How to Know That You Need A New Tire

Among all components of your car, the tires are probably the most important, and unfortunately, often the most overlooked as well. Despite the fact that tires are the only components which connect your car with the ground and also the components which receive most of your car weight, there are still many car owners who care less of them than they should.

Making sure your tires are in good condition will in turn keep the whole performance and safety of your ride on top. It includes checking the tires regularly and replace with new ones when you have to, i.e. when they are worn off, or after some set conditions are met. Here we have listed four main factors to help you determine whether it’s time to replace your tire:

1. Tread wear
2. Tire age
3. Mileage
4. Exposure to heat

We will look at those factors one by one:

4 FACTORS THAT DETERMINE YOU NEED A NEW TIRE

1. Tread Wear

Tire tread is the circular rubber which makes direct contact with the ground. By means of its outward design, it helps minimizing the effect of watery roads and keeps your vehicle from sliding freely toward disaster. Even when starting or stopping your vehicle, it’s the tire tread that keeps it operating properly and efficiently. Basically, the tread keeps your tires always in contact with the road surface, with its specifically designed pattern that ensure a constant grip of the road and thus a smooth move of your vehicle as desired.

When it is worn down, the less effective it becomes – and riskier. Don’t wait until your tires are worn out by 1/16 of an inch, otherwise you’d be seriously endangering your life on the road. Replace the tires sooner if possible.

This is how you examine whether your tread has worn out to the critical point which requires replacement.

• Checking the tread wear bars

Pay attention to the grooves, i.e. the pattern engraved into the tread. Use these methods below to let the grooves tell you about your tire’s health. Within the grooves is what’s usually called tread wear bars.

You can find these rubber bars placed inside grooves which run between tread blocks in regular intervals. These bars indicate the lowest point allowed for the tread wear. When you see the bars already flat with the tread, it’s time to replace your tire.

• Use coins

In the United States, for example, people use a penny coin to check for the tread depth. How far the coin can be dipped into the groove indicate whether your tire is still safe. Some have suggested using a quarter instead of a penny, but the principle remains the same.  

• Use Tire Tread Depth Gauge

Tire tread depth gauge allows you measure the tread depth clearly rather than using the coins. In this simple tool, it commonly comes with a color vision scale which lets you easily whether it requires an immediate replacement or not. Commonly there are three colors: yellow, green, and red. When the reading shows red scale, it means you have to replace the tire soon.

Getting the right tire tread depth gauge for you is not a difficult decision making job. Since it's affordable and the models vary. You can easily land a choice. There are the mechanical and digital models. Pick the mechanical model if you don't want to think about the battery replacement.

2. Tire Age

Being the main raw material of your tire, rubber loses its elasticity gradually over time. As a rule, your tire’s rubber takes 3 years before getting hardened and having entirely lost its flexibility, thus no longer convenient to use. So, it’s advisable to replace your tire after 3 years, even if your car is rarely used and the tread still thick enough. Never assume that if an “old” tire has tread depth still far beyond lowest point allowed, the tire is OK.

Actually, this applies not only to tires already in use, but also to spare tires which has never been used but is produced a few years ago. Although not in use, spare tires experience aging as well, though probably not as fast as used tires.

3. Mileage

It is also recommended to replace you tire when your mileage has already reached 25,000 miles, even if your tire is still under 3 years of age. If you’re a frequent long-distance traveler by car, your tire might wear sooner although its elasticity is still good. Normally, a car goes 9,000 to 12,000 miles a year.

It’s also a wise decision to take note on how many miles you’ve driven so far and divide it with how many years you’ve owned the car. That way, you’ll be able to figure out how much time still remains for the tires to stay healthy and approximately the time you must get new ones.

Of course, your tire’s durability also depends on how you treat them. Hitting the brake abruptly or violently turn the steering wheel at every road turn, will occasionally wear off your tires faster and shorten their service life.

4. Exposure to Heat

Along with aging process of the tire over time, constant exposure to sunlight and friction with the ground or the road will gradually decrease the natural oils in the rubber compound. Since it’s the natural oils which keep the tire rubber supple and flexible, its decrease in the long run will cause the rubber to stiffen, and consequently, to crack, leak or split. This condition, called dry rot or sidewall cracking, makes the tire no longer road-worthy and requires replacement.

Overheat might also be resulted by under-inflation. When your tire’s pressure gets too low, too much area of the tire’s surface gets in direct contact with the ground, and thus results in too much friction as well. This leads to overheat, and in turn accelerate the tire’s wear. Unfortunately, many drivers are unaware that their vehicle’s tire are under-inflated already, since it doesn’t always clearly apparent. This is often dangerous, since blowouts can happen anytime when you’re on the ride. Routine checking of your tire’s air pressure is highly recommended.

On the other hand, frequent exposure of direct sunlight on your tires might result in over-inflation. Experts said every increase by 10 Fahrenheit degree results in one pound per square inch (psi) of tire pressure. Since typical tire’s air pressure lies about only 30-35 psi, such small increase makes a big difference. Extreme heat might cause sudden blowout of your tire.

Summary

Being cautious of these factors listed above will give you sufficient insights on how you maintain good care of your tires, and whether it’s necessary for having new ones, so that it will ensure you lasting safety ride on your vehicle. Stay safe, everyone!