Tire safety: How to keep them rolling

A vehicle’s tires play an important role in the safety of your vehicle, as we are reminded by National Tire Safety Week. Organized by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA), the national trade association for the rubber products industry, the event runs June 7-13. It is a chance for tire makers to remind and educate consumers about proper tire maintenance and care, and arguably sell more tires.

A recent survey sponsored by the RMA of about 5,500 vehicles found that only nine percent of vehicles had four properly inflated tires and 49 percent of vehicles had at least one under inflated tire.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that more than 600 deaths and 33,000 injuries per year are due to under inflated tires. Improperly inflated tires also lowers the fuel efficiency of your vehicle.

Here are some tips to help your keep your tires running smoothly and safely.

Visually inspect tires on a regular basis. Look for cracks, cuts, or bulges in the sidewall or tread.

Check for uneven tread wear, which typically denotes poor wheel alignment or worn suspension components, and have both checked by a shop.

Use a quarter to check the tread depth of your tire, measuring to President Washinton’s head. (We have found there is a marked difference in tire performance between the quarter and the more common penny measurement.)

Check the air pressure each month when the tires are cold (before they've been driven more than a couple of miles).

Be sure that tires are inflated to the air pressures listed on the placard on the doorjamb, inside the glove compartment, or fuel-filler door. (The tire itself only lists the maximum pressure, not what is appropriate for your vehicle.)

Tire vibration may be a sign a wheel is misaligned, unbalanced, or bent. It could also signify internal tire damage.

For more safety information and Ratings of car, truck, and winter tires, see our tire and car care page. 

—Liza Barth 

A vehicle’s tires play an important role in the safety of your vehicle, as we are reminded by National Tire Safety Week. Organized by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA), the national trade association for the rubber products industry, the event runs June 7-13. It is a chance for tire makers to remind and educate consumers about proper tire maintenance and care, and arguably sell more tires.

A recent survey sponsored by the RMA of about 5,500 vehicles found that only nine percent of vehicles had four properly inflated tires and 49 percent of vehicles had at least one under inflated tire.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that more than 600 deaths and 33,000 injuries per year are due to under inflated tires. Improperly inflated tires also lowers the fuel efficiency of your vehicle.

Here are some tips to help your keep your tires running smoothly and safely.

Visually inspect tires on a regular basis. Look for cracks, cuts, or bulges in the sidewall or tread.

Check for uneven tread wear, which typically denotes poor wheel alignment or worn suspension components, and have both checked by a shop.

Use a quarter to check the tread depth of your tire, measuring to President Washinton’s head. (We have found there is a marked difference in tire performance between the quarter and the more common penny measurement.)

Check the air pressure each month when the tires are cold (before they've been driven more than a couple of miles).

Be sure that tires are inflated to the air pressures listed on the placard on the doorjamb, inside the glove compartment, or fuel-filler door. (The tire itself only lists the maximum pressure, not what is appropriate for your vehicle.)

Tire vibration may be a sign a wheel is misaligned, unbalanced, or bent. It could also signify internal tire damage.

For more safety information and Ratings of car, truck, and winter tires, see our tire and car care page. 

—Liza Barth 

A vehicle’s tires play an important role in the safety of your vehicle, as we are reminded by National Tire Safety Week. Organized by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA), the national trade association for the rubber products industry, the event runs June 7-13. It is a chance for tire makers to remind and educate consumers about proper tire maintenance and care, and arguably sell more tires.

A recent survey sponsored by the RMA of about 5,500 vehicles found that only nine percent of vehicles had four properly inflated tires and 49 percent of vehicles had at least one under inflated tire.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that more than 600 deaths and 33,000 injuries per year are due to under inflated tires. Improperly inflated tires also lowers the fuel efficiency of your vehicle.

Here are some tips to help your keep your tires running smoothly and safely.

Visually inspect tires on a regular basis. Look for cracks, cuts, or bulges in the sidewall or tread.

Check for uneven tread wear, which typically denotes poor wheel alignment or worn suspension components, and have both checked by a shop.

Use a quarter to check the tread depth of your tire, measuring to President Washinton’s head. (We have found there is a marked difference in tire performance between the quarter and the more common penny measurement.)

Check the air pressure each month when the tires are cold (before they've been driven more than a couple of miles).

Be sure that tires are inflated to the air pressures listed on the placard on the doorjamb, inside the glove compartment, or fuel-filler door. (The tire itself only lists the maximum pressure, not what is appropriate for your vehicle.)

Tire vibration may be a sign a wheel is misaligned, unbalanced, or bent. It could also signify internal tire damage.

For more safety information and Ratings of car, truck, and winter tires, see our tire and car care page. 

—Liza Barth 

Comments

[david]

To Jennifer and Gene:

Where on the tire is the proper way to measure tread depth? I recently got a set of new tires. The small grooves running across the tires in the inner and outer edges were only 8/32" in depth. Only the big grooves running around tire (in the middle half center of the tire) were 10/32".

So, if I wait until the legal limit, there will be no horizontal grooves left (assuming even wear). On the other than, if I go by the horizontal grooves in the edges, it would seem I got short change - only 8/32". If I change at 4/32" (Lincoln's head), that meant there is 6/32" left in the center grooves around the tire.

Please clear up my confusion here. I am sure someone else here has the same question.

[eduardo avalos]

The way to get your tires to wear at the 6/32nds tread depth evenly with the 4/32nds edge wear depth is to inflate your tires to max psi which will wear the center of the tire and increase gas mileage as well getting you the maxim treadwear and legal life out of your tires

[Paul L]

Using public transportation has resilted in very low mileage on out vehicles and tires. One vehicle, a 2000 has only 30k miles. What are guidelines for "old" tires with low mileage and plenty of apparent tread?

[Eugene Petersen - Consumer Reports]

The proper way to measure a tire's tread depth:

Look for the tread wear bars at the bottom of the grooves. These are the measurable grooves. Grooves without bars are not designed to be measured. Then using a tread depth gauged (found at any local auto parts store) measure the tread depth in each one of those groove. Typical all season tires will have between 8 and 10/32's of thread depth when new. You can use a Penney as a gauge; the distance between Lincoln's head to the edge of the coin is about 2/32". 2/32" is the legal tread depth in most states and it's where the tread bars will appear flush to the tread. You can also use a quarter to judge when the tire is about 4/32" worn. Like the Penny, the top of Washington's head to the edge of the coin is about 4/32". When the tread is worn to this point, it is a good time to start shopping for new tires, but they don't need to be replaced immediately. Now, a tire is technically worn out when any measurable groove in the tire is worn to 2/32". Hope this helps.

[tyre changers]

I always check my wheels before i drive the car or whenever i have time.Tire requires a maintenance because it holds a life whenever you are on your car and driving.