Driving skills

jjdrer

My brother's were Bridgestone and were their expensive ones(and brand new). They weren't cheapies. He is a motor mechanic and also has RAA of SA Cover. You don't expect them to pop within a few km. They hadn't even had time to warm up properly, let alone get hot. As he did some country running he had a good quality CB Radio in his car. There were some cheap ones but he wouldn't take the risk of it not being able to pick up signals long distance. It was before Mobile Phones came to Aust.
He and our friend are very safety conscious and that always comes before cost.
Our friend bought Olympic tyres and they weren't cheap ones either.
When my Mum and I bought a brand new (not second hand) car in 1984 my brother was with us when we chose it as went to the dealer he was working for. We chose one that had just arrived from the manufacturer. My brother took one look at the tyres on it. He looked at Mum and the Dealer and said "Mum you don't want those tyres". They were good tyres but weren't suitable for normal use. He decided they weren't as good as the ones of the car next to it and he didn't like that type of tread either. They knew he would not back down, neither would Mum.
He checked they had changed the wheels over before they called to say it was ready for collection. Safety wise he takes no chances. My now late Mum also had Top RAA cover (not the cheap version) Our now late Dad never did either. He was also a Motor Mechanic and tyre conditions were checked regularly between servicing as were the brakes in case new top brand parts had a fault in them. The exhaust pipe and box were also checked. Fluids were checked once a fortnight.
Bear in mind that apart from fortnightly shopping the car didn't do a big km as all our relatives and friends only lived a few km away. Mum worked it out that we did a detour and visited two households of relatives when we did the shopping. They lived in adjoining streets so the car was left at one house and we walked to the other unless it was raining, not just "spotting". The first set of tyres on Mum's car still had a lot of tread left on them when my brother suddenly realised how old they were so we bought new good quality Bridgetone tyres. They were professionally fitted and we always had a front wheel alignment done. before the car went back on the road. That is where some people take short cuts.