Guide
How to check tire tread and wear
Inspect tire tread depth, uneven wear, damage, and age indicators regularly because traction and braking depend on more than air pressure alone.
At a glance
- Safety check
- Inspect tread depth and visible damage regularly
- Uneven wear
- Can indicate inflation, alignment, or mechanical issues
Overview
Tires are the vehicle's contact with the road, so tread condition affects wet traction, braking, and handling. Visible wear patterns can also point to alignment, inflation, suspension, or rotation issues. A tread check should include all four tires and more than one location across each tread.
Inspect across the whole tread
Look for shallow grooves, exposed wear bars, cuts, bulges, embedded objects, and different wear between the center and shoulders. Compare multiple spots because one portion of a tire can wear faster than another.
Treat abnormal wear as information
Persistent one-sided, center, shoulder, cupped, or patchy wear can indicate a condition beyond the tire itself. Correcting the underlying pressure, alignment, suspension, or balance issue can help prevent a replacement tire from developing the same pattern.
Sources and review
MOOR's explanatory text is supported by the following source links.
- Tires — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Tire Safety — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration