After maximum tightening the use of a torque wrench is useless – the lug nuts will be already screwed too tightly, way over an appropriate level that the torque wrench could ensure. Torque wrenches are unfortunately not resistant to stupidity – they are able to work only if the lug nuts are not already screwed on too tightly. In a situation when you will have to change a tyre on the road, it may not be possible for you to unscrew the lug nuts.
The employees of car workshops with the PTIA’s Certification of tyre services know what wrench to use and with what strength to tighten the lug nuts – every person working in a good tire service should have this basic knowledge. Unfortunately, very few drivers can breathe down mechanics' neck – so it is worth choosing a car workshop with the PTIA’s Certification of tyre services – there the TÜV SÜD auditors thoroughly examined the workshop for us.
When changing tyres, the car workshop must:
There are more criteria that a professional car workshop should meet – all of them can be found at certyfikatoponiarski.pl/en.
There are nearly 12 000 tyre services in Poland. Unfortunately, the level of service and technical culture is very diverse. There is also no uniform training system. Too many car workshops replace tyres in an unacceptable manner, often using too much force. This causes stretching and tearing of the inner layers of tyres, and even bead tear – that is those elements that transfer power from the tyres to the rim. That is why the Polish Tyre Industry Association, together with TÜV SÜD, an independent certification company, introduces a system for assessing and awarding professional services based on an independent audit of equipment and qualifications of technical staff. It's worth choosing certified workshops that have undergone an audit and have been thoroughly checked. The Certification of Tyre Services helps car workshops to improve their quality – which is crucial for safety – increases their competitiveness, and gives customers confidence that the service will be performed by well-prepared professionals.
– Against all appearances, changing tires is not an easy and trivial activity that can be done in three minutes. It requires knowledge, experience and skills in operating modern machines. Any mistake can be expensive for the tire and its owner. Invisible damage can pose a life threatening risk. Therefore, drivers should pay attention to every detail of changing their tires – and do not treat it as yet another obligation on their check list. If we do not know what quality of service our workshop offers – let's just choose a service with PTIA’s Certification of tyre services, which has been audited by TÜV SÜD. This is a guarantee of a properly performed service – says Piotr Sarnecki, general director general director of the Polish Tyre Industry Association (PTIA). – Let’s remember that a professional tyre service is not a pit stop. Changing tires can be done either well, professionally and without any damage or cheap and fast. Quality and speed are mutually exclusive, so let's not be guided by service time or price in our search for a good tyre service, because they are usually proportional to the quality of the service of tyre change. What will be sped up or "saved" by using a bad car workshop will come back to us in the form of failures on the route – adds Sarnecki.
As a result of the intervention of the Polish Tire Industry Association, the Polish Automotive Industry Association and the Car Dealers, the Ministry of Health approved the change of winter tires to summer tyres by people who use cars for commuting and meeting their everyday needs. There is no rush for drivers who do not drive during this period and for those in mandatory quarantine – they can still wait with a visit to a car workshop. It is worth using the services of workshops which follow procedures to protect customers and employees against the coronavirus. PTIA has prepared guidelines for tyre services on how to proceed to maintain safety during the pandemic. By following them, drivers will be less likely to become infected with the coronavirus in a car workshop than they would be to cause a fender-bender or a serious accident while driving on unsuitable tyres.
Certified car workshops will take care of your tyres!
Search for certified tyre services! Only they:
A map of certified services, as well as the criteria and tyre procedures are available on the website certyfikatoponiarski.pl/en/
PTIA and TÜV SÜD’s is the only determinant of high-quality tyre services.
Certification is preceded by a technical audit during which the following are tested:
A map of certified services that have undergone TÜV SÜD’s audit and received PTIA’s Certificate can be found on certyfikatoponiarski.pl.
Due to the great diversity of the quality of service in car workshops in Poland, the Certification of Tyre Services distinguishes 3 levels of service:
Source: Polish Tyre Industry Association