Excerpt from USA Today—Many car owners, already feeling pinched by inflation at the gas pump and supermarket — and deflation in their home values — are responding by driving on tires until the tread is practically bare, a worrisome trend.

"We're seeing more and more customers every day deferring their tire purchases," says William Bainbridge, director of brand communications for Hankook Tire America. " … Buying a tire isn't something people want to do."

Hankook dealers are seeing drivers come with treads that fail the traditional penny test, he says. (Place a penny with Lincoln upside-down in the tread. If the tread covers the top of his head, you have at least 1/16 of an inch of tread, the bare minimum safe tread depth.)
"If this trend continues, I think we could start seeing more accidents" caused by bald tires, Bainbridge says.

Barbara McMullen, of Ann Arbor, Mich., put off buying tires for her Ford Freestyle crossover, even though she was having traction-control problems last winter. She is turning in the car at the end of its lease in a few weeks and thought she could make it until the car was back at the dealer.

No such luck. Upon visiting the dealer, she was told she'll have to replace the tires before handing the vehicle in or pay for tires the dealer will install.

My take on this:

I certainly understand that everyone is concerned about how prices are rising for just about everything these days.  And it makes sense to get the maximum amount of mileage out of your tires.  But if the tread on your tires is no longer good enough to keep you safe, it’s dangerous to keep going. 

If you are concerned about how much useful tread is on your tires, bring your vehicle to any Gatto’s store and let us give you a free inspection. 

If you’re ok, we’ll let you know.  If you can get by with just replacing two tires, we will make that recommendation.  If that’s the case, you should know the conventional wisdom on this subject has recently changed. Here’s a report from Gatto’s John Tidwell:

“For years we were taught that new tires always go on the front. The Rubber Manufacturer’s Association recently released a product service bulletin advising that the new tires should be placed on the rear. In our ride and drive we had two identical vehicles on a wet track similar to an interstate on/off ramp.  One had newer tires on the front and the other had newer tires on the rear. The difference in controlling the vehicle is stunning. With new tires on the front at 50 miles per hour in a turn on wet pavement an average driver simply cannot keep from losing control and spinning off the pavement.”

Come on in and let us check your tires and check your brakes – it’s free!  We want you safe. 

Take care.

Pam