There are many different ideas as to when your tires are considered worn and need replacing.

I have been a certified tire sales person and installer for the past 10.5yrs, and have had to opportunity to be trained by the best in the industry. During each tire seminar I have attended, and there have been many, we have been trained by the top in the industry.. Michelin, BF Goodrich (owned by Michelin), and Bridgestone. Having been trained by them in the classroom, it is usually off to the road test, with once again the best of the best, The Skip Barber racing team.

Not knowing how to change my own tire before I started, I assure you, I can do it in my sleep now. I will share with you my information regarding tire wear, and replacement.

A brand new tire is comes with a certain amount of tread life which is measured in "32nds", a tire also contains a small piece of rubber that goes across each groove in the tire, that is called a "wear bar" the wear bar sits at 2/32nds of the tire. Once you reach this point, your tire is considered "legally worn".

Now there are various types of tire wear, here are a few, and examples to explain each.

1) Normal wear... This means that that the tire has worn evenly across the face of the tire ( across the tread)

2) Inside or outside wear... There is more wear on either the inside or the outside tread of the tire, this is usually do to a wheel alignment issue, the face of the tire is not sitting evenly flat with the road, causing undo and uneven tire wear.

3) The center of the tire is worn more than the shoulders.... This is caused by over inflation... I a tire is over inflated (more air than recommended) than the tire once again does not make an even flat contact with the road, it makes contact with the most inflated part, which would be the center.

4) Under inflated tires... Both outside shoulders are worn more than the center.... This is caused by under inflated tires, meaning less air than specified by the manufacturer. The tire is not making a flat even contact with the road surface, more pressure is put on the tire area closest to the rim.

5) Heat ring.... This is a ring on the side of your tire, if you have one, you will know what it looks like, this is caused by driving a tire while it is flat, because of the lack of air in the tire, more friction is caused between the rim and the road, thus heating up the tire, and causing a ring... If you see this on your tire, change the tire

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