of tires that are otherwise perfectly road worthy. My approach to frugal living has me being careful to avoid things in the road that can puncture, tear or blow out my tires.

Unnecessary replacement of a tire is a hassle and an expense that can be avoided.

Hazards in the road can be many and varied. We are all familiar with potholes, but you can also find rocks, metal, glass and wood.

In fact, you can find just about anything you can imagine laying in the middle of the road. Each presents a potential hazard to contend with.

I live in the country out where the roads aren't busy at all, and sometimes I'll see a short piece of 2 by 4 laying in the road. If I come back the next day or so to pick it up, it is usually crushed and splintered into many pieces by the passing vehicles.

It always amazes me that people will drive over a road hazard like that instead of driving around it. There are plenty of things that can find their way into your car tires. It makes no sense to run over something that is clearly visible in the road.

Glass, boards, cans, and other unidentifiable debris should be carefully avoided as a way of reducing tire wear and the likelihood of punctures. This kind of tire care makes perfect sense to me.

Once I had to drive over some glass fragments because I was one of the first cars to be allowed through after an accident on the highway. I wasn't happy about having to drive over glass, but I didn't have the choice to pull over until the road was in better condition for travel.

At my first opportunity, I gassed up and checked all surfaces of my tires to make certain there wasn't a piece of glass working its way into one of my tires.

If you want a lesson in road hazards, just go down to your local tire shop. They usually have a glass jar that holds all the items that they have pulled out of customer tires. You would be amazed at what can work its way into your tires. How about a spoon or a ball point pen? I'm not kidding. They have all been found inside of tires.

Avoid road hazards. They can stop you flat in just a few moments. Worse yet, it will cost you plenty in tire replacement. At least normal tire wear gives you an opportunity to start saving for the necessary replacement.

Tires, like other things of high value, need to be cared for so they last longer. Applying this basic concept of frugal living can save you money by extending the useful life of your tires - let them wear out, not blow out.

Done with Road Hazards, take me back to Frugal Living Tips