Tired of ordering pricey replacement golf cart tires every season because of tread wear? Tired of having your tires losing their traction and “stickiness”? Tired of your shiny aftermarket wheels being wrapped in drab-looking tires? No, this is not a joke that ends with a sales pitch for a product that will extend the life of the tires on your golf cart. Wishing there was.
However, we can give you these 4 fantastic suggestions absolutely free, regardless of whether your golf cart tires are turf/street, all-terrain, or off-road. Continue reading for money-saving advice and suggestions on how to prolong the life of your tires.
Check Your Air Pressure
This straightforward but frequently disregarded practice. We are aware that you would much rather be driving your vehicle and tackling the next gravel road or dirt road than sitting in your garage (like a nerd) checking the tire pressure on your golf cart. But believe us when we say that maintaining proper tire pressure on a regular basis can help you cover more ground while using fewer tires.
In order to avoid getting a falsely high tire pressure reading, it is best to check your tires when they are cold (i.e., before you drive your cart). It is wise to check your tire pressure once a month (every 3 to 4 weeks) because 1 pound of air pressure or more can be lost each month due to permeation resulting in lower gas mileage and additional / uneven tire wear. In the warmer months of the year, even more permeation may take place.
Due to extra space in the under-inflated tire for air expansion, under-inflated tires operate hotter than properly inflated tires. Conversely, if a golf cart tire is overinflated, it may blow out at higher operating temperatures.
You have little faith in strangers… right? Good. Don’t trust the strange tire pressure gauge at the gas station or club house. About as useful as scraping your knee in the parking lot, those things. Purchase a reliable tire pressure gauge; they are inexpensive. Use it on ALL of your vehicles to start getting better gas mileage and less wear. It’s un-American not to do it.
Check your Camber
Walk to the front of your glorious golf cart, turn around and stare back at the modern marvel you have worked so feverishly on. After you snap a few art-museum worthy photos and posted them to Facebook (wait until you get at least 3 likes), take a second to observe the camber of your golf cart. The camber is the tilt that the tire exhibits with respect to the frame of your golf cart. Your tread will wear out on the inner portion of the tire first if your tires slant inward (with the tops closer together than the bottoms, like a school child holding in the need to use the restroom). The opposite is true, and the outside of the tire will experience more wear, if the tops of the tires lean outward.
By making sure your tires are properly aligned, you can lessen a camber problem. This brings up the issues of toe, tie rods, alignment adjustments, camber and more. To quickly resolve this problem, refer to our quick guide on fine-tuning your golf cart alignment at home.
Checking the toe is simple. Toe is a simple way of measuring the stance of your tires, Think about it as “camber from a birds eye view” because in this case we will be looking at our tires from the side of the cart and not the front or rear. Your golf cart tires are on one axle and this axle can be thought of as the “foot”. Staring at your cart from the side (after snapping a few more pictures) Toe in means that the tires are slightly closer together at the front of the tire which will cause additional tread wear from the outside. Toe out means that the rear of the tires are closer together (imagine the visual of putting your heels together) which will cause the tires to wear from the inside more quickly.
Avoid Hazards and Potholes
Unless you have one meanoff road tire, you should probably not purposefully attack every curb or embankment you see. Avoid high-speed pothole and hole-in-the-path impacts and other road hazards. Your tires will last 1,000 miles longer thanks to this easy trick. Avoid strong impacts to the tire construction even if you are using an aggressive tire.
Maintain a Clean Shoe Code!
To protect your tires from unnecessary ultraviolet wear, go get a good tire shine or protectant. Wipe that baby all over your sidewalls LIBERALLY. Another can is always available!
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I sincerely hope that these suggestions can help your tires last longer. As much as we would love to sell you your next set of tires (there is nothing better than new rubber), we do not want you to spend your hard-earned money before it is necessary (or before you decide you need both low profile and off road wheel and tire sets).
You guys are doing great, keep it up!