How do you check the tread depth on my wheel, I know you can do it with a penny or something but I'm not sure what I'm lookin for, can you guys help me out?

 

buy a tyre depth gauge lol but if u not got one then there are markers on the tyre that indicate when the depth is on 1.6mm

 

 

This is a tread depth gauge, simply place it on your tyre between grooves and take the reading. Simples!!

 

The legal jargon states there must be a minimum of 1.6mm tread depth accross 3/4 of the tread width.

Realistically though they need changing before this as wet weather performace reduces as the depth decreaces and when you get down to about 3mm very often manufacturers use a harder compound which is less grippy.

Another thing to note is the tyres age, denoted by the dot number - for instance 4212 is manufactured in week 42 of year 2012 - as rubber degrades over time and also cracks in the tyre tread and side walls. If its beginning to crack (regardless of age) it shows the rubber is passed its best and they WILL be shit compared to how they should perform.

 

tread depth is the depth of the grooves in the tyre. This is normally measured on the deeper grooves, as some patters of tread have more than 1 depth of groove. A tyre tread gauge is the best thing to read it with but you can make do with a good steal rule!

 

Ok, mot handbook says tread depth has to be over 1.6mm of tread on the central 3/4.

If the section marked "445" in the picture is worn below 1.6mm is this a pass or a fail? Assuming the measurement is taken from the central 3/4 of tread?

The tyre is a goodyear nct5, alot of good years are similar were the grooves on the outer & inner sections have grooves not as deep as the centre. i.e. the centre of tread will be 2.5mm (pass) but the blocks on the edge is 1.5mm.

I have heard some testers say 1.6mm ONLY applies to the deepest part of the tread (i.e. centre) but it's a bit unclear in the manual.

Any views?