Replacing Tires

canadianmom2three · Nov 7, 2007

Had my car in for some maintenance the other day and they told me my tires need changing soon. DH is in disagreement, he says they are nowhere near the tread wear markers. To me, they look to be very close to the markers...I'm just not really a tire expert, is this something that you let wear to the point that they are down to the markers, or are the markers sort of like the empty light for the gas tank, in that once you are at that point, you are in serious trouble?
I think DH is just trying to hold off cause we are planning to get winter tires this year (YAY!!) but the other morning it was a bit rainy, and I was skidding where it seemed to me I shouldn't have been at all...

SafeDad · Nov 7, 2007

You will see the treadwear indicators when the treadlife is getting pretty low. You may still get thousands of miles on them, but it's a good idea to swap them.

Dry traction will remain just about as good even at low tread. Wet traction will be reduced and snow traction greatly reduced on low tread.

If you're getting winter tires soon, no point replacing the 3-season tires until spring IMO.

southpawboston · Nov 8, 2007

if you plan to buy winter tires and have them mounted on the rims that your current all-seasons are on, then it's not worth saving the current ones for next year. the money it will cost to have the winter tires unmounted and the worn all-seasons remounted will amount to the price of one or even two new tires. i always recommend buying a cheap set of new or used rims to use exclusively for winter tires. that way you don't have to incur the costs of mounting a set of four tires on a set of rims twice a year.

and ditto what darren said about traction. dry traction will be pretty much just as good, but as the tread depth decreases, the ability of the tire to sipe water away from the footprint of the tire decreases, resulting in greater chance of hydroplaning. the same is true for snow.

smurf · Nov 8, 2007

canadianmom2three said:
but the other morning it was a bit rainy, and I was skidding where it seemed to me I shouldn't have been at all...

I think you've got your answer right there...

beeman · Nov 9, 2007

Well, 1/8" of tread is the bare minimum. However when you get that low, you loose traction on gravel, grass, and wet surfaces. Its november already, and unless you're on the coast or in Southern Ontario, it's time to be getting your winter tires on anyways. The west is mostly white now (and there is ice on the roads where I am right now)

canadianmom2three · Nov 10, 2007

We are just about as south as you can be in Ontario...supposed to be back up to 14 here next week...but still, I know that snow is inevitable, so yah, I should get going on that...

beeman · Nov 10, 2007

canadianmom2three said:
We are just about as south as you can be in Ontario...supposed to be back up to 14 here next week...but still, I know that snow is inevitable, so yah, I should get going on that...

I'm way North right now, with wonderful ice, snow and constant below 0 temperatures. The fun of working on the road in the winter. Enjoy your warmth while you've got it!

Replacing Tires

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