In vehicles specifically on tyres, a tread can be defined as a part of a wheel or tyre which makes contact with the road or rail when in motion or at static place. Also we can say it’s the patterns of ridges or call it grooves in the face of a tire. The main purpose of treads is to increase the amount of friction when the vehicle is moving. This enables your vehicle or motorbike to be stable and reduces sliding over.
Treads are made in different measurements starting from 1 mm and they can go up to 8 mm. At times the tread will start getting low and can go to 1.6 mm which is the legal limit that a tread can reach. Many people want to know the distance that 1 mm of tread can go before they change their tyres, although this seems almost impossible to measure the distance but by all means a solution must be looked for.
How many miles will 1mm of tread last?
As this question keeps hitting a lot of people’s heads, studies are being done to prove the fact that 1.4mm of tread which is between 1.6mm and 3 mm account for almost 20% of the distance that a tread can cover.
Therefore research done proved that there is no actual distance that can be covered due to some effects that we will see later in this article, but several individuals came out with several suggestions as stated in the below discussion:
Tyre wear isn’t constant, it only depends on the number of miles that you have covered, but from this individual’s experience he discovered that while driving at higher speed with fully loaded caused wear much faster hence wearing 1mm tread at a distance 5000 miles.
DerekW gives his experience on what he observed as his car 1mm tread worn out where he says for the front pair he took 14000 miles and for the reap pair they took 28000miles to wear.
While on a driver’s training day, Robertson.a did a series of stopping tests ranging from a distant of 40-90 km range to check the tread wear and in the process, He realized a very interesting data where with tyre pressure difference and after a distance of 19000 miles then a 1 mm tread was done.
Having gone for 16500 miles on the front tyres and 33000 miles on the rear tyres Aljshep after going through five estates driving only on motorways and rural types of roads then he realized each 1mm marked tread on each tyre had worn out.
Running at a 39 psi for a distance of 13000miles with a tyres that goes for £72 Collywobble discovered that 1mm of thread had worn off, therefore according to his findings, he concludes that per 13000miles a single thread is worn.
Statler while on his research he realized that from his £150 premium tyre he covered 5000 miles of distance and saw a difference on his tyres with a difference of 1 tread from its initial depth of the tread.
i. The way you drive your car
Varying speed affects the rate at which your car tyres will wear out, Negotiating sharp corners with a very high speed, over speeding while bypassing the pumps and ignoring potholes will almost cause serious damage to your vehicle, hence reducing the durability of your tread tyres. To avoid these you better drive safely and at a steady speed.
ii. The way you will take care for your tyres
Regular checking of your car tyres will definitely increase the period that your car tyres will last, therefore you should check them on a regular basis and be rotated at a certain interval as well as parking them away from the sunlight exposure.
iii. Driving Tendency
When driving and you keep stopping from point to point for example you are in a city where there is congestion, then your vehicle tyres will wear out as fast as you had not expected. This happens because as you stop your car the tyres will not be in motion but instead pulling themselves on the tarmac hence wear.
iv. Mechanical faults in the car
Damaged shock absorbers and suspensions can lead to un-uniformly wearing of your car tyres and if this problem is not solved earlier then it may require you to change more than one tyre for your vehicle.
v. History of your tyres
When you buy a second hand car or vehicle you will not be able to tell the amount of stress and pressure that your car might have gone through. Therefore you are advised to change all the tyres of your car when you purchase a used car.
vi. Quality of tyres
Different manufacturers make different tyres with different depth of treads. Normally new tyres start with a depth of 8mm. Though, many manufactures will tell you that premium tyres last longer than the budgeted optioned tyres.
You might be read also: Changing A Tire On An Incline
Ways to make a tread last longer
Given you would not need to go into your deep pocket each month, then you should have to consider the following possible measures:
- Checking your tyres regularly each week is one of the best deals in maintaining the treads of your car tyres.
- Avoiding parking your vehicle regularly in direct sunlight, though almost impossible but you should try as much as you can to build a shade for your car.
- Rotating your car tyres regular is another better way to improve the durability of your car tyres.
- Ensure regular tracking and checking of tyres is done as you should align them and ensure proper service is done for both shock absorbers and the braking system.
Conclusion
Having discussed the above possible measures to consider in-order to avoid wear, you should consider taking them into account in order to maintain the efficiency of your vehicle from time to time as it passes on any road.
Though impossible to determine the far you can travel for a tread to wear, but from the observations that we have seen as observed from the case study of several individuals, then we can conclude that the average distance one can travel is 13000 miles hence we can sum it up by saying it’s a 1mm depth of a tread to wear.