A penny and a few minutes can save your life. This sounds dramatic but it isn’t. Bald tires can cause an accident when you least expect it. We get a lot of rain in Hawaii, and the combination of tire tread and wet roads is a hydroplaning one. Tires with plenty of tread will funnel the water through the tread so the tires stay on the road. Bald tires cannot funnel moisture, and the tires lose their grip and slip. How can you check your tire tread? Kauai Auto Repair, LLC, says grab a penny and head out to your garage.
Pretty Penny
Don’t grab a rusty old penny that does not show President Abraham Lincoln clearly; you won’t be able to do the tire test if you cannot see all of his head. Rather, find the shiniest penny you have for the tread test. Using a pretty penny here will help you to avoid paying a pretty penny later, as you will determine the depth of your tire tread and can then take action if necessary before you lose a tire to a blowout, flat or get into an accident because you lost control of your vehicle on a slick road.
Heads or Tails
For the Abraham Lincoln penny tire test, you’re going to use the head side of the penny. Keep that side of the penny facing you and turn it so the top of President Lincoln’s head faces the tread on the tire you are testing. Slip the penny in between the tire tread in several locations throughout the tire and take note of how much of Abraham Lincoln’s head you can see at each point. This not only measures how much tread you have left but also reveals if your tires are wearing down unevenly.
If at any spot on the tire you could see President Lincoln’s entire head, all or a portion of your tires are bald. The more tread you have on your tires, the less of President Lincoln’s head you’ll see. You want the tire tread to cover the head completely, but even if it just covers his hair, the test results are good. This said, budget for a new set of tires soon if the tread failed to cover most of Abe’s head.
Kauai Auto Repair, LLC, in Lihue, HI, is a full-tire service shop among other automotive maintenance and repairs. We’ll inspect your tires for you if you’ll call us today to set up an appointment.
