How to Check Car Tire Wear

Video Transcript

"Hi! My name is Nate McCullough on behalf of expertvillage.com. In this clip we are going to talk about one of items involved in a major tune-up or vehicle overhaul. The item we are going to talk about in this clip is tire wear and how to check for it. As you can see, on this tire here what you are going to look for since I have it off the vehicle are what you call wear balls. The wear balls are these little nubs built in the water galley of these tires. They put these nubs on there to indicate where; it’s pretty much a level indicator. Once any portion of the vehicles tread has worn down to level with the wear bar, that indicates that the tire tread is excessively worn and needs replaced. If the tire happens to be in the position where the wear bars aren’t readily visible or if it happens to come from a manufacturer that doesn’t provide those for you, there is one more universal way to check your tire wear. What you are going to want to do is use a penny and insert in one of the rain grooves of your tire. Not directly on top of the tread like this but in one of the grooves. You set the penny in on the tire and what you are going to want to do is look at the level of Abraham Lincoln’s hair. If the tread does not cover up his hair, then the tire is excessively worn and should be replaced."