When You Should Buy New Tires for Your Car

As far as tire experts go, I suppose you could say that my education came through experiential learning. You see, I used to work at a car dealership in the service department so I learned that routine tire wear can be dangerous to you and your family.

Back when I worked in that service department, the first thing I would do as a conscientious advisor was to walk around the vehicle and inspect the tires for wear. How would I be able to tell just by looking at a set of four tires if they needed to be replaced or not? Is it a magic formula or was I just some huckster who liked to sell people new tires when they didn't really need them?

Well, it's neither really and you would be surprised how many people were driving on dangerous tires when they came in for a routine oil change and all I ever had to do was five simple things. As follows are the five easiest ways to be able to tell if you need new tires for your car, truck, SUV, sports car or minivan.

Kneel Down and Feel the Sidewall

It may sound dumb but very few people ever look at their tires let alone feel along the sidewall for signs of tread separation. If a tire is wearing unevenly, defective or just worn out you will sometimes see the steel belt starting to poke out of the wheel sidewall. That is extremely dangerous and means a blowout could happen at any time.

Tread separation is no joke and can cause damage to body panels or the undercarriage of your car in case of a blowout. Remember that if you have a blowout on the freeway, do not slam on the brakes. Just steer into the skid and let the vehicle slow down by itself or you could easily go into a spin and flip the car.

Measure the Tread Depth Across the Width of the Tire

The industry standard for tire replacement comes when tread depth is below 2/10 of an inch at any point on the patch of rubber that hits the pavement. A lot of advisors just use a penny to measure as anything shorter than half a penny is less than 2/10 of an inch. If you want a more advanced reading just ask your tire expert as nowadays they also make electronic instruments to read tread depth.

Turn Your Steering Wheel to Check for Wear on the Other Side of the Tire

Many times due to an alignment issue or a wheel balancing problem a tire will begin to wear unevenly and that can be very dangerous if most of the wear is on the side of the tire you can't see. From the outside or by feeling the top of the tire tread everything may seem perfectly safe but if you crank your steering wheel you might just find steel belting poking out of the inner tire. Few people ever check their tires this way but it is an absolute must.

Check for Uneven Tread Wear

Again, it may come from a wheel balancing or an alignment issue but sometimes tires get worn out unevenly. If part of your tire is under 2/10 of an inch you need to replace it.

Make Sure all Four Tire Types and Sizes Match

People don't care much about tires and I learned that by seeing how many cars came to the shop with four different brand of tires with different tread ratings sometimes even in the wrong size. I always recommend having the same tire brand, speed rating make, tread design and size on all four wheels. If you have a blowout, buy the same tire to replace it. Only try a different kind of tire when you are buying a set of four.

Source: Edmunds.com