Wondering if it's time to get new tires for your car? How to determine if the tires have worn out already without paying a costly visit to a mechanic? It's not that hard if you know what to look at. Let's study your auto's tires for the following indicators of weariness:
Tread
Normally the depth of your tires' tread shouldn't fall below 1/16 of an inch (1.6 millimeters). When it does – you know what to do: hop in the car and set forth to the nearest car workshop.
So how to calculate the depth by yourself? You can buy a special gauge to measure the tread depth the way the professionals do it, but there's another method that can help you get the idea of the condition your tires are in – and it doesn't even demand any investments from your part. All you need is an ordinary penny, the one with the Lincoln's head on it.
You'll have to insert it head-down into the tread and you can tell the tire needs an urgent replacement if Lincoln's entire head remains visible. It's that easy!
Indicator Bars
The new generation of tires have the indicator bars built into them that can tell you that's it's time to replace them and that brings down your efforts to a minimum – one look at them is enough to tell if the change is needed. These bars, invisible when the tires are new, gradually begin to appear as the tread wears down. They look like flat rubber bars that are perpendicular to the direction of the tread itself. If you caught a glimpse of them appearing – that tells you it's high time to pay a visit to your mechanic.
Sidewall
A sidewall of your wheels can also tell you a lot about tires' state. A sure sign that they need a replacement can be tracks or cuts in the sidewall: notches or grooves can be a sure indication that there might be leaks in the tires and there's a risk of them being blown out one fine day soon enough. You don't want to wait for that to happen on a busy highway, do you? So pay attention to what the sidewalls of your auto have to say.
Outer Surface
Sometimes it's the outer surface of the tire that begins to give way to weariness. As a result there can appear a bulge or blister that extends outward causing an explosion. Keep an eye on that to avoid a sudden blow of your tires.
Vibration
When driving, a certain amount of vibration is inevitable, especially on ill paved roads, but an experienced driver can tell that the level of the vibration is higher than average and that is a reason to examine your tires more closely. There can be a some sort of internal problem in the tire itself and that's a call to getting it replaced to avoid any troubles with it on the road.
Remember that a tire failure while driving can be catastrophic, causing your car to go out of control, so be attentive and conscious about your tires' condition. Of course, you can have a mechanic look at your car periodically to check if it's fine, but paying attention to these simple signs can save you time and money on that.
If you feel that you want to replace not only tires but the entire vehicle, you can find a lot of cars for sell with perfect-condition tires at Repokar Public Auto Auction (www.repokar.com).
