When to Change Tires

How Often Do Tires Need to Be Changed?

You might find yourself asking when I need to replace my tires. On average, most tires are rated to have a life-span of between 25,000 and 60,000 miles before they need to be replaced. However, these numbers are general averages, type of tire, tire rating, and manufacture-patent tire compound can make a difference. A car owner's manual can include specific tire manufacture recommendations regarding how often and in what manner tires should be replaced for a particular model of car.


So when do you need to change your tires? You can determine if it’s time to change them by looking at two things: the tread depth and manufacture date. 

Inspecting the Tread Depth of Your Tire

Proper tire maintenance is having enough tire tread is crucial for tire safety, as a worn-out tire can lose traction in turns and extend the distance when you brake, especially on a wet or frozen road. The simplest way to know how often to replace tires is to measure its tread depth by using the penny and quarter test.

  1. Get a penny and a quarter to start the test.
  2. Insert the quarter into the tread with the head down. If you see the tread is even with Washington’s top of head, your tires are still safe. However, getting new tires should be on your list. This gives you ample time to shop tires online or at a local tire shop. It would even give you enough time to have tires delivered if purchasing tires online.
  3. Now, let’s move on to the penny. In the same manner, insert it into the tread’s center. If the top of Lincoln’s head is even with the tread, it is time to immediately change your tires to ensure safety when using your car.

There are a lot of options to choose from when tire shopping, the best route is to always use the original manufacture, model and size of tire that the vehicle came with out of the factory. Those seeking aftermarket tires, one can try an online wheel visualiser but is highly recommeneded to talk directly to a local tire expert in-person or call a tire center over the phone.

When to Change Tires

Check Your Tire’s Manufacture Date

There are many factors to consider when you should replace tires, including your driving style, how often your drive, road conditions, and the weather. Even if there is much tread left, you should also consider the age of your tires. Tire experts suggest that on average with normal dry weather conditions, six years is how often to get new tires or how long tires should last.

If you are asking when should I replace my tires, remember this: tires that are beyond six years after they are manufactured are more prone to a blowout, as the rubber will dry (also known as dry rot or crack) and have harder tire compound as time goes by.

It is easy to check the age of your tires. Just look for the Department of Transportation (DOT) code on the tire wall – that’s a four-digit numeric code. The first two digits mean the week it was manufactured, while the last two are the year i.e.  code 2705 means that the tire was made in the 27th week of the year 2008.

It can be quite difficult to spot the date code. Make sure you are looking at the right code: the letters DOT is normally at the beginning. Since you might see other numbers and letters, it’s always good to understand how to read tires but try to find the four-digit code with the last two digits that can be recognized as a past year.

 

The Importance of Tire Replacement & When to Do So

Many are not aware of how often tires should be replaced. On average, most tires are rated to have a life-span of between 25,000 and 60,000 miles before they need to be replaced. However, these numbers are general averages, type of tire, age of tire, tire rating, depth of tread, and manufacture-patent tire compound can make a difference.