When is tire tread worn

In contrast to center wear, edge wear may occur when tires are under-inflated. Wear on two shoulders can also indicate hard cornering or improper rotation. More specifically, suspension parts are probably worn out or even bent out of shape. Could you have recently hit a curb or pothole? Patchy tire wear suggests your tires are out of balance. If you notice unusual wear patterns on your tires, the best thing to start with is an alignment check at your local Firestone Complete Auto Care.

Whether you need a quick tire pressure adjustment or a wheel alignment, you can be sure our technicians will take care of your tires. Blog Categories Blog Home. Up Next. One of the most common of these is unevenly worn tire treads. This problem affects many tires and causes a myriad of driving difficulties, including control issues in snow and rainy weather.

As a result, car owners need to take the proper steps to ensure that their treads are durable and not about to break down. Understanding why tire treads wear down unevenly — and why professional help is so smart — can help drivers get their treads repaired after buying a used car. Individuals buying a car inherit all of the problems that the previous driver caused. For example, some people may neglect to rotate their tires properly or may put an improper level of air in the tire.

However, the wear might be uneven across the tire surface, affecting certain areas but not others. Uneven tread wear can decrease the lifespan of a tire because of increased potential for bursts or leaks in excessively worn areas. If any part of Lincoln's head is covered, the tread depth is still good. If not, it's time to invest in a new set of tires. Another great way to check each tire's tread depth is with a tread depth gauge.

You can find a variety of different gauges online or at your nearest auto parts store. Before using it, check which indicator to read because many will show measurements in both inches and millimeters. It's a good idea to take a measurement in three different grooves across the tread.

The lowest reading is your measurement of your tread depth. You can also tell if your tires are bald by looking at your tire wear bars. These are molded bars at the base of the grooves. At this point, it's time to replace your tires. When the tread grooves aren't deep enough to channel out water from under the tire, it can result in hydroplaning. Your tire skims the top of the water like it's on the world's most dangerous Slip 'N Slide and no longer responds to the steering wheel inputs, which can be a very harrowing and potentially dangerous situation.

Deep grooves and an array of small slits, called "sipes," help most new tires and winter tires bite into the snow. A shallower tread and worn-away sipes result in reduced road gripping ability, making it harder — and sometimes impossible — to accelerate, stop or corner safely on snowy roads. Unlike an all-season tire, the wear bars on a winter tire may not show when it is considered legally worn out.