Tread Depth Tyres - Tyre Dealers Durham

Why is the tread depth in tyres necessary to correct?

All cars should have a tread depth of 1.6mm. Tread depth is an essential part to keeping you safe on the roads, requiring regular checking in order to ensure it is maintained. They keep you safe as they are specially made for the best potential road grip they can give, doing so by the ‘bumps’ and grooves designed for them, creating easy braking and control of the car. Over a period of time the tread depth of a tyre may start to reduce, this may be due to just natural wear and tear, an unavoidable consequence to driving any vehicle. However it can also be caused by having a fast and aggressive style of driving, overloading the car with bags and people, poor tyre quality (or deflated tyres) or suspension issues in the vehicle that should all be monitored and tried to keep at a minimum in order to ensure safety as a priority. In order to check your tyre tread depth, there are a few options:

Check your tyre tread depth with some spare change

If you don’t have any equipment and are in doubt about your tread depth, all you need is a spare 20p for a quick check! This is the least advised method however can be quick and easy for everyone. In order to do this place the 20p coin into the tyres tread depth, if you can’t see the outer edge of the coin great! Your tyres tread depth is legal and safe to use on the road, if the coin is sticking out, not so good… tyres should then be taken to a garage or car repair centre for inspection as soon as possible. In order to test more accurately however to ensure the tyres are defiantly safe/unsafe, there are two other methods.

Tyre tread depth gauge:

A tread depth gauge is a piece of equipment that will provide a more accurate reading than just a coin, proving you with a reading of the actual depth rather than just the safe or not safe judgement. It is a simple equipment piece that is used by placing the probe bar inside of the depth with the shoulders on the tyre. It can also double up as a tyre pressure checker, which may be handy tool to have around to make sure under inflated tyres do not wear tread depth even further!

Or a tyre tread depth indicator:

Sometimes known for their name of wear bars, are designed to alert you to when tread depth is beginning to become dangerous. they are evenly spaced prices of raised rubber that below the main groove and above the depth of the tyres groove. The bars will become flush with the surface of the tyre and become an indication that the tyres then need to be replaced as soon as possible to be safe and legal again.