QuestionQUESTION: I purchased a new 2008 Honda Ridgeline equipped with Michelin M/S LTX
P245/66 R17's as OEM. The dealer offered (free) a "tires for liftime" guarantee
with the purchase as long as I properly rotated the tires during mu use. Since
I get the truck serviced by this same dealer and I follow the factory
Warranty/Service plan I currently qualify for free tire replacement under the
dealer's program.
Since the truck needed it's yearly inspection and the tires (by my
measurement) were down to 1/32" I requested that the tires be replaced. The
dealer's measurement showed some areas that exceeded 1/32 in depth and
they insist that ALL measurements of the tread depth have to fall below the
State mandated 1/32" before they will replace the tires. Is there a standard
(either by Michelin or a Federal agency) that more clearly delineates the
methodology of depth measurement that I can reference.
My real problem is that the tires as they currently are give me all the
traditional signs of needing replacement when running in the rain. For
safety's sake I am tempted to just go ahead and replace them just for my own
piece of mind rather than grit my teeth and continue to drive until they reach
the point that the dealership will agree to replace them.
Note that I do have access to a belt sander.
Hasty
ANSWER: Dear Hasty,
Thank you or using AllExperts!
Although all tires must have "wear bars" (2/32nd" height) built into the tread according to federal rules, each state has their own rule for what the minimum legal tread depth is. Some states don't have any requirements in their vehicle code! After some checking, I note that the usual standard for minimum tread depth removal is "two adjacent grooves," not all of them.
Let me know what state you are in and I'll check the vehicle code for you.
You are certainly correct that at the current tread depth, wet traction should be a concern. It's time to get these tire replaced for safety's sake.
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QUESTION: I should read these questions before I send them...I do know that the expression
is PEACE of mind rather than piece of mind. Regardless, I live in Virginia.
Hasty
AnswerDear Hasty,
Here is the statute, straight from the Commonwealth of Virginia Vehicle Code. It appears that you're owed some tires, as the minimum legal depth in "any two adjacent grooves" is 2/32nd inch.
Hope this helps!
DT
§ 46.2-1043. Tire tread depth.
A. No person shall operate a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer on any highway in the Commonwealth if it is equipped with one or more tires which:
1. When measured in any two adjacent major tread grooves where the tread is thinnest, at three equally spaced intervals around the circumference of the tire and exclusive of "tiebars" by a tread depth gauge calibrated in thirty-seconds of an inch, are found to have tread depth of less than two thirty-seconds of an inch at such locations; or
2. When equipped with tread wear indicators, are found to have such indicators in contact with pavement at any two adjacent grooves at three equally spaced intervals around the circumference of the tire.
