Tire terminology can be intimidating. Drivers with worn tires have to worry themselves with blow outs due to deep potholes, wheel alignment, drift, handling, and tire air pressure (referred to as PSI), among other things. The tire is one of the most important features of your vehicle because it’s the one part on the vehicle that’s always on the pavement. Your tires can pick up nails and screws, causing a slow leak. Over or under inflated tires can cause a tire to blow out when driving without warning or when hitting a pothole. It’s important to recognize the signs of routine tire wear and tear before damage to the rest of the vehicle occurs.

Signs of tire damage

The following are signs of tire damage:

•  experience atypical noises (like a card pinned to the bicycle spoke when riding the bike)
•  jerks in the steering wheel while on the road
•  those behind the wheel may also notice their vehicles unnaturally drifting to one side
•  bulge in tire
•  tire tread (the rubber part of the tire that touches the road) is smooth instead of having grooves
•  vibrations
•  slow leak so the tire has to be filled every few days

Once you detect something might be wrong with your tires, you can take a quick peek at the tires to determine the issue. Or you can see your trusted mechanic or tire technician for insight as to what is wrong. This analysis is usually free of charge.

Checking tire tread

An easy and common tip to evaluate tire tread on your own costs one penny. Very simply, the driver uses a penny to determine how close they are to requiring new tires.

With the penny in hand, drivers should place Abraham Lincoln head first into the grooves in the tire’s tread. Ideally, those grooves should be high enough that only half of Lincoln’s head is visible – any more, the tread is worn down. New tires are necessary when all of the 16th president’s head is visible without being concealed by any of the tread.

Consider this the best time of year for drivers to administer the penny test to their car’s four tires, prior to the busy summer travel season.