Wear, Damage and Diagnosis

Centre wear on tyres almost always means overinflation — the contact patch has narrowed to the middle. Here’s what it tells you and how to fix it in Australia.

Cupping and scalloping — scooped, wavy tyre wear — usually means worn shocks, unbalanced wheels or misalignment. How to diagnose and fix it in Australia.

Feathering makes tyre tread ribs sharp on one side and smooth on the other. Here’s what causes the sawtooth wear and how to fix it in Australia.

Do tyre flat spots go away? Learn what causes them, the difference between temporary and permanent flat-spotting, and how to prevent it in Australia.

A mechanic’s guide to reading tyre wear patterns: what inner, outer, centre, feathered and cupped wear tell you about pressure, alignment and suspension.

Learn how to read the DOT date code on your tyres in seconds. The last four digits show the week and year of manufacture, so you can check tyre age.

Do tyres over five years old need replacing? Australian guide to tyre age, the 10-year rule, reading the date code and spotting an aged tyre before it fails.

Do tyres expire? An Australian guide to tyre shelf life vs road life, whether unused tyres go off, how long rubber lasts and why the sun makes age matter more.

Why the Australian sun causes tyre dry rot early: how UV, heat and ozone crack rubber, the warning signs to look for, and how to prevent dry rot on your tyres.