How to know when Tires need to be Replaced
Tires need to be replaced for a variety of different reasons. The most obvious is when you look at your tires and see the tread worn down. Take a look at the grooves between the tread, and do the old penny trick. What's that, you may ask? That's when you take a penny, insert it into one of the grooves, and if you can see all of President Lincoln's head, you know you need new tires.
There are other reasons as well to replace tires, and some of them aren't as obvious as low or worn tread. Every once in a while, say, every couple of months, run your hand along the surface of the tire and feel for any bumps or irregularities that don't seem right. Most tires today have steel belts in them, and sometimes they break inside the tire. That can be a dangerous situation, and even though you may have plenty of tread on the tire itself, a broken steel belt will cause a ton of problems for you. Replace that particular tire!
Are there any warnings that are built into cars that let you know when to replace the tire? Something that takes most of the guesswork out of the equation? The good news is yes, there is. In fact, my car warned me yesterday as I was driving down the highway that my tire needed air due to low pressure. Not only that, the warning soon turned to a "you have a flat tire" message! Needless to say, I was thankful for the warning, but none to pleased that I was on a major freeway with very few places to stop. I was getting nervous, to say the least.
I drive a 2006 BMW 750li equipped with a video screen that gives me all sorts of messages. Well, the icon for the "low tire pressure" warning kind of looks like the top of a pitchfork, with all the tines. In fact, I was wondering if the devil himself stuck his pitchfork in my tire! But anyway, all cars due to the federal regulations are supposed to be equipped with this warning as of 2008, according the news item I had read recently. Anyway, the readout on the car told me about my tire, and luckily I was near my car dealership, so I called them and told them I would try to make it in for them to change and put on the spare.
For some weird reason, I didn't feel like I had a flat tire, as the car wasn't pulling severely when a flat is evident. In fact, I pulled into the dealership, got out of the car, and couldn't notice anything weird at all! My service adviser told me that there are 3 reasons why the message would show on the dash.
1. You have a flat tire
2. You might have a nail in the tire, or for some reason you are losing air in that tire.
3. Your tire tread is low, and the sensors might get set off because of it.
Well, number 3 was my reason. I knew my tread was low in the front tires, but kept putting it off to try to find the best price for the tires as they aren't cheap on this car. In summary, I found the tire I need, and am having it installed soon. But it taught me a lesson, not to fool around with tires that need to be replaced, as evidenced by my harrowing experience recently!
