Jay Gratton

How do I know when they are worn out? My wife is going onto her 3rd season on her snow tires and I keep waiting for them to wear out. I was always taught that once they get 25%-50% down they are trash even with lots of tread left. They lose that "soft" part of the tire. Is there a depth that I should be measuring to see if they are still good? Thanks!

beentherebaby

Different tires have different designs. Some use dual compounds that do lose effectiveness with wear. You'd need to check with the tire maker on the specific model. Most Winter tires also become significantly less effective as the rubber ages and hardens and with less tread depth. If you want the best Winter traction then new tires probably every 2-3 years will provide fresh rubber, the current tread design and full tread depth. That's not to say however that you need to replace Winter tires before they are significantly (50+%) worn as they are still more effective than most NO-season tires in snow or on ice.