Your tire health is very important and should be given a lot of attention. You can’t afford to put it on the back burner, if you do you will be risking lot of things.
From sudden intrusion of unforeseen things that could affect your finances when you least expect or the risk of human life behind the wheels or the car passengers.
Also, considering the fact that good tires or new tires has a lot to offer you than the cost it will take.
For example, the new technology in place could provide a more comfortable ride, better performance or even fuel efficiency, there is no quantifying its advantage. But first let’s see how often should you replace your car tires.
How often do you need new tires?
Along with every tire comes a warranty that states how long the tire should be used that is the tread wear warranty. This warranty gives a guarantee of certain years or specific number of miles when this number of years are completed you should have your tires checked.
Some of this tire come with a 60,000-mile warranty or 70,000 or 6 years or 7, as the case may be, but once this manufacturer warranty is off anything can happen to the tires, the tread might start falling off, it might start vibrating, a lot of factors could set in, so this is one of the best times to check out new tires.
Now if you do not know how old your tires are you could check your tire sidewall; there you will find letters and numbers. Then you should check carefully, the letters ‘’usually DOT’’ will precede other letters but at the end you should find a 4-digit written together.
For example, you could find 1519 as the digit that end what was written on your tire sidewall. The first two numbers here stand for the week in the year it was manufactured. Therefore, for 1519, this simply means the tire was manufactured on the 15th week in 2019.
Another reason to change is once you see your tire treads are worn, there is no considering here, once the tread is gone then you need a change.
The tread might already be worn out before the tire warranty is up, it doesn’t mean you can still manage it. Or just one or two of the tires might be worn it doesn’t mean you should wait for the remaining two, you automatically need new tires.
Now if you are not sure if your tires are worn the easiest way is to do a penny test. Simply place your penny in the grooves between the treads of your tires with Lincoln upside down.
If you can still see the top of Lincoln’s head, then the tread is too shallow and basically worn enough for a replacement.
Your tread should not be below 1.6 millimeters in depth and of you often do a wet road driving condition or snow then your least tread should be double of this.
When to replace a car tire
Considering when to replace your tire? There are lots of unforeseen circumstance that warrants a quick change of tire even before it expires, it comes with a lot of warning signs
1. Vibration while driving
When your tires start vibrating in an unusual or aggressive way, without a quick pothole or some little friction with the road then you should check what could be wrong with it.
It can be caused when there is no proper alignment or you are driving a bad road but when it is not so and the vibration continues then you should check by your mechanic.
Alignment problems or interior problems or road problems, either way it might have caused uneven wear to your tires so much that your tires needs replacement.
2. Loud noise from your tire
If your tires start to make unusual loud noise then they also need to be checked to know what the problem is, it might need replacement.
3. If your tire treads are worn
As stated earlier if you find them worn then they sure need replacement, they might be worn for different reasons and improper alignment is sure one of them.
4. Cracked sidewalls
Peradventure you discover your tires with a cracked sidewall then that is not good at all, it could be caused by different reasons. It might be caused because it is expired or improper maintenance or simply the exposure to UV for a while could cause it.
However, this is dangerous as the tread can start to fall off as a result of the sidewall collapsing or it can start leaking. In essence, once there is a crack then the tire should be replaced.
5. Uneven tire wear
Sometimes one out of four set is worn, other times even on a particular tire you could find uneven wear, it is time for a replacement.
6. Loosing pressure
You could find your tire consistently loosing air pressure, it could just be a small leak or not, check if you can get it patched and back safely on the road or if the better solution will be changing it
7. Tire bulging
This is not a good sign; your tire sidewall bulging doesn’t show a healthy tire. If this is the case, it shows the sidewall of the tire is weak, it could result in a blowout, sudden flat tire or anything in between, in this case you should consider changing it.
8. Spare tire
If there is a call for the necessity of a spare tire it doesn’t mean you should leave it on your wheels for too long. Spares are just to buy you time to get another as soon as possible.
They likely do not perform like the other tires and even if they do, what if there is another urgency for a spare
Why you should replace your car tire once needed
Damaging tires do not compliment your car in any way, either in looks or performance. It gives bad traction, affects the performance of the other tires and the comfort of the entire car.
And can completely lose it and fall out on days we do not have patience for the distraction. Moreover, it could cause a sudden blowout and that is not what we hope for as it is a risk that is not worth taking.
So, given all the reasons in how often should you replace your car tires, how often do you need new tires and when you should replace a car tire, we hope you will choose to go for a new tire or set of tire if the case warrants it as you deserve the comfort of a quality tire.
I’m glad you mentioned that if you hear some vibrations while driving you might need to look into getting new car tyres. I’ve been hearing some strange noises while I’ve been driving and it had me a little confused. Maybe I should bring it into a shop and see what options there are for replacement.
Yes Thomas you should, there could still be option for repair. And if it comes to replacement, then it is better than driving unsafe or causing more negative impact to unaffected tires.