Tyre Fitting in St Marychurch

St Marychurch is a Torquay suburb with a historic centre on a hill above Babbacombe, reached by steep residential roads. Gradients like that load the brakes and tyres every day, and a car that lives on them benefits from regular tyre checks.

Automaster, at Longcombe Cross near Totnes, offers tyre fitting, puncture repair, wheel alignment and balancing. Here is how to judge what your car needs.

Do steep residential roads wear tyres faster?

Short, steep trips with a lot of braking and turning wear the shoulders and the front tyres in particular. Parking on a slope near a kerb adds scuffing to the picture.

Look at the whole tyre, including the inside edge, as the wear is often worse there. Feeling across the tread for a saw-tooth pattern is one way to spot trouble.

Winter wet on a steep road also puts a premium on grip, so do not leave a half-worn tyre until the last moment.

What is the legal limit and what else do I look for?

The minimum legal tread depth is 1.6 mm over the central three quarters of the tyre. If you can place the tread gauge in the groove across that area and it reads less, the tyre is due for replacement.

Check for sidewall bulges, cuts, and any perished or cracked rubber, as these make a tyre unsafe whatever its tread.

• Bulge, bubble or split in the sidewall
• Tread below the legal limit
• Foreign object in the tread

What happens when you find a puncture?

The tyre comes off the wheel so it can be inspected inside and out. If the damage is a small hole in the central tread and the tyre is otherwise sound, a repair from the inside may be possible.

A sidewall puncture, a large tear or a tyre that has been run flat has to be replaced. We will not promise a repair before the tyre has been inspected.

Valve and rim condition are checked at the same time as the puncture, because a leak at the bead or valve can be mistaken for a hole in the tread.

Do I need tracking and balancing after fitting tyres?

It is a sensible time to check both. New tyres show up misalignment quickly, as the tyres wear to one side. Balancing the wheels removes vibration that otherwise gets blamed on the new tyres.

If the car already pulls left or right, or the steering wheel is crooked on the straight, mention it when you book.

If the steering wheel shakes under braking rather than at a steady speed, that points towards the brakes, so say exactly when it happens.

Do you cover St Marychurch and how do I get a quote?

Drivers in St Marychurch, Ellacombe, Torbay and Newton Abbot come to us at Longcombe Cross, Longcombe, Totnes TQ9 6PL. We are an independent garage, and tyre work can sit alongside servicing or an MOT.

Ask for a quote with your registration, the tyre size from the sidewall, the number of tyres and any symptoms.