To change tyres or not?

[DuchessOfDodo]

I have 3.5mm left on my front tyres and a long trip coming up (circa 1000 miles up to and across the Cairngorms which may or may not be in poor weather (beginning March).

Do I:

a) 'use' up the tread left by keeping these tyres on fo the trip, thus not wasting rubber and resources

b) change tyres before the trip so I have maximum tread in case conditions are not great

My two Oracles on all things car related (my Dad and my Uncle) have opposing views.

Change them.

b

Or alternatively buy a set of winter tyres and once done with trip wear out the old ones

@RB68

Or alternatively buy a set of winter tyres and once done with trip wear out the old ones

Interesting option c

However, I don't have anywhere to store tyres - my garage really goes through a range of temperatures and I thought that was no good for tyre storage? How do other people do this?

I would change them. Better safe than sorry.

I would change them, personally.

You might be able to rotate the tyres, to put the front ones onto the back, as the back ones wear much more slowly.

I would definitely change them! And if winter tyres not an option then maybe buy some snow chains or at least carry a shovel and grit.

I would change them

Buy ‘All Season Tyres’ which will be better for wintry conditions. Most tyres in the UK are Summer tyres but they don’t have as much grip as Winter or All Season tyres….or a 4x4 AWD (all wheel drive) car.

Otherwise you could get snow chains but I guess you wouldn’t know how to put them on your wheels? I didn’t and I lived in Switzerland for a few years!

If I change them, I'll be going for all seasons, I think. I live rurally on muddy roads, so probably should have gone all season before now tbh.

I'm pretty careful and confident driving in poor conditions and some of the trip is a family holiday - Dad and Uncle both part of that and both advanced drivers, so I can always jump in their car(s) if it's very bad . But do need to get there myself and 'up and over' the hills to get to the holiday house.

You could also drive up to Perth, Pitlochry or wherever, and get your new tyres there.

Change them....worth it for peace of mind.

Change them. It's unlikely to make the difference in whether you need a whole extra set of tyres over the life of the car, or not. The most likely result of not changing them now is that whoever you eventually sell the car to gets very very slightly better tyres. But they won't be paying you any more for the car.

I'd change them. It's not worth the risk for all of 6 weeks worth of use.

I had no idea what tyres start at, to gauge how close to fully worn 3.5 mm is (I know the legal minimum is 1.6 mm and you should probably change them before that) so googled and found some useful graphics that make it fairly clear that you should change them in the circumstances that you describe, for example:

New tyres and sell old ones. People really do buy them!

Change them. You'd have to change them reasonably soon anyway. All-seasons are a good shout. (I put CrossClimates on my car, other tyres are available!)

Thanks all - you've convinced me.

New tyres before I go. All seasons.

I have been reflecting on this.

I am naturally a change them early person.

However, I went to get a check just before Christmas as I had to do a bit of driving to pick up DCs.

Halfords said that I had at least months on my front tyres and ages on my back. They suggested swapping front and back, which would give me a year.

Tyres are an awful scourge on the environment, so it made sense to me to get as much life out of them as possible.

*at least 3 months on my front tyres (in the region of 3mm).

I would change them now before trip and take two blankets, shovel, large flask of hot tea, torch and food on boot just in case you get snowed in.