Tyre wear. Legally acceptable limit?

darich

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 think they're taken from the rear going by the tread pattern.....making them the offside.

could be wrong though.

thescouselander

To be honest I'm surprised the OP got an advisory on this. The tyres look perfectly ok if a little worn. They look like the should last quite a few thousand miles more - I don't think its worth worrying about. Just keep an eye on the tyres and change as and when you normally would.

onejontwo

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

Different tyre brands, different makes, different profiles, different sizes ...............different tread depths when new.

Premier_2

Just finished looking at the car & paperwork.

2 advisories were issued:

001. Nearside front (inner edge) Tyre worn close to legal limit [4.1.D.1]

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

The photos (nor my colleague) have really done these tyres justice - they are hardly half worn. In fact the tread depth is actually about 5.0mm across the measurable area give or take the odd 0.1mm here & there.

As for the inside edge? Well being ultra critical, there is very slight wear there, but it is hardly noticeable; whether this is what the tester saw I'm not sure given the state of the rear nearside tyre which is much older and more severely worn (but still well above legal limits), but which no advisory was given for.

The inner edge wear on the front tyres may possibly be due to slight tracking issues, (manufacturers spec: 0.5mm toe-out to 4.5mm toe in) but I think probably more associated with the negative camber which is specified by the manufacturer and not adjustable, or perhaps just the way the car is driven; these tyres have already done over 15k miles! The wear is however so minor, I think it is nothing paricularly to worry about bearing in mind the tyres are almost half worn, but more importantly nothing is anywhere near "close to the legal limit".

So why the advisory items?
Well, I did notice the MOT station which did not previously offer any repair services for cars, do now offer a supply & fit service for tyres according to the receipt.:rolleyes:

waynedance

my god you took pics and all, it passed and the tyre looks fine to you leave it at that.

Close to legal limit??? could mean 2mm or 4mm to limit. It is an ADVISORY.

Wig

OK
http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_410.htm

The 100% visible tread rule applies only to those vehicles which qualify for a 1.0mm tread depth.
On a normal car, there can be balding on the outside edges. It is arguable that the advisory was not necessary, but at the end of the day it's only an advisory.

The reason I thought what I thought was from my motorbike days, bikes have to have tread depth of 1mm and a visible tread pattern all over, bikes up to 50cc only have to have visible tread, can be under 1.0mm anywhere on the tyre.

Keith

On a similar note, I took my motorbike to my normal garage, asked them to change the tyres, check the brake pads front & rear, and mot it.

They did the jobs first, new tyres, you don't need pads. And then he went to the MOT computer, came back and told me it wasn't due yet! I'd gone 3 days before the start of the early test window.

So I went away, a few weeks later, covering 600 miles, I went to my local bike shop, I don't use them but thought "the bikes fine" it'll pass.

They pass the bike and then explain the advisory notice "Front brake pads close to limit".

"Two weeks ago, they were fine at another garage?"

"Well, erm, some scooters come with pads that are just above the limit and as you've done some miles they've worn and are just on the limit"

I look at my sports bike sat outside the shop

"Right..."

I took the pass & advisory, rode for a further few weeks, on Thursday I popped into my normal bike place, their tester looked at my brake pads and told me they are fine and acceptable! No where near the limit and didn't need touching.

I bloody hate garages!

DaveMacD

Which is why, when you find a place you trust, you don't go anywhere else if you can avoid it.

Kilty_2

I think the nail is hit on the head when someone said "they've recently started offering tires".

My car had a crack in the rear light caused by a previous owner and had been through at least one MOT like that in his care - I had it MOTed last month and Arnold Clark put an advisory on it - "O/S Rear lens cracked" . It was a main dealer (Nissan) who no doubt had a couple of rear lights in the parts store.

Nilrem

Kilty wrote: »

I think the nail is hit on the head when someone said "they've recently started offering tires".

My car had a crack in the rear light caused by a previous owner and had been through at least one MOT like that in his care - I had it MOTed last month and Arnold Clark put an advisory on it - "O/S Rear lens cracked" . It was a main dealer (Nissan) who no doubt had a couple of rear lights in the parts store.

It was probably done as an advisory because a crack can get larger/worse (due to vibration/going over potholes etc), and start letting the white light from the actual bulb through, at which point you're committing an offence (white light visible at rear of vehicle, except when reversing), so they were advising you of a possible problem, which is also an automatic MOT failure if it does start allowing the unfiltered light through.
By giving you the warning they are possibly preventing you getting pulled if it does get worse but you aren't aware.

If they had wanted to sell you a new fitting/lense they would have done it as a failure;)

Different garages/MOT testers have their own opinions on when to issue an advisory as advisories are often based on a judgement call, rather than a more black and white issue which would result in a failure.

For example if an MOT garage spots that you're nearly at the point where you are going to need to change your tyres, and you're doing a reasonably high mileage (they do often check the mileage now), they might put it down as an advisory if in their opinion you're likely to need to change your tyres in the next few weeks/months, but it's not yet at the legal limit.
That is something I personally would be quite happy about, as they are reminding people (who often don't look at their cars properly) that there is something they should definitely be keeping an eye on.

That is pretty much the point of the advisories, to inform the car owner that there is something that will possibly need dealing with before the next MOT, but different testers will see things differently.