As the year is gradually coming to an end, together with the mass movement of people from one part of the country to the other for the forthcoming yuletides,there is the need for our drivers to keep their vehicles in proper shape so as to face the road traffic challenges associated with this period.One of such challenges is sudden tyre bursts which have caused several road traffic crashes and sent thousands to their early graves in the past. These are common occurrence at this period, and hence, the need for drivers and motorists to ensure they fix only quality tyres and not worn out or tokunbo tyres into their vehicles.Most of our vehicles are fitted with worn out and expired tyres and this, road safety experts have warned against. Irrespective of the fact that your tyres appear new or not, road safety experts and vehicle manufacturers have advised against the use of tyres that are more than four years old. This is basically so as a result of the effect of old age on the tyres.While you avoid tokunbo tyres and remove the worn out ones in your vehicle, you must even when buying new ones, ensure that you check the date of the manufacture. For instance, tyres, produced, in 2005 are by now no longer expected to be in any vehicle. Reasons for this are not far fetched. This is because those tyres by now, must have outlived their usefulness because they have exceeded their shelf lives of four years.To tell when a tyre is manufactured is so simple. Tyre manufacturers, since the 90s have been inserting three numbers in an oval on one side of the side wall of the tyre. All you need to do is to check the three numbers. The first two numbers represent the week of manufacture, while the last number represents the year the tyre was produced.If for instance, you see a tyre marked 229 was produced in the 22nd week of 1999. There is usually a triangle immediately after the 9 to indicate that the tyre was made in the 90s. However, since the beginning of the new millennium, that is since 2000, four numbers, instead of three have been used for the date. So, if you see a tyre with inscription like 1205 on the wall side, it simply means that the tyre was produced in March 2005.It should be realized however that in spite of the four years shelf lives of tyres, and regardless of their age, tyres should be replaced if they show significant signs of cracking in the thread groove or side wall or bulging of the thread face at the side wall. All tyres, both the ones fitted into the vehicles, and the unused spare ones should be inspected periodically to determine their suitability for service.Despite the shelf lives, there are some factors that may actually make your tyres to age fast .The climatic and operating weather conditions are by far, one of the most outstanding factors as they act as catalyst to fast tyre ageing. Evidence abounds to show that aged tyres have an increased likelihood of failures due to environmental factors.This is why tyres should ideally be kept in a cool, dry environment, out of direct sunlight and away from electric motors or other sources of ozone. Meeting the above conditions, is no doubt, a sure way of prolonging the age of your tyres, while your inability to meet the conditions may increase the chances of tyre failures due to hard climatic conditions.When we talk of tyre ageing, we should note that there are three main causal mechanisms. The first one involves rubber becoming brittle. Because sulphur is used to link rubber molecules during vulcanisation with the application of heat and pressure, so as to give the rubber its elastic property and strength.As the tyre absorbs energy in the form of light, heat or movement, the tyre continues to vulcanize, while the continuous vulcanization causes reversion, that is loss of sulphur cross links of the vulcanized rubber to become stiffer and more brittle. A brittle tyre will therefore not do the needed work of flexing that a tyre is noted for, and as such, will fail in no time.The second mechanism of tyre ageing is oxidation involving oxygen and ozone from the air. Basically, heat and oxygen cause cross links between polymer chains thereby leading to reduced elasticity. This will eventually compromise the desired strength and elasticity of the rubber as well as the integrity of the rubber to steel bond, while internal weakness or looseness gradually sets in and thereby makes the tyre prone to failure.The third causal mechanism is the breakdown of the rubber to steel- belt bond which occurs due to water penetrating through a tyre and bonding with the plate coatings on steel belts which causes the steel to rubber bond to weaken and thereby reduces the tyre's strength. If compressed air used for inflation is not completely dry, tyre's strength will be affected over time. Even, unused tyres will become more brittle, weaker and less elastic with exposure to water, air, heat and sunlight.So, ensure that as you are travelling from one place to the other in anticipation of the celebrations ahead of us, avoid worn out or tokunbo tyres on your vehicle.
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