Are My Tires Tired?

Using a penny to check tread depth on a tire

The tires on your car must endure miles of constant use. They have to grip the road through every corner and turn, and all that continuous contact with the pavement will inevitably lead to wear and tear. All tires wear out eventually, and when they do, it’s vital to your vehicle’s performance and safety to replace them. There are a few easy ways to check the wear on your tires’ tread, so inspect the quality of your tires with these simple methods.

Use the Penny Test

The penny test is of the most common DIY vehicle inspections, and it’s also a pretty reliable indicator of your tire’s tread condition. All you’ll need to do is stick a penny Abe’s-head-first into the deepest part of each tire’s grooves. If the top of Lincoln’s head is still visible, then the penny’s tread has become too shallow to be reliable–less than 2/32″. If that’s the case with any of your tires, it’s time to have them replaced.

Look for the Wear Bar

What do you do if you don’t have any spare change handy? You can actually check the depth of your tread without any equipment at all thanks to each tire’s built-in wear bar. Tires usually come with a bar of rubber running perpendicular to the tire’s tread. The wear bar would typically be deep within the grooves of the rubber, but if you see that it’s level with the tread, then that’s your sign that the tires have been on the road too long. As with the penny test, the wear bar warns that the tread depth has worn below 2/32 of an inch, and that tire would no longer offer the traction you need for safe travels.

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Wilson County Hyundai

Whenever you want a professional inspection or expert tire replacement, you can bring your vehicle to our auto shop in Lebanon. Schedule service with Wilson County Hyundai to keep your tires in dependable shape mile after mile.

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