I have usually run tires down to around 3/32" before replacing them. I believe that the wear bars that indicate "worn out, time to replace", are at 2/32".

Yesterday when I was driving home from Colorado, a man gratuitously inserted himself into that discussion while I was getting gas in North Platte, Nebraska. He just walked over to my old Lincoln Aviator, bent down to look at the tires, and told me that I was running them dangerously bald. I thanked him, all the while wondering what the heck his deal was, and told him that while I appreciated his input, I was planning to replace the tires within the next 60 days and figured I'd just run them the last 2,500 to 3,500 miles before they went off to old tire heaven. He seemed quite concerned, unnaturally so it seemed to me, claiming that just by driving on them, I was creating an unnecessary danger to myself, my passengers, and anyone who I might pass on the road. Again, I thanked him, and drove back to I-80 and headed East for the last half of my trip. That was the first/only time I've had someone approach me like that who didn't want either a ride, a handout, or to try and sell me something. Weird.

I replace at 1/8". Figure I want my wife safe in her Toyota and on my bit truck,I am running heaving loads. Last thing I want is tire failure. 1/32 tire tread isn't going to break the bank

Just replaced the tires on my beater, saw the cords on a steer tire. Not ideal. Alignment issue. Usually let them wear down if summer, 1/8 is pretty thin for winter.

Replace them when they start to ride hard, which is usually before they would fail inspection. Spend to much time in a vehicle to make it anymore miserable than it already is.

Always amazes me how nice new tires ride. Handling, thats a little different.

Generally, they are good until worn down to the wear bars. Every tire is different as to it's specified minimum tread depth.

Legally the minimum is 2/32nds. As mentioned though, it depends on the tire. A tire that starts with 18/32nds worn to 2/32nds probably isn't in quite the same shape as a tire that started with 8/32nds and worn to 2/32nds. I ran my last set down to 3/32nds and didn't think they were all that bad. The tires on my wife's car were [bleep] at about 4/32nds

Feds say a commercial vehicle has to have a continuous depth of 4/32 all the way around on a steer and 2/32 on a drive.

Below that - unsafe and cited.

Use a penny to test.

Thanks for all of the advise/input!

I sucked it up and bought a new set of Michelins for about $200 per tire installed and road hazarded. I figure that I have three vehicles that use the same wheels and tire size, so I can move them around if I need to.

2004 Ford Explorer Sport-Trac, my hunting rig, with 140K miles.
2005 Lincoln Aviator, my daily driver, with 160K miles, where the Michelans are.
2005 Mercury Mountaineer, my leave it in Colorado car with 190K.

Haven't run a set of tires down to the wear bars in many years and that was an old beater work truck that seldom went above 55, nor got very far from home.

Hear guys brag about how far they stretched a set of tires, not my cup of tea, never was. Any tires getting kinda thin on tread depth, are gone well before winter gets here.

Side wall or tread groove cracking and they're usually gone.

The tires I put on her truck about six years ago, have plenty of tread left (44K on a 2006 Chevy), but noticed the other day that there are some minor cracks starting in the grooves. Told her she'll soon need new tires, not what she wanted to hear.

She'd drive it until they were all bald, or blew out? Wasn't happy when she had to put this set on at 25K (came with Generals when new). The Generals were all but gone at that mileage.

I'm not a General Tire fan. I bought a set of the STX style that were advertised as being 60K tires and they were worn down to the point of replacement at 2 years and 38,696 miles. They wore down evenly, but they they wore down much more quickly than I would have expected.

When I lived in New Hampshire, 1986-1990, a popular tire for pickups, SUVs, and police cruisers was the Goodyear F32 winter tire. Since summers in New Hampshire aren't particularly warm and the roads are paved with asphalt, not concrete, they worked well year 'round. When I moved to Nebraska, the F32s didn't stand up very well to the abrasive concrete roads and the hot summer weather. They wore so quickly that if you squinted, you could almost see tracks left on the road.

I replaced the F32s with a set of Goodyear Vectors, another poor wearing Goodyear tire, and subsequently with a diamond patterned Kelly-Springfield, can't recall the style, that looked like a more aggressive Vector and which didn't wear any better than the Vectors did.

My pickup tires are down to about 1/4. They're safe but traction is lacking. They never have been good for traction even when new. The dealer put them on before I bought it so I didn't have any say in it. Hopefully they'll get me through the winter.

Never had any good experiences with a General tire. What I've had, was with original equipment tires that came on a vehicle.

My GM 4x4 pickups have come with four different tires since '02. BFG T/A KOs on the first one. Had one blow at speed in '06, maybe 44K on it (plenty of tread)?

Crossed them off the list. Know lots of guys like them, never figured out why, because the offroad traction was only fair?

2006 truck came with Bridgestone H/Ts, a highway tire. Actually got good wear and traction from them. Much better traction than I expected.

Next truck came with Bridgestone A/Ts. Lousy wear, noisy and no better traction than the H/Ts. Replaced them with Cooper AT/3s after two years, which I really liked.

Current 2014 truck came with (%$#&!!!) Goodyears, gone now for a set of Hankook ATMs on the recommendations of several that have them. So far, so good.

If you can't see belts hangin out they're still good. Seriously I've run them till you could see the belts many times and haven't had any problems.

yet

I have Hankook AT10s on my Pilot...

before I took my cross country tour, I figured I would take a pair of replacement tires ( for the front) with me and change them once I got to the East Coast.. get another 3,000 miles out of them... they had a 40,000 mile warranty and they had 40,000 on them at the time....

The trip turned out longer than originally planned....I ended up putting 17,000 miles on the Pilot running up and down the east coast, and cross country, and then from Texas to Minnesota before heading home finally....

I've put another 1000 on the Pilot since I've been home...

Those tires I thought that I'd replace when I got to the east coast... well they are still on the front end of the Pilot, with 3/32s on them...

Weather will be an issue within the next 30 days, so I'll just keep them on there until I put the winter Wet Tires on the vehicle.

These Hankooks sure have worn real well... actually saw them on Miles Patton's Toyota down in Arizona two years ago...he had good luck with his, so I bought a set for the Pilot...

The tread on a tire does nothing but add traction-wick away water the only strength in a tire is in the carcases

Hankooks, yep wearing very well on my Toytaco, love 'em! And they will be making them in the USA next year. Win win there.


Big O tires, tread wear becomes dangerous as soon as you drive them out of the showroom.
Friends don't let friends buy Big O.

Not a big fan of Hankooks. Had to replace two sets of them well before they were worn out in my wife's car due to bulged side walls from hitting pot holes. Didn't have the same problem with Michelins or Bridgestones.

I really liked the Bridgestone Revo-2's I put on my old Sequoia.

Gonna have to replace the tires on my wife's 4Runner. It's got Bridgestone Dueler HT with 20" wheels on it. Any other tires work best for mostly pavement?

I originally liked the Hankooks I had on my Dodge 2500 before the current Goodyears. The Hankooks seemed to wear fine until about 10,000 or so. Then the sidewalls started to go, handling vanished, and off road traction was nil. My current Goodyears have more than 40,000 on them with at least another 10,000 to go. I'll swap them outdoor the more aggressive Goodyears I always put on before my later elk seasons and run until about mid-April.

I second the Big O opinion. Worst tires I've ever had on a vehicle.

Lots of my guide/outfitter buds use and love a wide variety of tires. Everybody has their favorites.

If you're getting close to needing new tires, consider going to a narrower one. The stock size on my pickup is 265x70x17. I'm running 245x75x17. They have the same diameter and load capacity but are a bit narrower in the tread.

Narrower tires handle better in rocks and on rough roads, they have better traction in snow, and they give you more room under the front fenders for chains.

Yep. Narrow tires have a skinner contact patch which equates to more vehicle pounds per inch. Stated another way, the tires have more ability to dig in for traction.

4/32 and I'm normally done with them.

Before...........

Driving an 81 shortbed Chevy 4x2 and running on a freeway about 45mph, light rain, down under an overpass and hit some choppy asphalt, rear swings wide left, over-correct and swing wide right, lock up all four just before hitting the left guardrail head on, smile and think "I am still alive" seconds before getting t-boned by a 80's LTD going about 35 mph. Girlfriend's aunt knocked the passenger glass out of the door.

or..........

Running about 60 down a state highway in a 78 Toyota 4x2, heavy rain, hit a bump and back end swings wide left, over-correct, wide right, two more times and go into the bar ditch, back end clips a phone pole and come to rest in 4' of water, girlfriend pissed.

Both incidents over 20 years ago, 5-10 mph slower may have prevented the loss of traction but I replace tires sooner rather than later now.

Minneapolis used to ticket each tire $25 if it was under a certain amount of remaining tread. It might be more now.

I've run them until you could see 3 different colors of rubber and run a set of old TSL Thornbergs until they started throwing the lugs off going down the road.