What Is Flat Spotting?
For those who don’t know, flat spotting occurs when you let your car sit in one place for too long. Now most people aren’t aware of this term or what it is because they don’t pay much heed to the tyres of their cars. All they care about is the engine and the coolants etc. which is why sometimes, they end up spending a lot more then they expect, just on the tyres. The point is that it’s imperative for every vehicle owner to pay heed to the tyres of his car and check if they are properly maintained or not.
Coming back to the topic of today, flat spotting of the tyre is because of the continuous weight that the car is putting just on a single spot. At the end of the day, this is the reason why with long term parking and storage, people get flat tyres instead of rolling tyres. When flat spotting happens, the portion of your tyres that has been in contact with the road for too long, it starts spreading and then it flattens out completely. The longer the car is parked for in one place, the flatter the tyre will get and this is the reason why you should always keep your vehicles moving even if you just have to go to your nearest store for a short drive.
Temporary vs. semi-permanent flat-spotting
In most cases, people experience temporary flat spotting when they let the car stay stationary for a few days or weeks. For example, if you ever go out on a vacation and park the car at the airport, you will experience a little vibration and some flat spots when you come back and ride the car again. But don’t worry, after a few miles of driving the car, the flat spots will be gone and the original condition of your tyres will be restored. This is because once the tyres come to their operational temperature, all the flat spots disappear and it becomes round just as it was before.
Semi-permanent flat spotting is something that you will experience if your car has been sitting in one place for a month or more. This usually occurs when the tyre has a low pressure and the temperature around is high. In this case the wiser thing to do is to contact your local tyre specialist or head to a garage to figure out a solution.
What To Do If Your Tyres Develop Flat Spots?
As said earlier, it depends if you are experiencing temporary flat spotting or semi-permanent flat spotting. In case, it’s temporary, you don’t have to do anything but just take your car out for a drive of 10 to 15 minutes. The tyres will probably get back to their original condition.
In case it’s a semi-permanent flat spotting, you have to contact a professional/specialist and get the tyre fixed by them.
Tyres That Are Likely To Develop Flat Spots
You might be wondering that maybe it’s the price that determines whether you get flat spots or not. Well, the truth is that the price doesn’t matter because even some of the most modern tyres can experience flat spotting.
Yes, you read that right and flat spotting is what usually occurs to high performance tyres as these tyres are softer, they come with a more flexible rubber compound and on top of it all, they get better road grip which is why when you let your car sit at one place for too long, these tyres start spreading and they start getting flat.
Tips To Prevent Temporary Flat-Spotting
We told you that we’ve got it all covered for you today. So we are now going to tell you about some of the most useful tips that can help you prevent temporary flat-spotting.
1-Tyre temperature maintenance
If you’ve got underinflated tyres, know that they are more susceptible to temporary flat spotting which is why even if you have to leave your car parked in the garage for more than a week, just make sure to check the pressure of the tyres first. In fact, increase the inflation pressure of the tyres before you leave so that once you come back, you can ride your car again without any vibrations and without any tyre related hassles.
2-Keep it moving
If you aren’t going on a vacation and if your car is just sitting out there for no reason then the wiser thing to do is to keep it moving. Yes, you read that right! Take it out once in a while, go to your nearest store or just move the car from one place to another. This can really make a big difference if you don’t want to experience flat-spotting.
Final Words
These are some of the steps you can take to avoid flat spotting of your tyres. Make sure to use these tips and educate the people around you too. We assure you that you won’t have to face this trouble if you take care of the tyres of your car and keep them in a top notch condition.