Tyre maintenance in the UAE: a routine that prevents blowouts

The monthly 5-minute check

1. Pressure on all four tyres and the spare, cold.
2. Tread depth — use the tread-wear indicator bars in the grooves, or a coin. When the tread is level with the bars, it's at 1.6 mm.
3. Sidewalls — look for bulges, cuts and cracking. Bulges mean internal damage: replace immediately.
4. Uneven wear — inner or outer edge wear points to alignment; centre wear to overinflation; both edges to underinflation.
5. Objects — screws and nails in the tread. Don't pull them out; get them repaired.

The five-year rule

UAE authorities treat tyres as expired five years after the manufacture date, used or not. Heat and UV make the rubber harden and crack from the outside in, so a tyre can look fine and still be unsafe. RTA campaigns have checked tyre age at the roadside, and unfit tyres carry an AED 500 fine, four black points and possible impoundment.

Rotation

On front-wheel-drive cars the front tyres steer and drive, so they wear about twice as fast as the rears. Rotating every 10,000 km evens this out and can add 20% to the life of a set. Directional tyres move front to back on the same side; staggered setups can only be swapped side to side if non-directional.

Sun and parking

Cars parked outdoors in Dubai summer bake their tyres at 70 °C+. Use shaded or covered parking where possible, and avoid tyre shine products with petroleum solvents, which speed up cracking. If a car will sit for weeks while you travel, inflate tyres to the upper end of the placard range.

Signs a tyre needs replacing now

• Tread at or below 1.6 mm, or the wear bars showing.
• A bulge or blister on the sidewall.
• Cracks deep enough to catch a fingernail.
• More than five years since the DOT date.
• Vibration that balancing doesn't fix — possibly internal belt damage.