It’s been long that you were out on vacation and have left the vehicle unattended or you were on your business trip leaving your car in your garage or outside in parking lot. There are various factors that affect the car: from inside and from outside. The weather plays its role and so does the surface that is in contact with the wheels.
When you leave your car unattended for more than a week, there are many factors that affect your car adversely. Many components of your car may get damaged due to stationary position but it affects the wheel the most. If you leave it stationary for longer, the wheels that come in contact with the road surface tend to develop flat spots. What are they: Flat spot or wheel flat is a fault that occurs when the vehicle is parked stationary for too long, generally longer than a week. It also causes a deformation at the bottom of the wheel which might become semi- permanent. When you drive a car with flat spot, it gives a feeling similar to that of the unbalanced wheels. You might feel like dragging your car on road. But it is not due to the mis-alignment of the wheels but it is due to the flat spot occurred. To recover your wheels from flat spot, drive it regularly. This will help the wheels to become warmer and more flexible. This process will eventually recover your SUV summer tires from the flat spot. In many cases but they become permanent. This happens if vehicles are parked for longer period usually several months.
To avoid flat spots you should:
Not apply hand-brake when car is stationary for longer than a week.
Mount for jacks under each wheel of your car. This will help the car to not remain in contact with colder surface underneath and not develop flat spots. You could use wooden block for this purpose.
Check type of your car wheel. If it is marked with H (meaning higher speed rating) it is likely that your wheel will not get damaged. But light quality sports wheels have higher chances of getting affected. Low profile summer tires with thin side-walls are more prone to get flat spot.
It is not advisable always to drive the car when it has developed flat spots. Sometimes, depending on the intensity of it, it is recommended that the wheels should be warmed up to make them more flexible, so one should drive. But it is not always suggested. Best is to avoid getting flat spots and tae precautionary measures.
