Up to you . Finances, time , tyre availability etc . Plus the AGE of tyre? If your driving sensible ? Just off the wear patches gives plenty of water passage to prevent aquaplaining . Besides who drives fast in heavy rain ? Tyres are not necessary expensive these days . Make sure they are correct ply and weight certified..

I run pirelli scorpions. The last set were up to 75,000 klm & still weren't down to the wear indicators. They had started to become slippery on wet roads. I changed them for this reason. I believe tyres work harden. My therory anyway. Cheers Pete

Hi
Tyres become like skate boards when compared to new once worn down to the indicaters.

If the tires were down to the indicators, I would fit new ones, trouble is the tires worn down until about 2mm above the indicators, and seem to not be wearing at all, wish they would and I could fit new ones. I had a fright once with over steer in traffic, not nice, but the car was a 4cly magna, I suspect light at the front end, as it was designed for a six.
As for the availability of tyres, The BT50 earlier ones have a size that's not all that common, they have changed now, but my tires size is normally not on the shelf.

If you are concerned about an accident if you go to the wear indicators, then change them prior to that. Your are the only one who can make that decision, and it cannot be based on others experience, only on yours.

Our Toyo Open Country HT on the Cruiser are 4.5 years old, and done approximately 70000kms each tyre (I have 6 in a rotation). They are probably at 80% wear to the markers, no splits and ride and safety appear to be fine. Not what they were, but I do not feel any obvious sliding or lack of braking in the wet. If I do I will change them immediately.

I expect to get another SAFE 10000kms out of them, at which time I will change prior to reaching wear indicators.

Ian, only you know how the tyres are performing, and what level of tread you are happy with, and quite frankly, I wouldn't be influenced by the opinions of others in a matter of safety.

PS, Dry roads become very wet roads at the most inconvenient times!

What is the tyre size ? As you are changing tyres anyway maybe you can change to something more readily available without having to change wheels of course.

I changed mine on the tug just before we left for this trip towing a heavy van - probably would have got another 5000 k's out of them but rather do it at home where I can easily get the tyres I want at a price I am happy with. But I'd also probably park up in a rain storm if conditions were that bad.
Van tyres are 4 yrs old this year so this will be their last trip before being re-shod prior to taking off next year despite having plenty of tread left.

-- Edited by villatranquilla on Tuesday 17th of July 2018 12:04:31 PM

Tyre dealers will tell you that if you're going away, the tyres are getting down & you're going to do highway speeds, a blowout will cost you more than a set of tyres. There is less rubber to dissipate the heat and of course if something does go wrong, often there is no safe place on the road to fix it!

I generally have left my tyres unchanged while doing lots of local running but as soon as any long distance work is involved (towing or not) or driving on wet roads, they get changed.

And I learned a hard lesson two cars ago - CARS WEIGHING 2 TONNES DO AQUAPLANE - quite easily at 60kph! I have never run Firestone road tread tyres (granted they were the older 7.50x16s) since having no known feeling of my car stopping on the Nathan St bridge in 1987 before hitting three cars. When the road dried my skid marks were quite evident.

I do know one manager of a tire place, and I feel if I go and ask him about it all, with out the feeling he/they will tell you anything for a sale. I will admit I know very little about tires, and what I have read on the net, most people only seem to worry about tyre life, but not road handling or braking efficiency. Reading tyre reviews is again something else, one person will say the tyres are the best, the next person will say the same tyres are lousey.

Warren, are you saying that for around town running you would take them to the wear markers, but will change them earlier say if the tyres are 2-2mm off the wear strips? I am quite happy to tow in fine dry conditions down to the wear strips, but towing a 3T van in wet conditions has me a bit worried, anyway, I have put off the trip so no need to worry.

I am mainly interested in what others would do.

HI
Are the tyres in question 235/75/15 . These are a very common tyre .
Tyre wholesalers / retailers in OZZY are pathetic . They only keep very fast moving stock that's the wholesalers ,the retailers carry little stock and only for the last 2-3 yrs models range .

Down to the indicators in the dry . In the wet just above 1mm maybe . Really depends if they will last the wet season . That's around town . Tyres are expensive in the bush and scarce so definitely b4 a trip if needed .

Tyres on van donât steer or drive . Unless your driving like a goose !! They should follow the tug vehicle easy . Itâs more the age of tyre . It gets harder as they age . Much like humans !! Harder but fragile !! Lol A heavy vehicle with correct tyre pressure has less chance of aquaplaining . Itâs the centrifugal weight on corners momentum When s t o p p i n g !!

Took 5 thousand off ours on Monday I reckon. Skippy came out of scrub and did a U turn under the bull bar and got away. We were waiting for the bang, just missed. Dash cam review , it all happened in 2 seconds, 100kmh down to 20 or less, off the brakes for split second, nose raise, on brakes again, skippy speed back off. Dunlop AT 22 at 10,000 km, dry road. I reckon different outcome at or near tread wear indicator.

I run them to the indicators if it is car on its own. If I am going away with the van and they are getting close I will change them early. Won't risk a trip on almost worn out tyres. Just false economy.

Most people think tyre replacement is necessary only when the tyre tread depth is below the minimum legal tread depth (1.6mm). However, tyre replacement is required when the tyres get too old. Even if they've never been driven on, tyres older than six years should be replaced. The reason is that the rubber hardens and could fail catastrophically when in use - it's that simple. After six years of age, tyre replacement should be a no-brainer - but it isn't.

Trailer tyres tend not to wear very much because they neither drive nor steer. However, all tyres just dont last more than six years even if theyve never been used. And the ones baking in the sun on the tailgate of some 4WD wont even go that long before fading badly.

Getting to six years or beyond is likely to herald the tyre equivalent of osteoporosis - the rubber will start to harden and, potentially, crack. There could still be plenty of tread remaining.
Want to know how old your tyres are? Thankfully, among the hieroglyphics on a tyres sidewall is a more or less 'secret' 12-digit manufacturers alphanumeric code. It's the only 12-digit code on the sidewall, so if you find just one, you're at the right place.

U2H8 LMCR1604 means this tyre was manufactured in the 16th week of 2004. If that tyre is on the road today, it should be replaced.The last four digits are what you're after. If they say:
1606

You can rest assured the tyre was manufactured in the 16th week of 2006. So it's a candidate for tyre replacement in about autumn 2012.

For the 27th week of 2007 youll see it ends in:
2707

From Auto Expert John Codogan

HI
Some tyres are 2 yo when fitted . There is a major issue with some tyre wholesalers in OZZY .

Hello iana,
I rarely run my tyres down to the indicator bars but at times they get close! However with the running I do (& that's well over 20,000kms per year), I generally do a mix of driving. Generally a set of tyres lasts me two to three years, so age is not an issue.

We only have the one car & it has to cover "going down to the shops" as well as Bird Club, etc trips could be 100 to 700kms each way & at highway speeds, so I like to keep a check on the tyres. Just before the last change, there was a rare shower of rain & I felt the back end swing out slightly on a round-about near home. The tyres had done 53,000 kms & still had enough tread for about 15,000 of light duty driving. They had no cracks at all in them, just the tread was a bit low but not down to the markers.

As I knew we had to drive down here (to Warrnambool) & we were bringing the van, it made sense to change them at the end of April (& there was a "special" on them too).

One interesting point & I have mentioned it here before - if you only do a regular 4 tyre rotation & keep a vinyl cover on the spare, the spare (in my case) "will last" a considerable time. I live in the tropics & rubber deteriorates quickly (my jock's elastic waist stretches before the rest wears out). I had always wondered why the spare tyre cover was so hard to fit - found it was a size too wide AND the tyre was SEVEN years old (thanks to a previous owner). Looking at the tyre, it was perfect - no cracks (that occur generally in older tyres) - looked as if I could do another 30-40,000kms BUT it was the wrong size! I now have all matching tyres & am doing a 5 tyre rotation.
So covering a tyre with a simple thin cover can preserve the rubber - as long as the UV rays cannot get at it.

Just a word of advice Ian, find yourself a reputable dealer & build up a trust between you & him. If you want to swap brands, most dealers are willing to get what you want. I use Bob Jayne in Townsville (there are some rat-bag BJ dealers in other places I've visited). In the past before the business was sold, I used TyrePower - but it is/was the owners of the franchise that I could talk to about issues, not the name of the business.
While I don't get the high distances out of my tyres (over 50,000kms is good for a Patrol) that others get, I've been happy with the Bridgestone 697s on the GU.
When I had the GQ, the only time I used the same set of tyres twice was when I fitted GT Radials - Savero. When I sold the car it had Toyo Open Country tyres on it - they were going well.

Thanks all for your replies, the tires should be well in date, and I still have enough tread to keep going for a while if not towing, or towing in dry conditions. Warren, the Bridgestone 697 Duellers, were one tread pattern that I was impressed with, the guy at the counter said the rules about rubber and tire performance has now all changed, being a compound, and they use "Nano" technology, before you ask, I don't know either, it went over my head.

The tires fitted to our ute are 255-70R/16, and I have been offered good deals on 265-65R/16, with one sales pitch that the slightly larger diameter makes the speedometer read correctly. I think all the Rangers and BT50's have this size now, but I will stay with the standard hand book size (when the time comes to replace).