Ok - so how much of a difference in remaining tread is acceptable when replacing a tire? My wife had a tire cut about a month ago, and they had to replace the tire (puncture was right on the edge of the tread where it curves into the sidewall) - they only replaced one tire, and didn't say anything about needing to replace the axle set - so how big a difference can you get away with?
cut tire replacement
Dec 27, 2003
4 Replies
When all else fails or if you dont rely on eying it, there's always the penny test.
formatting link
Either way, dont play w/ your life or the ones you love, if youre still not sure, best to have them replaced. Tires are cheap enough nowadays, lives are not.
marx404
I probably should have been more specific - all of the tires have plenty of tread on them, and are not in need of replacing - what happened was one of the tires was damaged, and was replaced with a new one - so now, though all
4 tires have more than enough tread to perform properly, one has more tread than the other three - I was curious how much of a difference was ok, and determine if I need to replace the other tire in that axle set.On a passenger car, where there is only 12/32 - 14/32 of tread to start with, the difference between a new tire and a used tire with "enough" tread is not an issue. Where there is a problem is with trucks with a dual wheel situation with 2 wheels right next to each other and solidly bolted together.
Steve
I think so long as the other tire has "legal" tread the tires are considered "balanced".
Join the Discussion
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Didn't find your answer?
Ask the community — no account required