What does a penny have to do with your car tire’s tread depth?
Using a penny to check tire tread depth
Have a penny and car tires, you are set. You are set to test the wear on your car tires - by using a penny.
Simple, right? Right. Your car tires have to have a certain tread depth for safety, the less tread is left the more dangerous the driving becomes especially in heavy rain or snow.
Here is what you do to test the wear on your car tires with a penny.
Grab a penny.
Put the penny into the groove of the tire - twist it so you can see the top of Abe Lincoln's head on the penny pointing into the groove. If you can see Abe's whole head - meaning the penny doesn't go very deep into the groove, i.e. not much groove left - then you know you are very close to having to get new tires soon. If the groove is deeper - penny covers part of Abe's head - your tires are still good to go. The measurement is 2/32" to top of Lincoln's hairline which in many states is the legally worn out depth.
Check several different grooves of the tire.
If the tread depth is different within different groves of the tire, you may be experiencing uneven wear, which may be symptomatic of other problems like worn out front end parts, a front end out of alignment or just bad tires.
Having very little tread depth left in your tires even 2/32" or 4/32" makes it dangerous especially in a rain and snow conditions.
If you have very little tread depth remaining you'll probably want to have the tires replaced and if you have uneven wear on your tires, you should probably have your mechanic or repair shop take a closer look at the car to be sure you do not have other problems.
Articles that may be related to this one
Leave a Response
Entries(RSS)