Bald tyres on a car

owen_money

I've just been quoted £45.99 for a tyre, fully fitted, is that good value?

arcon5

owen_money wrote: »

I've just been quoted £45.99 for a tyre, fully fitted, is that good value?

How are we supposed to know

forgotmyname

owen_money wrote: »

I've just been quoted £45.99 for a tyre, fully fitted, is that good value?

It is if its a supercar with 200mph+ rated tyres. Not so good if its a KA or similar.

Joe_Horner

Thought my tyres were looking a little low on tread so measured them today and they're all just above 3mm remaining. Happy days!

Mind, will need to keep an eye on them over the next few months!

EdGasket

Bald tyres have better grip in the dry. However insurance company reps come out and measure tread depth even if an accident was in the dry and even if the tyres had nothing to do with the accident, as an excuse for not paying up on a claim.

e.g. wife drove in the back of car in front at low speed (she was looking out the side window rolleyes) and just moving off from a standstill. next thing you know insurer is round measuring our tyres! Absolutely nothing to do with what happened!

Jackmydad

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Thought my tyres were looking a little low on tread so measured them today and they're all just above 3mm remaining. Happy days!

Mind, will need to keep an eye on them over the next few months!

I try to change mine around 2.5mm. Under that I find that they start to get "skittish" in the wet.
Also you're checking every 5 minutes to make sure you don't go illegal.

straggler

EdGasket wrote: »

Bald tyres have better grip in the dry. However insurance company reps come out and measure tread depth even if an accident was in the dry and even if the tyres had nothing to do with the accident, as an excuse for not paying up on a claim.

e.g. wife drove in the back of car in front at low speed (she was looking out the side window rolleyes) and just moving off from a standstill. next thing you know insurer is round measuring our tyres! Absolutely nothing to do with what happened!

It's very simplistic to say "bald tyres have better grip in the dry". Tyres designed to be used in the dry only (racing slicks) will have more grip but road tyres are designed to have tread. Once the tread has worn to nothing the tyre can easily fail as the structural integrity of the tyre is seriously weakened.

Joe_Horner

straggler wrote: »

It's very simplistic to say "bald tyres have better grip in the dry". Tyres designed to be used in the dry only (racing slicks) will have more grip but road tyres are designed to have tread. Once the tread has worn to nothing the tyre can easily fail as the structural integrity of the tyre is seriously weakened.

The tread adds exactly nothing to the structure of a tyre. If you use them until the cords are exposed then they'll be weakened but up until that point it's all good sacrificial rubber.

straggler

Joe_Horner wrote: »

The tread adds exactly nothing to the structure of a tyre. If you use them until the cords are exposed then they'll be weakened but up until that point it's all good sacrificial rubber.

So no overheating problems leading to blowout? No blowout risks due to lack of tread depth making punctures far more likely? Think again.

The strength of a road tyre is very much linked to tread depth as the tyres are designed to be used until the tread is almost gone, but no more.

Joe_Horner

straggler wrote: »

So no overheating problems leading to blowout? No blowout risks due to lack of tread depth making punctures far more likely? Think again.

The strength of a road tyre is very much linked to tread depth as the tyres are designed to be used until the tread is almost gone, but no more.

No, overheating is far more related to pressures than tread depth - the knobbly bits are there for grip, not cooling fins (I know they look a bit like a heatsink but....). In fact because tread blocks flex more than a "solid" surface they create extra heat which offsets any additional cooling at the surface.

The difference in puncture risk is also pretty marginal - you're only talking about 5mm difference in the length of object needed to puncture a half-worn tyre v a fully bald one - and punctures very rarely cause a "blow out" unless you ignore them and end up running the pressures too low (see point 1).

There's also a counter argument that something long enough to puncture with low tread but not long enough to puncture with deeper tread can easily sit in the deeper tread unnoticed, quietly chewing away at the tread cords and weakening the carcass.