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5 Warning Signs You Need New Tires

We've listed five of the warning signs that indicate you need new tires.

Just as your feet are sore after a long walk, the tires on your car take a beating every time you drive. This

is ’t a sig of ad dri i g –well, not usually — but rather an inevitable fact of life. Tires get old and worn

down. And because a tire failure while you’re dri i g a e atastrophi , ausi g your ar to go out of control or leaving you stranded in the middle of nowhere without any easy way to get home, you want

to know when your tires are in bad shape so you can get new ones before something goes wrong. Of

course, if you have a mechanic look at your car periodically, he or she will probably tell you if the tires

need to be changed, but there are several things you can do yourself short of a visit to your local auto

center to make sure your tires are in good shape.

We’ e listed fi e of the arning signs that indicate you need ne tires:

1-Tread Depth

The tread on your tires should never fall below 1/16 of an

inch (1.6 millimeters) in depth. If you regularly drive on

sli k, et surfa es, you’d e even better off with twice that

much. You can buy a gauge to measure the tread depth the

ay the professio als do, ut there’s a old tri k that ill give you a rough idea of how much tread depth you have

left a d it o ’t ost you ore tha a pe y. I fact, it requires a penny. Take a Lincoln-head penny, the

ki d you fi d i your ha ge e ery day, a d i sert A e’s head head-do i to the tread. If Li ol ’s

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e tire head re ai s isi le, you do ’t ha e e ough tread. Take your ar i to the e ha i a d ask

about getting a new set of tires.

2-The Tread Wear Indicator Bar

Newer tires have a convenience that older tires lacked. They

have tread wear indicator bars built into the tires themselves.

These bars, invisible or barely visible when the tires are new,

gradually begin to appear as the tread wears down. They

appear as flat rubber bars running perpendicular to the

direction of the tread itself. If more than one or two of these

are visible on a tire, the tread is getting low. This should be particularly obvious in the wet tracks that

your tires leave after you drive through a puddle. Use the penny test described on the previous page to

dou le he k the depth, ut if the ars are starti g to appear o a y or all of your tires, it’s o e agai time to check with your mechanic or local tire dealer to see about getting your current tires replaced.

3-Cracks in the Sidewall

Not all problems with the tires are going to be in the tread.

They a also appear i the side all. Fortu ately, it’s easy to do a visual check of sidewall problems. Look for tracks or

cuts in the sidewall — grooves that are distinct enough to

be visible to the naked eye. This could be a sign that your

tire is de elopi g a leak or orse, that it’s early ready to blow out). This is definitely something you want to avoid. So if the cracks in the sidewall are starting to

look serious, get that car to a repair shop at the next opportunity and start talking about getting them

replaced. Better safe than sorry, as they say.

4-Bulges and Blisters on the Tire

Sometimes the outer surface of the tire begins to weaken.

The result can be a bulge or blister that extends outward

from the rest of the surface. This is similar to an aneurysm

in one of your blood vessels and you know that if your

doctor tells you that you ha e a a eurys , you’d etter get to the hospital as quickly as you can before you blow

out a artery. It’s the sa e ith your tire. This eak spot a ause a sudde lo out, a d if you do ’t put the car in the hospital (or service center, as the case may be) before this happens, it may end up

putting you in the hospital when the tire blows out on the freeway. So keep your eye on those tire

bulges and blisters.

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5-Too Much Vibration

A certain amount of vibration is inevitable when driving,

espe ially o poorly pa ed roads, ut if you’ e ee dri i g for a while, you probably know how much vibration feels

right a d ho u h ea s that so ethi g’s goi g ro g. There can be any of a number of causes for the vibration —

maybe your tires are misaligned or unbalanced, or your

sho k a sor ers are starti g to go. But it ould also i di ate that there’s so e sort of i ter al pro le i the tire itself. E e if the tire is ’t the root ause of the i ratio , the i ratio ould da age the tire and pretty soo you’ll ha e a pro le . So if your ar has a ad ase of the shi y-shimmy shakes,

espe ially if you oti e this he you are ’t dri i g o ad roads, take it to the e ha i right a ay to have it checked out. Too much vibration is almost always a sign that something is wrong.

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