Sometimes, remembering to keep on top of regular checks with your vehicle can be difficult, especially when you have so many things to take care of. But it’s vital to understand that your tyres are your only contact with the ground. So it’s important to check they’re okay at least once a month or before a long journey.
You may not know but it is actually illegal for the tire tread depth to be less than 1.6 millimetres For having non-road safe tyres, drivers can receive hefty fines and penalty points for each worn tyre.
How to prepare for a tyre check-up
Firstly make sure your car is parked in a safe area. Preferably a stable road where the car can stand on a levelled ground. But don’t get out of your car with the engine still running. Once you have parked your car, apple the hand brake and switch the engine off completely.
New tires have a tread of approximately eight millimetres. But the more you drive, the more the tread wears away until eventually, they become bold. It is important to drive with plenty of treads as without it you’ll have less grip on the road making driving dangerous particularly in wet and icy conditions.
How to measure the tread depth of your tyre
As mentioned before the tread depth should be less than 1.6 millimetres. But, you don’t need a fancy tool for a quick check p. You can check this easily yourself by using the tread wear indicators or with the 20p coin test which is recommended by many tire companies. Take a 20p coin and insert it into a groove on the tread. If you can’t see the rim around the coin when it is inserted into the tire then the tread is three millimetres or more.
However, if you can see the rim, your tires have less than three millimetres of tread and will need changing soon. Perform this test on different areas around the tread as tread depth can vary around the tire.
You can get a clearer and more accurate reading by using a tyre tread gauge at any car accessory shop
Safety measures to look into
Please remember though that once your tire treads are three millimetres or less your braking distances will increase. Your tread depth may be fine or your tread wear maybe even but you maybe have stepped into a few curbs since you last checked your car. So, carefully run your hand through the tyres to check for any cuts or bulges.
You also need to take care of your tyres even if they have been sitting at home for a while. Especially the places you can’t see, damaged tyres can have exposed wires that can cause injury. If you’re on the move with your car tires Bahrain and you are concerned about tyre fault or tread depth, pull into a reputable tyre centre as soon as you can. Where the tyres can be checked all around and on the inside.
Facts to take note of:
- Minimum tread used to be 3/4 of tread width from one shoulder across, either way. But now has been changed to the central 3/4 which allows 1/8 from each shoulder to be under the minimum 1.6mm.
- The treadwear indicators (TWI) are the bumps in the tread channels to let you know when the tyre needs replacing.
- On dry roads, the tread channels don’t help. Some vehicles cars use slicks (no tread) in hot dry weather. The tread channels are for rainwater to be squeezed into when the tyre makes contact with the wet road. The water is then flung out of the tread channels as the tire rotates up away from the road.
