Wear bars are little bumps inside the tire's tread that show when the tire is too worn and needs to be changed. When the tread gets as low as these bars, the tire isn't safe to use anymore.
Tire age means how old a tire is. Tires get old and can become unsafe even if they still have some tread left. Experts say you should change tires after about seven years.
The DOT number is a special code on tires that tells you when the tire was made. This is important because old tires can get unsafe, even if they look okay.
Tires are the round rubber parts on your car's wheels that touch the road. They wear out and get old, so it's important to replace them every 10 years or so to keep your car safe.
Michelin is a company that makes tires for cars and trucks. They are famous for making good tires and for their ads about how important tires are for safety.
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Hi, it's Mark. I'm here with Bernie Pawlik, Pawlik Automotive and Vancouver's Best Auto
Service Experience. We're talking cars. How are you doing, Bernie?
Doing very well. So, today's guest is a new one. We're going
to talk about tires and tires on your vehicle. How important they are? How do you know they're
worn out? When is it time to get new tires? Now, in this case, it's about an Acura, but
that's almost immaterial. It's any car, how to check and make sure your tires are okay.
So, let's jump to some pictures. Yeah, like you said, every car, one thing they have,
whether it's diesel, gas, or an electric, all cars have tires and they all wear out,
and it's very important to have good tire treads. So, what are we looking at here?
So, we're looking at a brand new tire that we installed on this Acura. You can see the treads
are deep. There's a lot of little subtle pieces of cuts in the rubber for gripping on the road,
and just generally, the tread is deep. This is a measuring tool we have, and we do a maintenance
service. We measure tires. So, this tire measures, I'm just trying to read it on here, but it's
9.7 millimeters. 9.7. So, you know, almost 10 millimeters of tread depth. And the other thing,
too, is that's consistent across the whole tread from one side to the other. And as tires wear,
they'll often wear more on one edge than the other and cause more issues. So,
these are brand new tires. They've just been installed. These are the old tires.
You can see quite a profound difference. What's missing are all those little subtle pieces of
rubber. And at the top of the picture, we're looking at the edge of the tread on one side.
And you can see there's very little grooving. Things are worn very badly. So, you're basically
running on a big, fat, flat piece of rubber. Moisture, rain on the road, snow, which is even
worse. It's not going to be absorbed or dissipated like it would on a new tire.
What are these? Those are wear bars. So, every tire has them. I don't know if we can actually
see them on the new tire picture because they're deep down in the tread. But those are about two
millimeters, one and a half to two millimeters above the very worn area. So, once the tire is
actually that bar shows, that tire is worn out. Now, these are actually not quite at the edge of the
at the top of the tire. They're actually not entirely worn out. But if you look at the edge
of the tread, that's worn far too much. So, you really don't want to wait till the wear bars show
because the tires are already long gone by then. And there's a measurement. So, 2.59 millimeters
is what we're getting there. But technically, two millimeters, I think, is legally worn out.
But you're really pushing it to the edge at that point. So, when you mentioned legally,
if the police stop you and check your tire or see that wear bars are showing,
they're going to tell you, you got to get your tires changed.
Yeah, you can get a fine for that. I'm sure it varies depending on where you are,
but you can get a fine for that. But really, when you're driving a car, it's always good
to save money. But when it comes to tires, it just makes such a profound difference to,
even if tires have about 30% tread remaining, that's actually a good time to replace them.
Because at that point, you're not getting much. It's not dispersing moisture, water,
doesn't handle and grip as well as you would. So, what's the downside of your tires are worn
like this? Where are you going to get into trouble? You're going to be able to drive down the road.
I'm just drive back and forth to work. It's no big deal in town. I'm just in the city.
I'm not going to have any issues. Or is that true? No, not true at all. Stopping distance,
the tires won't grip as well. So, if you go into an emergency stop situation and most cars have
anti-lock brakes, you know, they're basically computer controls. If the tire starts skidding,
you'll start losing braking ability. But on the old days, we didn't have anti-lock brakes.
You'd just skid and you'd slide. So, you're losing braking distance. You're losing
the cornering control. We live in Vancouver. It rains a lot here. So, having good tires is even
more important than if you're driving in the Arizona desert. But the car will feel better
to drive with new tires and old tires. They're quieter. They grip the road better. The handling
is better. The car is more responsive. And so, anything outside of the perfect norm of conditions,
so rain, snow, ice, mud, without good new tires, you're in trouble. You are, yeah. And on ice,
you can be pretty much screwed anyway, so to speak, because even the best of tires don't work on
solid ice, but every bit helps. You know, the one thing we haven't talked about here is age of
tires, because we get cars where people don't drive them very much. And so, the tires might have
seven or eight millimeters of tread on them, but the tires are old and so the rubber's deteriorated.
So, it's important when you look at tires to look at the age. There's a DOT number on the tires.
We don't have a picture of that here. We could talk about it another time. But there's actually
a production date on the tire. It's a week of the year and the year of the tire. It might say 20
nine or something, which is actually a very old tire at this point. 20th week of
2009 is when the tire was made. Anyways, seven years is recommended as a time to change tires.
So, older than 10 years, you should replace it, because the rubber's deteriorated.
And we used to say in Michelin ad, so much is riding on your tires. It's an interesting little
catch phrase, but it's actually very true. It's one of the most important pieces on a car to have
in good shape. So, why would I come to Pollock? What's the difference? Why would I come to Pollock
instead of a tire store? We're a full service shop. So, we look at everything. Not only are we
going to service your tires, we're a one-stop shop for all your maintenance. You could go to a tire
store, buy some tires. You might save a couple of dollars, maybe not. We have some pretty reasonably
priced tires and good ones. We look for various brands, whatever suits you and whatever you like,
give you some price options and let's say that's it. So, in this case, this Acura 2019 Acura,
not that old a vehicle, what was the reason they were in the shop?
Came in for a maintenance service. It was either an A or B service. I can't remember.
It's just a regular client of ours. At this point, we looked over the vehicle. It's got about
77,000 kilometers, I believe. So, these would be the first tires to replace. Those were the
original tires on the car. It's time to change the tires. So, we look at everything in general and
recommend when it's needed. Ultimately, peace of mind of maintaining your entire car,
not just your tires, is why you would come to Pawlik Automotive.
Yeah, exactly. You're saying what the advantage is. We're a full-service shop. So,
whatever you need, we're a one-stop shop for everything.
If you're looking for service or new tires for your vehicle in Vancouver, BC, Canada,
the guys to see are at Pawlik Automotive, you can book your appointment online at pawlikautomotive.com
or you can call them at 604-327-7112. They'll answer the phone. They'll get back to you.
Talk about what's going on with your vehicle and get ready for your appointment,
Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver. Thanks so much for watching and listening. Thanks, Bernie.
Thank you, Mark. Thanks for watching. We really appreciate it.
About this episode
Mark and Bernie discuss how to determine when tires are worn out, using a 2019 Acura as an example. They explain tread depth measurements, wear bars, and the importance of replacing tires before they reach legal limits for safety reasons. The conversation highlights how worn tires affect braking, handling, and performance, especially in wet or icy conditions. They also touch on tire age and the importance of checking the DOT production date. Bernie emphasizes the benefits of using a full-service shop like Pawlik Automotive for comprehensive vehicle maintenance and tire care.
