Make sure that your SUV winter tires have correct tread depth

SUV winter tires

When it comes to tires for any vehicle, it is important to check the tread depth. The tread depth has a significant impact on the driving performance and safety. Once you go below the recommended 5/32 inches of tread depth, the braking distance will be prolonged, the risk for aqua or slushplaning increases and the grip and traction is reduced. This behavior is the same for both all-season tires and winter tires. For winter tires it is important to have more depth than it is for all-season tires driven in summer conditions, as the winter tires have to deal with the slush and snow.

Since all vehicles that are driven on roads during winter conditions, it is important to check make sure that you have winter approved tires on all your vehicles. This is regardless if you drive a passenger car, a light truck or an SUV, they all require proper tires that can handle snow, ice and slush. For larger and heavier vehicles, you will need to have very good grip and traction to enable these heavier vehicles to stop on slippery surfaces. Without proper grip these heavy vehicles can become deadly projectiles as they slide down slippery roads.

It is prudent to check your tread depth on a regular basis and change to new tires once you reach the threshold limit of 5/32 inches. For optimal driving performance you should change all four tires at the same time. If you only change two tires you will change how the vehicle handles, where it might over or understeer depending on where you have the most grip. To avoid this and by changing all four tires at the same time, it is important that you rotate the tires on a regular basis. If you use all-season tires that you change to winter tires during the winter season, this would be a natural occasion to rotate the tires. If you have an electric vehicle or hybrid you might have to do it more frequently. By measuring the tread depth and changing the tires once you reach a difference of 5/64 inches between rear and front tires is a good way to manage an even wear between the tires.

When purchasing tires for a hybrid or electric vehicle you will need to check that the tires are recommended for use on these vehicles. The same goes when you purchase SUV winter tires, as you will need to make sure that the dimension is correct for your SUV. SUV tires have a bigger dimension than your normal passenger car tires. If you check your current tires sidewall you should be able to see the dimension. If the dimension is 215/70R16, you can then search online for 215/70R16 winter tires to see what options are available in that dimension that will ft your SUV. That way you can narrow down your search to only tires that are of the correct dimension for your SUV.

For more information on SUV winter tires, visit: www.nokiantires.com