When to buy new tires

Replace them when they wear out. Buy a tire gauge for about $2. When it gets to about 4/32nds, it's time. In Pennsylvania they will not pass safety inspection when they go to or below 3/32nds. Around here tires last 20,000 to 30,000 miles (up and down steep hills all day). But even in the flatlands, I would guess that 60,000 would be time. Tell wife to quit being pennywise and pound foolish.

Ray, tell your wife to shut up. Go out and get new Michelin tires and tell her to have dinner ready on the table when you come home. All of a sudden now we have women who tell us when its time to get tires.

Replace them if they're worn out or damaged. I had a set of Michelin LTX M/S on my 94 Explorer that lasted 80k miles.

Then be prepared to sleep on the couch!

Have you exam> Ray, tell your wife to shut up. Go out and get new Michelin tires and

The first time you hit water flowing across the road at speed, you will know you need new tires. For safety reasons, and to prevent potential deadly hydroplaning, go ahead and replace them. Ron

I will second that! I live in the mountains of Wyoming, and we replace our tires at roughly 1/3 of treat left. When you hit snow, ice, water on the road, etc. the worn tire will not grip.

The cost of the tires is a whole lot less than the repairs to the vehicle, down time, missed work in dealing with it, increased insurance rates due to the accident, etc.

And I personally want to see that my family is safe, no matter who is driving. But then we put on about 25-30k miles each year.

I consider it cheap insurance.

JMHO.

Scott

I'm surprised no one has suggested the "penny" check. Put a penny in the tire groove, and see if the tread reaches Lincoln's head. If it doesn't, you need new tires. There are probably wear bars, too; these are raised bars on the tread that become flat with the raised part of the tread when the tire is worn to needing replacement.

Tires are not built to last a certain number of miles, despite advertising and warranties. Road condidtions and driving habits will affect thread life a lot. When the tread is worn down to the point where there's not enough left for safe driving (especially in water), it's time for replacements.

It all depends on the tires, how you drive, tire rotation, wheel alignment, how well your wife maintains the tire pressure (sounds like she must be the one responsible for vehicle safety), etc. Tire mileage varies and the "mileage rating" is more of a way to *try* and compare how long different tires might last under similar conditions - not a strict schedule to follow for replacement. I once had a set of OEM Uniroyal Tiger Paw tires that still had legal tread depth on them when I took them off - but the rubber was so hard that they didn't have very good grip any more, even though they probably would have lasted another 20-30k miles on top of the 80k they had on them. They were legal, still looked fine, but really weren't as safe as I'd like them to be.

How much longer do you plan to keep the vehicle? Considering your annual mileage, if it's more than a year you'll most likely have to replace before you sell/trade anyway, or discount your price to cover replacement. If chances are good that you'll sell/trade before a new set would wear out, why not replace now so you can enjoy the safety and benefits of the new tires yourself, rather than giving all that new rubber away to the next owner. Like many things, you can "legally" drive on tires worn past the point where you probably aren't as safe as you'd like to be. Hydroplaning through a puddle or sliding off a wet/snowy highway is not how you want to figure out they're worn enough to need replacement.

I use a similar perspective when deciding when to replace a battery - when it's reached the end of its expected life, I start watching for sales and just replace it. I've been stranded by enough batteries that just plain died with no warning (usually internal shorts) that I'd rather go with a preemptive replacement. It's worth it to me to spend the $50 when it's convenient instead of later, when you'll still spend the money and possibly a couple aggravating hours dealing with it, usually at the worst time (Murphy's law). If you wait 'til replacement is the only option and the dead battery ends up stranding you somewhere, you'll wonder if it was really worth putting off spending that $50 bucks just to try and get another 6 months out of it. True, some can't afford (or seem to find) the money to make a repair before there's no other choice, but for me it just isn't worth the hassle of dealing with unexpected problems. Lots of people think otherwise, and there are plenty of towing companies that make a good living off of them.

Just my 2 cents. Steve