…under a tire's tread pattern, it can lift the tread until it loses contact with the road. Tires with less tread depth will hydroplane in shallower water and at lower speeds than tires with deeper treads. Whether the front or rear tires hydroplane first can make all the difference. Hydroplaning front…
…your vehicle's transmission and/or differential requires all tires to be the same, or close to the same tread depth in order to operate properly. Running tires with different tread depths can cause damage to your vehicle. The popular belief is that once one of your tires on your AWD vehicles…
…to 2/32" differences in front-to-rear tread depth between tires that might be encountered immediately after periodic tire rotations at 3,000-5,000 mile intervals won't upset the vehicle's hydroplaning balance and should not preclude rotating tires. For that matter, any differences in wear rates…
…a pair of tires, the new pair should always be installed on the rear axle. Installing the new tires (with full tread depth) on the rear axle will ensure that any differences in traction between the two pairs of tires will not lead to a dangerous oversteer situation. In an oversteer situation,…
…rates. The minor differences in tread depth between tires that might be encountered immediately after periodic tire rotations at 5,000-7,500 mile intervals won't upset the vehicle's hydroplaning balance and should not preclude rotating tires. For that matter, any differences in wear rates actually…
…Measuring the tread width of rounded-shouldered tires is more challenging because identifying the tread edges is difficult. Unfortunately there isn't an industry standard that establishes a single procedure for how to measure tire tread widths. And since tire manufacturers can use different methods,…
…accidentally using different sized tires, tires with different tread designs, tires made by different manufacturers, different inflation pressures or even tires worn to different tread depths. As an example of different tire diameters resulting from tires worn to different tread depths, we compared…
…tread depth remains. If snow is not an issue but rainy days are, then new automobile tires are recommended when you have approximately 4/32" of remaining tread depth. To see how tread depth makes a difference in your vehicle's stopping distance, watch "Panic Stopping: How Much Tread Depth…
…Lincoln Monument is always covered by the tread, you have enough remaining tread to handle snow-covered roads. To gain a better understanding of how adequate tread can help you in different weather conditions, watch "Panic Stopping: How Much Tread Depth Do You Need?." If the change in your…
When rotating your tires, it is also important to measure their tread depth to help determine if your vehicle has an alignment issue. You may find that when the edge of a tire wears differently than another it can point to camber. * Negative camber is wear on the inside edge of a tire and is pretty…
…temperatures affect different tread compounds. Summer tires get too hard when temperatures drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that in the winter, even when there is no snow or ice on the roads, summer tires do not provide strong enough traction regardless of tread depth. Wet conditions:…
…measuring tire tread depth with a coin, here are some basic rules to remember as tires wear to the critical final few 32nds of an inch of their remaining tread depth. At 6/32" of remaining tread depth, we expect snow traction to be affected, while drivers will notice a difference compared to…
…using different sized tires, tires with different tread designs, tires made by different manufacturers, different inflation pressures or even tires worn to different tread depths. As an example of different tire diameters resulting from tires worn to different tread depths, we'll compare…
…to a Friend Shaving Tire Treads to Maintain Equivalent Tread Depths for Four-Wheel Drive & All-Wheel Drive Vehicles Four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles are equipped with differentials and/or viscous couplings that are designed to allow momentary differences in wheel speeds when the…
…proper tread depth can greatly reduce your risk of a rear-end collision during wet conditions. As you can see in this video a vehicle with tires worn to 4/32" will take nearly twice the distance to stop during emergency braking. As you will see, proper tread depth can be the difference between…
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