Dry steering

Dry steering is the act of turning the steering wheel of a vehicle while the vehicle is stationary. This can be exceptionally difficult in the absence of power steering.

For the wheel(s) that steer the vehicle (most often the front), this causes increased wear to the area of the tyre in contact with the ground compared with the typical wear when driving/in motion. This is because whilst the wheels are not rotating, turning the steering causes one spot of the tyre to scrape against the ground in a rotational manner.

Due to the increased tyre wear from dry steering, it is considered poor driving practice to do this unless completely necessary. Usually the only time it's required is for precise manoeuvring of the vehicle when there is not much space. The most common example is when parallel parking.

Sometimes called "tyre scrubbing", it also occurs during tight steering at low speeds and can be identified by a high-pitched noise from the tyres scraping against the ground, similar to the sound of wheelspin. This term should not be confused with the racing technique of "scrubbing in" fresh tyres, which are afterwards referred to as "scrubbed tyres".

You can see the result of dry steering as concentric circular rubber marks on the ground around parallel parking bays and car parks, as well as a similar wear pattern on the tyre.

References

• Keith Lane (2002). Automotive A-Z: Lane's Complete Dictionary of Automotive Terms. Veloce Publishing Ltd. pp. 147. ISBN 978-1-903706-40-4.