ALT-2 Automotive Maintenance when to Replace Tires
As most consumers may not be aware that tire manufactures will systematically provide tires with their own wear indicator..
located within each channel are raised pieces of rubber which represent the minimum allocated legal amount of thread.
In order to accurately locate these makers there are symbols which may differ from one make over another, normally in the form of a small triangle, used by most examples being; Goodyear, BFG, Dunlop to name a few, Michelin being superior opted for their trademark Michelin man of miniature proportion of course, normally located where the thread meets the sidewall, and are approximately spaced a foot around the tire.
Once you locate the thread bar, it will become easier to monitor the tires patterns upon the result that the tire thread is equal to or below that mark you will know your tires how exceeded their life expectancy, which currently through industry standard is 2/32 seconds of thread (tires are measured in 32 second increments) equal to MM, so it's safe to say once your tires hit 2mm of thread they are now ready to be replaced..
Ways you can prolong your tires life expectancy are as follows;
1) Get into a habit of maintaining your vehicles overall tire pressures regularly, I recommendation would be to check at least twice per week, this will allow all your tires to wear evenly. (See your owners manual or local tire center for correct air pressure)
2) Routinely rotate your tires as recommended either by your service manual, or visit a local tire distributor for advice,normal rule of thumb that most manufactures will recommend is every 15.000 KM (once per season) this should be sufficient, but that may vary depending on the type of tires, if you are using a higher performance low profile, which due to the softer rubber compound used in manufacturing, these tend to wear at a much faster rate, so rotations are vital, recommendation would be between 5-8.000 KM.
3) It wouldn't hurt to have an alignment check, this on a lot of cases is somewhat over looked, but just as important to the overall benefits of equal wearing tires, along with a better balanced vehicle, alignments aren't a normal routine procedure, so it would be based on feel, and wear patterns of both the vehicle's steering capability and on how your tires are wearing; I.E how does your vehicle handle on accelerating on a flat surface with the steering wheel centered, normally if all is well your vehicle should maintain a straight line without any veering, or drifting either side, if any of that happens or your vehicle begins to pull more one way or another, this may be an indicator that you may have an alignment concern, another way would be to look on how your tires are wearing, as long as you have followed the first two recommendations religiously, and if you notice your tires begin to wear on the edges, whether the outer or harder to notice, inner each more than on a whole this also is an indication that you may have an alignment problem.
Other concerns that deter tires are mechanically based, either from a result of faulty suspension parts or steering components, which again should be checked out if you have any concerns at your local service center.
The general rule of thumb is try to get into a habit of being more aware by following these steps, due to the fact that some tires especially the low profile higher performance type are Farley expensive, so to save yourself the painful expense of replacing due to irregular wear, keep an eye on them...
