Ukraine is experiencing a March warming, but soon, in late March - early April, a cold snap is expected - there will be more wet weather, so drivers are faced with the question of when to change winter tires to summer tires on their car, writes UNN.
When to change to summer tires
Ukrainian legislation does not regulate when it is necessary to change summer tires to winter tires, so each driver decides when to do it. According to traffic rules, it is forbidden to operate vehicles that have a residual tread pattern height of less than 1.6 mm. For cars weighing more than 3.5 tons - 1.0 mm, buses - 2.0 mm, motorcycles and mopeds - 0.8 mm.
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At what temperature should winter tires be changed?
All drivers want to switch to summer tires as soon as possible, but there is no need to rush, because, as you know, the weather in Ukraine is very unpredictable. There is no single rule when it is necessary to change tires on your car, but experts advise doing it when the temperature outside is consistently +10°C and above.
Another factor why you should not rush to change tires is the endless queues at tire shops, which start every season.
We also note that experts emphasize that you can drive on winter tires in summer, but the tire's resource will wear out faster, and in winter it will not have its effect, which will "hit the pockets" of car owners.
A great time to change tires is around mid-April, when the air temperature will be stable, and there will be fewer queues at tire shops.
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Changing winter tires to summer tires
To change tires yourself, you need to:
- put the car on the handbrake and preferably in gear, if you have a "manual";
- loosen the wheel bolts by half a turn while the car is still on the ground;
- lift the car (to be more confident that the car will not fall off the jack, you can put something under the car, for example, a spare wheel, pallets, etc.);
- loosen the wheels and completely unscrew the wheel bolts;
- after changing the wheels, check the bolts with a torque wrench.
Important rule: bolts or nuts must be tightened one by one, not in turn.
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