Well I have kind of a dumb question but here it goes anyway. How do I know if I need new tires?? I was looking at my front and rear tires today, and I saw like little raised square looking things in the center tread. Both front and back. What are they there for??

x

Its an 04 and I have like 5100 miles. So im thinking around 2 or 3 years old???

x

Ok kool. They still look like they have good trad but I thought those little bard meant my tires were gone alredy. But I guess I can get some more miles of the,m.

Is it a tread wear indicator bar your talking about?

If so once its flush ith the tires surface you have reached the minimum tread depth ie. time for new rubber

The tread wear indicators are normally marked with small outward pointing arrows on the tire flanks. Usually there are four of them around the circumference IIRC.

To know how old a tire is, have a look at the sidewall.  You'll find a date code cast there such as with this example:



It may be a part of a longer code but whatever, the last four numbers give the week and the year that the tire was made. This tire was made in the 39th week (late-September) of 2002.

As for when to replace, it's as much personal preference as it is functional.

Personally, I'd buy new rubber if either tire had less than 2 mm of tread at the thinest grove (clearly see the top of Lincoln's head with the penny in the grove), if the rear was visably squared off and I could feel it when I tip in to a turn, if I saw a large number cracks in the tread, or if the tread was hard or wasn't gripping well.

If they are any of the following, you need new ones:

1.  No longer round, squared off in the center.  Lots of freeway miles, burnouts, or improper inflation can cause this.
2.  Cracked.  When rubber gets old, it begins to crack.
3.  Wavy.  If the tires have been run under-inflated, they can wear unevenly and become wavy.
4.  Shallow tread.  Simply from being used for a lot of miles...  If the inside is much more shallow than the outside, they should be replaced.