Tyre wear. Legally acceptable limit?

Wig

IMHO what the tester means -although he did not explain to you very well or maybe he did but you missed it- Aswell as a central band of 3/4 tyre width area which must be atleast 1.6mm tread. You MUST also have visible tread pattern on all other areas of the tread face, i.e. 100% of tread must be visible. It can be below 1.6mm to the outside edges.

Your picture (the 2nd one) seems to show the extreme inside edge is VERY worn, looks below 1.6mm to me but the photo might be failing to show it properly.

All he is saying is that as soon as that area loses it's tread completly the tyre becomes illegal. and by the looks of it that will occur in under 3,000 miles. He had better not take corners too fast or the wear rate will increase.

If that was my tyre, I'd have swapped it to the back a few thousand miles ago....it wouldn't hurt to do it now. I'd also over inflate it to take the tyre edges away from the road surface. I wonder if he has been driving under inflated? << which brings the edges into contact with the road.

Rolandtheroadie

Wig wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

They'll just advise you need 4 new tyres and new brakes and suspension.

BUT, they'll let you put it on a card with only 29.9% APR (although it might be more).

Premier_2

onejontwo wrote: »

7mm is the maximum depth of thread measured with a brand new tyre
With some high performance tyres you can have as much as 12-15 mm tread when new, so bearing this in mind, in the testers comparison, this was quite worn!...
.

onejontwo wrote: »

As was explained in post 3, he has not condemned the tyre, but merely advised the customer to keep an eye on it. If the customer does a lot of high mileage it could possibly require replacing in a matter of months. It would be a different story if the customer got pulled by the police and got 3 points for a worn tyre in a few months time, then it would be a case of "I only had it MOT'd a short while ago and the tester didn't mention it!..................
I honestly can't see what the problem is, He's just doing his job!

But using your own figures, the tyre would have been considered almost 60% worn even when it was brand new, if the tester is of the same opinion as you :eek:

Premier_2

Zanzibar wrote: »

It doesn't appear close to the limit though we haven't seen the complete circumference but I'm sure your eyes are fine and that there are no more worn areas.

If he defines 'close' as what we see then that's his issue really - it didn't fail and you may want to avoid that test centre again. Its the vagaries of the system - many here have had advisories that just 'disappear' at the next MOT.

...

Do ensure he wasn't referring another tyre by mistake.

I have had a few recent MOTs where the tyres are only just over 1.6MM as its a car rarely driven - about 1.8MM I'd say - not a mention on the paperwork other than a verbal "dont forget to check as they only have a few thousand left.." etc

Thanks. I've not actually seen the car yet, but should do later today.
Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this.
I'll let you know what I uncover (if anything)

Premier_2

Wig wrote: »

...You MUST also have visible tread pattern on all other areas of the tread face, i.e. 100% of tread must be visible. It can be below 1.6mm to the outside edges.

Your picture (the 2nd one) seems to show the extreme inside edge is VERY worn, looks below 1.6mm to me but the photo might be failing to show it properly...

That's what I thought too, hence why I requested a photo of the area close up.

Do you have a link to that requirement please?
Like you I thought the same, but when checking motester, (link given earlier) it doesn't appear to mention anything about 100% of the tread being visible

Moreover, I'm told the photo may be a little misleading. What you can see the tread naturally washes out towards the edges anyway, and if you look carefully you can still see the minor dimples on the extreme edges, suggesting the tyre isn't anywhere near bald at this point.
I'm informed those dimples are only very shallow even on a brand new tyre.

Anyway, as I said, hopefully I'll get to see the car myself today and will let you know what I find.

Rallydriver

If it is wearing on the inside more than the outside, maybe the wheel alighnments need attention?

If thats the case then its possible the inside edge could wear away in a few months but leave the rest of the tyre fine. In which case a verbal pointing out would be better than an advisory.

Maybe the tester is just being over careful in covering his back, it doesn't look that near to failure to me either.

negg

close to the legal limt

Close to legal limit, or close to recommended limit? These could be very different.

Many motoring experts and garages now have a 'recommended limit' of 3mm with some campaigners even trying to get the law changed to a 3mm minimum tread depth (unsuccessfully, so far).

computershack

I change my tyres at 2mm.

REgarding the advisory, an advisory is meant to ADVISE YOU of something that needs looking at in the near future but is not a fail. A tyre with 3-4mm of tread will not make it to the next MOT doing average mileage so it is an advise as are brake pads under 3mm if they can see them.

michaelro

Premier wrote: »

Can anyone explain why this tyre is considered "close to the legal limt" regarding wear please?

A colleague of mine took his car for an MOT and is puzzled (as I am) regarding the advisory note:

"Offside front (inner edge) Tyre worn close to legal limit (4.1.D.1)"



The LHS is the inner edge, shown in close up here:

Have these photo's been taken from the front or the back?
If it's from the front, the tyre shown is the Passenger Side (Nearside).

Premier_2

michaelro wrote: »

Have these photo's been taken from the front or the back?
If it's from the front, the tyre shown is the Passenger Side (Nearside).

I'm pretty sure it's from the rear ... else the car should have failed the MOT for having the directional tyres on the wrong way round. :eek:

Hopefully will actually be seeing the car very soon now