When Do You Replace Your Tires?
When they are practically bald.
I'll do many other parts and fluid replacements earlier than recommended but I like to get the most out of my tires and when they are nearing the end of their lives, they give you better traction and turn-in feel in dry weather.
It's when it's raining that you have to watch out. >;^)
The factory tires on my '90 Integra were as smooth as a baby's bottom before I got rid of them. They looked like a racing slick ... not even a hint of tread on most of the tire. >8^O
You should have seen the look on the dealership service tech's face when I told him that I liked them that way and didn't want to buy new tires. I think I was in for an alignment and valve adjustment at the time.
--- Bror Jace
I'll do many other parts and fluid replacements earlier than recommended but I like to get the most out of my tires and when they are nearing the end of their lives, they give you better traction and turn-in feel in dry weather.
It's when it's raining that you have to watch out. >;^)
The factory tires on my '90 Integra were as smooth as a baby's bottom before I got rid of them. They looked like a racing slick ... not even a hint of tread on most of the tire. >8^O
You should have seen the look on the dealership service tech's face when I told him that I liked them that way and didn't want to buy new tires. I think I was in for an alignment and valve adjustment at the time.
--- Bror Jace
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I used to run the tires down to racing slicks when I was younger. I remember lighting up the tires on my old Trans Am and seeing sparks at night from the steel belts. After a blowout at 80mph, I came to my senses.
If you fail to align regularly one side will wear out quicker than the other necessitating replacement.
The only reason your car stays on the road is those four little patches of rubber.
Tires are mostly wasted after 50% of the tread is gone. Traction v. Treadlife ratio is not linear. And cheap tires suffer greatly with frequent heat-cycling. That's one reason why some tires are so expensive - they can withstand the "heat up and cool off" cycles while maintaining their structure and capabilities. Cheapy no-name tires can't do this and become ineffective after so many cycles. The amount of tread means nothing; the tire is junk.
I got rid of my first pair of tires on my Intrepid at 70K, even though they weren't down to the wear bars, after sliding halfway through an intersection on wet pavement (no ABS). I've also experienced hydroplaning on worn tires, and trust me, it ain't fun at 65 mph.
tires are the ONLY thing between you and the road, it makes no sense to skimp on that!
you can get some good tires for a reasonable price if you shop a little.
I let my tires get completely bald only once ... in 1993 when I had a mile and a half commute to work ... and during the winter I was using good, dedicated snow tires so the bald summer tires didn't matter and I replaced them in the spring.
Actually, even in the wet, the two bald front tires (factory Yokohamas) had more traction than the snow tires, I remember going along on a wet road at 60mph after having switched from the baldies to a snow tire (BF Goodrich). I hit the brakes hard & late and I could feel that the car had about half as much braking power. I had intended to make a sharp right hand corner just then but because of my speed and poorer braking, I knew I wouldn't be able to make the corner so I just kept going straight.
The last tires I had were Dunlop D60s and I thought they had great performance, even in the rain, especially after they had lost a great deal of their tread. I let them get down to the wear bars before replacing them.
I understand what everyone is saying about safety and tires being vital but except for the occasional early snow, I have no problems riding on tires towards the end of their lives. Using a tire only until its tread is 50% gone seems wasteful to me and tires are an international disposal problem. I can't see making that 100% worse by using only half the tire before replacing it
The only tires I've ever had a problem with were cheapies I had on an old 2WD truck. I broke a belt in one and I hit a large piece of metal with the other. The only times I've picked up nails or screws in tires was when the tires had a fair to substantial amount of tread on them. I think the tread blocks helps anchor the penetrator in place while you roll over it.
--- Bror Jace
Every few thousand miles [depending on highway temperature and speed] this increases by 1-2 points. The rubber continues the [heat based]Vulcanization Process.
Somewhere around 20,000 miles [less with soft performance tires 10-15k ] the hardness gets excessive -- over 80 Shore units. This is when the tires lose wet grip.
Since all tire are only tested to an extrapolated 8,000 miles [in Lab and on test track] it is difficult to gauge what they will be like after this mileage.
Soft tires harden faster [relatively]; initial hard [high mileage highway tires] harden more slowly.
Generally OEM tires [on new cars] are soft to minimize braking distance and increase handling to score well in magazine tests [which sells cars]. By 8,000-10,000 miles the performance has radically deminished in wet as the tread depth has worn and harder rubber has become exposed.
Somewhat foolish to buy ULTRA long lasting tires if you care about short wet stopping distance.
just my thoughts
If you wear a regular tire to bold you normally end up having very poor tires even on dry surfaces. Your "bold" tires will probably be comparable to worn out slicks.
For most tires when they are half worn [10/32 going to 5/32"] is the optimum replacement point but LEGALLY you can keep them to 2/32".
Personally I give my Michelin [235/60/15][late fall through Spring] tires to poor relatives every 20,000 miles or 2 years. They end up on old pickups for years.
For summer use I try to find the flavor of the month [Premium but discounted close out V or Z rated with very low treadwear] and am happy to get 4-5-6 months out of them.
I have never kept a tire in service more than 24 months just too much internal damage in warm South.
But my case is somewhat special: Q45 [weighs 4300 pounds with just me and gasoline] and I drive alot.
Most high performance DIRECTIONAL tires feather and heel toe wear significantly on a heavy performance car....this assymetrical wear causes vibrations which cannot easily be resolved even by rotation and monthly balancing [after 5-6k miles] you put up with it and are looking forward to nice round smooth winter tires {Michelin] by November.
IMO if someone causes a wreck due to bald tires-they are guilty of reckless endangerment. I replace tires before the tread gets to the wear indicators, particularly in the winter.
My wife's car gets a new set this coming fall, even though she will have more than 6/32 tread because the tires will be five years old. Less tire slipping when starting and stopping, means I hear less unpleasant words. A happy wife means I am happier.:<)
Harry
You [general population] scares me in showing pride at how long their tires last.
Strange brain washing when marketing attempts to correlate long life with safety. But the law has equalized everything when you rear end someone your're almost always at fault....following to close for conditions [yes the condition of your car not usually the condition of the road].
Next time, I will.
I looked at the tires closely and noticed the date code - 410. IIRC, 410 translates to the 41st week in 2000, or the tires were made the week of October 15, 2000.
Only been sitting around 15 months. I'll pass, thank you.
Thanks a lot,
First of all, I never buy cheap tires. All the tires I've purchased in the last 15 years have been name brand tires with an HR speed rating. These are all over-engineered for everyday driving and I'm guessing this is the reason why I've never had a problem with belts breaking, sidewalls failing, etc ...
Long before the Ford Bronco controversy, I was someone who would not even consider buying Firestone tires.
Second, I'm a very good driver. I'm into car control and when cornering aggressively, I set the car to push through the turn and this gives me constant feedback about how much grip my tires have. In the rain I slow down considerably at least until I can test the tires in safe spots to verify my amount of traction.
Third, the worn tires are only used through the summer months and I switch to dedicated snow tires (Nokian Hakkapelitas ... the best!) from December through March. Once these have only 25% of their tread left, they are going into the dumper. Snow tires need a deep tread to be effective.
Lastly, I do not recommend to others that they run their tires right down to the last of the tread. There are too many drivers out there who are only barely paying attention while they are behind the wheel and for these folks, driving with questionable tires is a recipe for disaster.
vwracer: "Why do people spend tons of money on life insurance, but are too cheap to spend a couple hundred bucks every 5-6 years for a new set of tires."
I am single and don't bother with life insurance. Surprised? >;^D Oh, and I buy tires every 5-6 years. But, I also drive 15-17,500 miles per year on the two sets combined.
sgrd0q, I don't think your Formula 1 analogy holds up. The side forces those cars exert are astronomical and when the tire heats up, they blister and the blistered rubber is what fails to perform at the extreme limits, not merely warm rubber. When watching the cars on TV, the blistered tires look like they have stripes on the tread face. Bald performance street tires are a totally different matter unless you are parking lot racing. Speaking of racing, the first thing SCCA racers do with their tires when they race them is shave most of the tread off of them. >;^)
q45man, you only get months out of a set of VR or ZR tires? Yikes! Where do you live, Death Valley? You are right about unidirectional tires and uneven wear. I have a set of Nokian NRH2s and although I like them, they cupped after a long, high-speed trip to the Thousand Islands and I swapped them left-to-right (yes, they are now on the wrong way) to try and 'correct' them. Truth be told, I prefer my omni-directional Dunlop D60A2s which I purchased in 1996 and the last two are about down to their wear bars with 63,000 miles on them. A friend of mine kept a set of Bridgestone Potenzas until they had approximately 75,000 miles on them. Both of us are excellent drivers with perfect records.
Of course, when setting up cars for women who are not enthusiasts like us, we'd not allow the tread to get nearly that worn. See the difference?
Bburton1, luckily for me, I'm not a jerk when I get pulled over. I have stickers on my car that law-enforcement-types generally like to see and I haven't been ticketed in over a decade. I have never been asked about my questionable tires nor my louder-than-stock exhaust.
--- Bror Jace
Traction is reduced not because there are a few blisters in the tires. It goes as follows - the tires heat up, then as they are exposed to constant stress and heat they begin to deteriorate - the consistency of the tires change. Then, as a result the tires are more prone to blistering, they don't hold the road as well, etc. All because the molecular structure of the tires has changed.
The blistering is a side effect of deteriorated tires.
So when you see a tire blister in F1 you know it is badly worn out - it's consistency is not the same as new, it will not have good traction, etc.
A few blisters or holes alone make very little difference in traction.
And, yes, by all means shave off the tread, but do not wear the tires out hoping to achieve the same effect.
Oh, and by the way your tires will also age by the time you wear them out (unless you race) so you will be indeed even worse off.
What was the Ford Bronco controversy?
I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree on how F1 tires wear out ... and probably other tire issues as well.
As for Fords, obviously I meant to say Ford Explorer.
--- Bror Jace
By the way I used to race single seaters at Silverton about ten years ago. I am not a pro driver at all - you can just pay and do this kind of thing for fun there.
Next to our tiny track was the main track where you could see F1 cars screaming past during practice. Anyway, I've seen tires that were disposed of after use. Hence my opinion.
You are entitled to yours, of course.
Q45man, I have always suspected what you confirmed. My current Goodrich tires seem to have lost a lot of wet traction at 35K.
Normal tire wear on these cars is 16,000 to 25,000 miles even with a Premium tire [assuming you maintain the required soft treadwear index] otherwise they won't stop.
Traction control aggrevates the problem since it works primarily by applying the rear brakes to stop the slip.
Many of my comments apply to heavy powerful cars...ask BIG SUV owners.