Buying Used Tires For Your Car? Know What To Look For
Do you need new tires for your vehicle but want to save a bit of money by purchasing used tires? If so, you'll definitely want to know what to look for to indicate that you are getting a good used tire.
The Tread
Start by looking at the tread across the entire tire, not just in a single place. You want to make sure that the tread depth is the same across the entire surface of the tire because uneven tread wear can be a sign that the previous driver had a problem with their vehicle that caused the tires to wear down prematurely. For example, a vehicle with wheels out of alignment can cause an uneven tread depth on the tire.
In addition, you should be looking for a good amount of tread on the used tires. While a used tire is not going to be like a brand-new tire, it should still have a decent amount of tread on it.
The Condition
There are some problems that you can quickly identify when looking at a used tire that indicate if it is in a good condition or not. If you see any type of bulging in the sidewall of the tire, this is an indication that the tire is not in good condition and it should be avoided. There should also not be any cracks in the sidewall, since this is one part of a used tire that cannot be repaired.
The Age
The age of a tire is not going to be incredibly obvious at first glance, because there is a part of the tire where the age is listed in an unfamiliar format. Look for a series of four numbers printed on the sidewall, with the first two numbers being under 52 and the last two numbers being 22 or less. The first two numbers indicate the week of the year that the tire was made, and the last two numbers indicate the year the tire was made. For example, seeing the number 5020 means that the tire was made in 2020 and produced near the end of December, which has the 50th week of the year. It's an odd format, but it can give you a very exact manufacturing date.
The Size
It's always best to replace your tires with the exact same size that the manufacturer of the vehicle recommends. The key number to look at is going to be the wheel size, which is the last number in the tire size. This is because the tire needs to fit the size of your vehicle's wheels if you want to use the same wheels. After that, you do have a little bit of wiggle room with the tire's width and aspect ratio, with all four tires being the same size.
If you need more information, talk to a used tire dealer.
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