President Lincoln can absolutely tell you if your tire tread is worn and it’s important to check your tread regularly for uneven wear or bald tires. Uneven tire tread wear is caused by many things, including improper tire inflation and poor suspension. Bald tires are dangerous, even on good roads. If you think your tread wear might be too low, grab a penny and head to your car, truck, or SUV to perform the penny tire tread test. York Tire & Auto Service outlines the test steps below.
Find a Penny, Pick it Up…
Hopefully, you’ll have good luck with the penny tread test and your tires are fine for the time being. In any event, grab a penny on which you can see Abraham Lincoln’s head clearly. Don’t use an old, worn, or rusty penny. If you have little ones who love to help, this is one automobile do-it-yourself project in which you can enlist their services. With the kids and penny in tow, head out to your vehicle.
Get Plenty of Light
You’ll need to see your tires clearly while you do the test, so open your garage door and side door if you have one to draw in plenty of natural light. If your garage doesn’t offer good light, even with the garage lights on, pull your car, truck, or SUV into your driveway and use sunlight instead. You can also grab a flashlight and assign one little one with the task of shining it on the penny so you can read the results.
Test Your Tires
First, take a good look at all four tires to see if you notice any uneven wear. Uneven wear can be along the inside or outside of the tire, and it can also present itself in the form of patches or scallops of wear. If all looks well, hand the penny to your child and have him or her press it between the tread rows with Abe’s head facing upward. If you can see the top of the president’s head, your tire tread is worn down.
If your tire’s tread covers a portion of President Lincoln’s head, you still have enough tread left. Do this on all four tires in several places throughout the tread row just to make sure your tires aren’t wearing down unevenly. They shouldn’t be if you have them rotated every 6,000 miles and all is well with your suspension, wheel balance, and wheel alignment.
Need new tires? Call York Tire & Auto Service in Red Lion, PA.
