For an experienced motorist, it will not be difficult to perform such an operation, for beginners - this task will not be an easy one. The lack of practical experience and theoretical skills can be confusing when the question “How to properly put the rubber in the direction of travel” arises. Let's try to figure it out.
Introductory stage
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top installation work must be preceded by:
Tire varieties
Different types of patterns, depending on the direction, combine tires into groups:
The absence of any information carriers on the tires implies that they do not belong to the category of right-hand and left-hand. IN this case drawing does not play a decisive role.
The process of mounting tires and wheels
To get started, read the instruction manual. Next, sequential installation operations are carried out.
At the end of the installation of tires on wheels, the wheels are carefully balanced. The operation is performed on a special machine. Its necessity is due to differences in the weight of the various components of the tire, the so-called error. Its presence is dictated by the specific tire manufacturing technology.
In the state of immobility of the wheels, the error is not noticeable, but immediately makes itself felt in the process of movement. The wheel "beats". This deviation is most significant when installing tires on the front wheels.
To eliminate the difference, balancing weights are used, their weight depends on the quality of the mounted tires:
- expensive tire models offer a higher quality product, the difference reaches minimum level, which requires a meager participation of balancing weights.
- The economy option is less practical in this regard. Manufactured products are produced on obsolete equipment, which leads to a significant error - up to several tens of g. In this case, the number of weights increases significantly.
When working with cheap tires, there are situations of impossibility to balance. In this case, the wheel is mounted on the rear.
Wheel balancing fully confirms the well-known pattern: low price offers similar quality, and vice versa. Such difficulties lead to imperfections, which provokes the “beating” of the wheel as soon as the car starts moving. Therefore, the balancing procedure should be under the personal control of the owner of the machine (if the work is done in a service center).
There are three types of tire tread pattern: symmetrical, asymmetrical and directional.
An asymmetric tire conditionally consists of two halves: outer and outer, which have their own pattern and arrangement of blocks. To understand which side of the tire should look inside the car, and which outside, there are inscriptions on the sidewall - inside and outside.
Inside (inner) - indicates the inside of the tire;
Outside (out) - indicates the outer side of the tire.
Compliance with the labels is very important, since its functionality depends on the position of the tire on the car: braking performance, handling, noise level, hydroplaning resistance, and so on. For example, the outer side very often has a small stiffener that reinforces the tread blocks and retains their shape when maneuvering on high speed.
The outer blocks of the tread are interconnected by a stiffener to keep their shape and not deform during the turn. But on the inside, the blocks are not interconnected. Tire asymmetry is not always visible
Some tires have a pronounced tread asymmetry, so the difference is immediately evident.
A tire with a pronounced tread asymmetry. However, for many tires, the difference in tread halves is less significant, and without careful scrutiny, it can be difficult to detect.
Tire with less pronounced (almost imperceptible) tread asymmetry. Correct installation of the outside inside tire
In order for an asymmetric tire to behave correctly on the road, it must be installed in accordance with the marks: outside - out, inside - inside.
It happens that visually the tires on the right and left axles look in different directions, as if they were installed in opposite directions. However, if the tire marks are facing the right sides, then the tire is installed correctly on the vehicle.
Tires are labeled outside to the outside. In this case, the right tire “looks” up, and the left one looks down, which gives the impression that the tires are installed in the opposite direction to each other. Outcome
The outside and inside labels are used to indicate which side of the asymmetric tire should face the outside and which should face the inside of the vehicle.
As a rule, a lot of inscriptions are applied on the sidewall of the tire, which are far from always clear to the average motorist. What should be paid particular attention to and what information is important and useful?
The most understandable for a car enthusiast are the brand, model and size of the tire - it is on these parameters that most of us choose tires for a car. More advanced motorists also look at the speed and tire load indices. That is why all the information listed is printed on the side surface of the tire in large print, while the rest of the tire data is usually printed in small letters and it is often difficult to find a specific parameter. What else is interesting there?
Let's try to list other inscriptions on the tire, which are better to pay attention to in order of their priority. It is important to understand that the opposite sidewalls of the same tire are often different, that is, they contain different information, complementing each other. Therefore, the tire will have to be examined from both sides.
Tire production date
It is necessary to pay attention to this parameter not only when buying used (used) tires, but also in a car shop when buying new tires. The fact is that there are often cases when unsold tires from previous seasons (and we can even talk about tires three or four years ago) are bought in bulk at a cheap price in European tire centers (the so-called tire stock), after which they are imported to domestic market and are sold as new. Or domestic tire centers do not hesitate to take out from warehouses on the eve of the season tires that were not sold last year and sell them as a “new collection”.
The problem with such tires is usually in the conditions of their storage and transportation throughout the entire period from the date of production. In addition, manufacturers usually do not provide guarantees for the preservation operational properties tires after 5 years of storage, even if all requirements are met. Thus, think carefully whether it is worth buying rubber made a year or two, or even three years ago - it definitely will not last as long as a new one, and if the storage conditions have been significantly violated, it is possible that after a short time You will have to buy new tires again.
Anyway, last year's tires can never cost as much as fresh ones of the same model and size is an axiom.
How can I find out the production date of a tire?
As directed by the US Department of Transportation ( DOT – Department Of Transportation- this organization, among other things, certifies tires for sale in the US market), the date of manufacture of tires is applied to the side surface of the tire without fail, and in a clearly marked form. Since 2000, this is a four-digit number in an oval, the first two digits of which mean serial number weeks of the year, and the last two digits are the year of manufacture. That is, for example, encoding 3706 (like the picture above) on the tire sidewall means that tire made in the 37th week of 2006. This rule applies to all tires of all manufacturers that target their products, including the US market (DOT certification for American market required). In fact, all leading tire manufacturers follow this rule, regardless of the geography of tire distribution.
Until 2000, the production date on tires was indicated by a three-digit code (the first two digits are the week number, the last is the year code).
Rules for installing a tire on a disk
Many modern tires must be placed on a rim according to certain rules, which are necessarily applied to the sidewall of the tire. It should be noted that the tire fitting master does not always read the tire marking, focusing simply on your understanding of the tread pattern. Especially often this happens precisely in the off-season, when tire shops are overloaded with work.
Therefore, before you take new tires to the tire fitting on the bead, you must understand for yourself all the nuances of their installation, just in order to quickly make sure that the master did everything right. It should be emphasized that incorrect installation tires will not only accelerate its wear, but also significantly change driving performance tires, which will inevitably affect driving safety.
So, the rules for installing a bus on a disk are usually indicated as follows:
rotation and/or big arrow, painted on the sidewall of the tire indicate the direction in which the wheel should turn when the car is moving forward. Such designations are always applied to directional bus. As a rule, the tread pattern of such tires has a V-shape. A directional tire usually has improved water/dirt wicking properties.
outside or Side Facing Outwards(outside) and Inside or Side Facing Awards (inner side). These inscriptions are usually applied to asymmetrical tires and indicate the mandatory location of the side surfaces of the tire in relation to the car.
Left(left side) and Right(right side) - such inscriptions are applied to directional asymmetric tires, since in addition to directionality there are requirements for the location of the sidewalls relative to the car. There should be two left and two right tires.- this must be taken into account when buying. Besides, be sure to check the correct installation of these tires on the car directly in the tire shop.
Tubeless, TL- designation options demon tube tires . If there are no such inscriptions on the tire, the tire can only be installed with a tube. As a rule, appropriate inscriptions are applied on tube tires - MIT SCHLAUCH, Tube, Tube Type or TT.
Tire seasonality
As a rule, the tire is marked with information about the season and / or weather conditions for which the tire is intended. Here is what some inscriptions (icons) mean, indicating the seasonal specialization of the tire:
M+S (M&S) – lugs. This the inscription in no way means that the tire is winter, although it stands for Mud and Snow (mud and snow - English). In fact, such an abbreviation only means that the tire tread is designed to drive outside the asphalt, or on asphalt with mud and snow. ABOUT chemical composition tires (namely, this is the main difference winter tires from summer) such an inscription on the tire says absolutely nothing. The M&S marking is applied to winter, all-season, and off-road summer tires.
AS(all season) Any Season, All Season, R+W(Road + Winter) A.W.(any weather) A.G.T.(All Grip Traction) - all-season tire options. We remind you that all season tires absolutely not intended for use in very coldy and / or in warm weather - only at near-zero temperatures.
Rain, Aqua, Water, Aquatred, Aquacontact, or painted umbrella means that the tire provides improved water drainage from the contact patch with the road and, accordingly, reduced hydroplaning characteristics - the so-called rain tires.
Painted on the side of the tire Snowflake, or the inscription Winter point to winter tires.
Tire size
The tire dimension is one of the most understandable inscriptions on the tire sidewall for a car enthusiast, and it usually looks something like this:195/65 R15
A similar inscription on the side surface of the tire means the following: the tire in front of you has width 195 mm,profile height 65% from the width (i.e. 195x0.65 = 126.75 mm),internal (landing) diameter is 15 inches, and is manufactured using radial tire technology(that's right, R is not a radius, as some motorists believe, but a designation for a radial tire).
It is these parameters (with the exception of radiality) that determine the overall geometry of the wheel and allow you to judge whether the tire fits you or not by its physical size. In addition, it must be taken into account that tire width (195) is directly related to the wheel seat width, so if you are buying tires to fit on existing rims, you should make sure that the tire width matches the rim width. Accordingly, if you plan to buy wheels for existing tires, this should be taken into account when choosing wheels. How to find out the width of the disk?
The easiest way to find out what should be the width of the wheel for any tire size is using tire calculator . It is easy to see that for each tire width, the calculator offers not the exact value of the disk width, but their (values) allowable range. It is best if the width of your rims is somewhere in the middle of this range, but even if this is one of the extreme limits, there is nothing wrong with that, it can just complicate the work of the tire fitter a little when beading.
Tire radiality today has minimal information content for the consumer, because the vast majority (if not all) of passenger tires that are produced in the world are radial. However, for general development, you can read more about what is radial tires and how do they differ from the diagonal.
Index of speed, load, and once again about the seasonality of the tire
Immediately next to the size on the side surface of the tire, load indices are usually indicated ( in the picture it's 91), speed ( H), seasonality (in some cases, in the picture - M+S), as well as the possibility of boarding on a disk without a camera ( TUBELESS).
Ability to assemble a tire without using a tube denoted by the word TUBELESS if this word is not on the tire, a camera is needed.
Among the designations that motorists usually associate with tire use season, there are two similar but not identical: " M+S" and image snowflakes. With a snowflake, everything is clear, such a designation clearly indicates the winter specialization of the tire. The situation with "M+S" is much more complicated. Literally, the abbreviation stands for Mad and Snow(mud and snow), but in practice, this designation is drawn on winter, all-weather, and sometimes also on summer "off-road" tires(the so-called lugs). At the same time, the composition of the rubber from which all these tires are made can be very different, regardless of the fact that the tread pattern can be called similar. In this way, the designation M + S does not clearly indicate winter tires- this is something to remember when choosing winter tires .
Speed index indicates the maximum safe speed operation. You need to understand that despite the fact that rubber manufacturers have a tendency to reinsurance, given the condition of our roads, you should absolutely not exceed, but even approach the allowable maximum indicated on the tire. Remember that the destruction of a tire (any) at such a speed can lead to irreparable consequences.
Load index indicates the maximum specific weight of the vehicle that can be carried on one wheel. There are two points to consider here. Firstly, the weight of the car is not always evenly distributed between the front and rear axles, so choosing the tire load index, you need to make a small margin compared to a quarter of the total loaded mass of the car. And secondly, the higher the load index, the thicker the carcass of the tire and the less its elasticity (the possibility of damping the pits of irregularities pavement), that's why too much "margin of safety" will make driving less comfortable and accelerate the wear of the suspension. Thus, the optimal load index is approximately 30-35% gross weight car.
Correspondence tables for speed and load indices of car tires
Retreaded tires (Retread)
In many countries, there are companies that retread tires with worn tread. Even some of the leading tire manufacturers have subsidiaries that carry out such production. Accordingly, retreaded tires hit the market, enticing economical motorists its low (compared to new tires) price. How appropriate and safe is it to use such tires?
How to identify a retreaded tire?
If we are not talking about a banal fake under well-known manufacturer, on the side surface of the retreaded tire there must be an inscription indicating the "second life" of the tire. Usually this Retread(universal designation, eng.), Remold(such an inscription is applied American manufacturers retreaded tires) Regummarad(German version) or in Russian - restored- if the restoration was carried out in Russia.
Besides, sidewall lettering on retreaded tires is usually illegible, but the inner surface of such tires is usually covered with a thin layer of a mixture of soot with rubber crumb(features of recovery technology). There may also be other signs - mesh of microcracks on the lateral surface, which is not affected by the recovery process, rubber bulges on internal surfaces due to repair of punctures, etc. In any case, upon closer inspection, it is not at all difficult to identify a retreaded tire, especially if it is possible to compare it with a new one.
What is being restored?
During recovery, usually worn tire weld on new protector and (in many cases) the side surface. Wherein, tire carcass, breaker and other power parts remain from old tire . In general, essentially Tire retreading is a cosmetic external repair of a tire.. Moreover, the tread pattern, which is welded during restoration, does not always correspond to the one that was applied to the tire during its production. Furthermore, the same tread is welded onto different tires, often even different manufacturers . As a natural consequence, no one can guarantee the same characteristics of two retreaded tires with the same (outwardly) tread.
That's why Retreaded tires always have reduced performance both in terms of speed and load index. We are talking about those characteristics that are applied to the side surface of the retreaded tires. It is much more difficult with characteristics that cannot be written on a tire - we are talking about the difference between two outwardly identical retreaded tires that you install on the same vehicle axle. How can they differ? Weight, rigidity of the frame, temperature conditions operation and many other parameters. And all these "insignificant" parameters largely determine and exchange rate stability car, as well as its behavior in extreme conditions.
When are welded tires appropriate?
Miser pays twice– always remember this. But if you never break speed mode and never take aggressive actions while driving, in addition, if you very rarely leave your city - in principle, you can probably consider buying retreaded tires. Only at the same time, you need to understand that buying retreaded tires is a lottery anyway. Typically, these tires are purchased for a taxi or for commercial transport , and whether you can afford such tires - decide for yourself. In any case, saving on tires is a very dubious undertaking, despite the fact that tire retreading is part of environmental protection programs.
Colored labels on tires
On the Internet, you can find many versions of the origin of color marks on new tires, ranging from the fact that all color marks are purely technological and have no meaning for the end user, to the fact that tire manufacturers use color marks to mark defective and / or not passed output quality control products. Where is the truth?In fact, logic suggests that by applying any designation to the tire with paint that will sooner or later be erased (washed off), the tire manufacturer assumes that the information that such a label carries is of temporary relevance, say, before the tire is first mounted on a disk. This is where you need to get away from it.
There are three main types of color marks that are applied to the surface of a tire with paint:
1. Colored round spots with a diameter of 5-10 mm applied to the outer side surface of the tire closer to the rim of the disc. These spots are yellow, red, green, white, etc.
Depending on the color and the specific tire manufacturer, these spots carry different information. As a rule, the lightest zone of the tire is marked with a yellow spot. At the first tire fitting, it is recommended to combine this spot with the wheel nipple - this way the wheel assembly will be more balanced and will require less compensating weights when balancing. It is obvious that the difference in weight of different parts of the tire in quality new tire scanty, and the relevance of this label will disappear already at the first emergency braking, so that already at the second tire fitting this mark can not be looked for.
Labels of any other color either carry a similar semantic meaning (for example, the heaviest part of the tire is usually marked with a red label, which is recommended to be installed against the valve), or are intended to be used when the tire is first installed on new car in the factory, therefore, they have practically no value either for the consumer or for the tire fitting master.
2. Number (number) in a triangle (square, circle, rhombus), applied with white (usually) paint also on the outer side surface of the tire.
This is a sign completely similar to the Soviet OTK stamp. An employee of the tire manufacturing plant performs the final quality control of the finished product and affixes such a stamp, which, in turn, performs two functions: firstly, it indicates that the control has been carried out, and, secondly, it indicates a specific controller employee , which is responsible for the quality of the output control. If you do not work at a tire factory, this stamp means absolutely nothing to you.
3. Colored stripes applied around the circumference of the tire in the tread area, either on the tread itself or inside the grooves.
It is about these mysterious bands that there are various rumors that they may indicate a defective or substandard tire. In fact, everything is extremely prosaic - the stripes are applied solely for the purpose of quick identification. different models and tire sizes in warehouses, when the warehouse worker sees only the tire tread area due to the specifics of their storage.
"Impenetrable" tires RunFlat
Not so long ago, tires began to appear on the tire market, which, according to manufacturers, completely eliminate the need for a car spare wheel. Is it really?In general, the idea of creating tires that are not afraid of punctures has been tormenting the imagination of inventors since the invention. pneumatic tires(a tire whose shape is maintained by the pressure of the air pumped into it), as such. Note that such tires were invented by Robert Thomson back in 1846.
Over the past decades, many different concepts have been tried for an "impenetrable" tire, from a monolithic structure (which does not require air, as such) to filling tires with a special elastic sealant that can automatically "tighten" small punctures. But as a result, all tire manufacturers came to the conclusion that the best direction for the development of the idea is to strengthen the sidewalls of the tire - so-called self-supporting tire.
It is these tires that lose relatively little in performance characteristics and in some cases they are still able to eliminate the need for a spare wheel, as a phenomenon. True, this is relevant so far only in selected situations and operation modern tires RunFlat is still associated with certain nuances that must be understood by a car enthusiast who is thinking about buying this innovation.
Any driver pays attention to the condition of the wheels on his car. There is nothing surprising or strange in this, it is the tires that provide contact with the coating, which determines the behavior of the car on the road. Tire manufacturers are making a truly heroic effort to achieve good grip, asymmetrical tires should be seen as one of the attempts to improve the behavior of rubber while driving.
Tires with asymmetric tread pattern
Drivers are offered a choice different types tires, but all of them for the most part can be divided into types according to the type of tread:
- symmetric;
- directed;
- asymmetric.
Examples of the mentioned tread patterns are shown below:
By car, the wheel experiences significant loads, and they differ significantly in changing road conditions- snow, water, braking, acceleration, turning - in each of these cases, rubber works differently. Here are asymmetric tires and are designed to take into account some of these differences in individual driving modes.
This name is due to their peculiar tread pattern. It is shown enlarged in the photo: 
As already mentioned, the differences associated with the tread pattern are caused by the different behavior of the rubber when driving. So, for ordinary symmetrical tires it is standard. The directional rubber has better drainage at the point of contact with the surface and is designed for use on wet roads. And tires with different tread patterns provide the car with better directional stability and handling.
In this case, the behavior of the car in a turn is taken into account, when the load falls mainly on the outer part of the tire. Therefore, it is made more rigid, with a large pattern, which provides stability and maneuverability in turns. Inner part made from more soft rubber, thanks to which it removes water from under the wheel, which reduces the risk of hydroplaning and increases the contact patch with the road.
At one time, manufacturers also made such tires with directional tires, but this turned out to be redundant, they are currently not produced, and there is no difference between right and left wheels.
Mounting asymmetric tires
What else does a driver need to know about such tires? The most important thing is their correct installation on the car. The fact is that the design provides for two sides - external and internal. Installation and installation of such rubber must be carried out in such a way as to withstand exactly their desired location. To ensure this, there is a special marking on the side surface of the wheel - outside and inside (outer and inner).
So, when mounting such wheels, it is necessary to ensure that the inscription outside is on their outer side.
Asymmetric tires are becoming more and more popular among drivers. This is explained by the best behavior of a car with similar tires on the road while driving. However, to ensure the full operation of such tires, it is necessary to properly mount them on the disk and install them on the car.
In the Formula Wheels online store you will find many models of tires with asymmetric or directional tread patterns. In no case should they be installed haphazardly: this will not lead to an immediate failure of the car, but the tires will lose their qualities. A particularly dangerous consequence of negligence can be a change in the length of the braking distance.
directional pattern
Tire manufacturers make sure that any person can install a tire without resorting to the help of professionals. Therefore, the tire is always supplied with the appropriate marking. So, on tires, for example, BF Goodrich with a directional tread pattern, the correct installation option is indicated by an arrow.That is, when installed on a car, the drawn arrow should indicate the direction of rotation of the wheel when the car moves forward. Sometimes it is supplemented with the inscription "Rotation". This is important, since most often the tread pattern is V-shaped and is designed to drain water and liquid dirt from the contact patch, preventing hydroplaning. If the picture is "expanded", it is useful property reduces to almost zero.
Asymmetrical pattern
Here you need to find the inscription Outside on the sides of the tire (as an option - Side Facing Outwards). This side should be outside when installing the tire on the car. The inside will correspond to the pointer Inside (Side Facing Inwards).An example is summer tire Nokian Hakka SUV.
Asymmetric directional tires
It's still more difficult here. The pattern will be both asymmetrical and directional. If two previous models it was possible to install both on the right side of the car, and on the left (by deploying it accordingly), then here such liberties are already unacceptable.Such tires are additionally marked with the words Left and Right - left and right side respectively. After buying a set of tires, you should have two left and two right tires. They must be installed accordingly: either carefully consider this if you are installing it yourself, or be sure to check the result of the work of the car service masters.
And the last. In addition to tube tires, there are also tubeless ones. It is better to mount them in a car service, and you can recognize such rubber by the Tubeless or TL inscriptions on the side.
