Tire Tread wear

[flareak]

Okay, I took pictures of my tires because I need your help in determining how worn they are because I can't tell how worn they are because I don't know how.

Tell me if i need new tires or not

[agill]

Originally posted by flareak@Feb 24 2006, 05:46 PM
Okay, I took pictures of my tires because I need your help in determining how worn they are because I can't tell how worn they are because I don't know how.

Ok, i do not know how far this is true but i have heard this suggestion from others.
If you stick a penny into the dfeepest part of the groove and look at it from the side, and can see Lincoln's head, then you know that your tires are worn down. If you cannot see the head above the level of the tread, then you should be fine.

[NuShrike]

You still got some tread left because the wear-bars (that flat area between those horizontal sipes in the thread) aren't at the same level as the rest of the tread there, for dry roads.

You could take a penny with Lincoln's head pointed toward the tire, and place it in the groove just behind that area of sideblocks in the picture. If the tread is close to the top of Lincoln's head (penny test), it's time to change the tires.

I've attached a picture of my tire just before I changed them yesterday.

[agill]

Amazing how two people gave a similar reply at the same time :-)

[Kaos1]

flareak,

If you look on the second picture, there is a small triangle on the side wall of the tire at the 12 o'clock position. This indicates where the wear bar is located buried in the tread region of the tire. The wear bar will be at the same level as the rest of the tread when the useful life of the tire has expired. This can be seen as a stripe running across the tread.

Some people will replace their tires before this point due to the nature of hydroplaning when the tire can not clear the water from under itself during wet road conditions.

Kaos1

[keydiver]

What pressure do you run it your tires? It appears that the center tread has a LOT more life left in it, which is pretty usual. Its another reason why I don't think running 42/40 is going to decrease the life expectancy of our tires, because all my tires wear out the outside tread first anyway.
And, as others said, you don't have to replace the tires yet, as they aren't down to the wear bars. But, if you live in a rainy area, and worry about hydroplaning, especially with spring coming, it may be worthwhile to change them earlier.

[flareak]

i fishtailed on the highway today. i think i'm going to get new tires.

[etyler88]

How many miles did you have on them?

[c4]

Fishtail (or any other traction loss symptom) can be the result of tires that are inappropriate for the road and weather conditions- ie, it could occur even if the tires are *BRAND NEW* if the tires are not right for the driving conditions..

That said, your treads do look quite worn, and the Integrity is not known for great traction even when new, so I would recommend replacing them with something that has better traction and durability than the Integrity. The most popular multi-season replacement tires are the Michelin Hydroedge and Harmony and the Goodyear ComforTread and TripleTread.. I personally have the Hydroedge, which have excellent wet traction, but do generate a fair bit of road noise (which I really only noticed when I swapped them out to put on the X-Ice winter tires, which are exceptionally quiet tires, all the more amazing for being a winter tire)..

[flareak]

i have 13k miles on them and... the road conditions were slippery snow stuff lol