Part Worn inspection video by TyreSafe’s tyre technical expert Steve Dolby

Part Worn Tyres, what you need to know:

So what we’re going to do today is show you how to inspect part worn tyres and what to do before these tyres are offered into the marketplace.

Firstly, you’ll need to think about where you inspect your tyres. So you need a well-lit area like this. You need to have the tyre vertically so it’s easy to see inside and outside the tyre. And the tyre should also be at a comfortable height. That makes it a lot easier to work with.

Also, you need some tools. You’ll need an inspection light, tread depth gauge, grease chalk or marker pen, gloves, and also a notepad and a pen.

What markings do you need to look for?

So we need to look for certain markings. The first one is the European approval marking. That’s a marking that starts with a capital E or a lowercase e or in some cases both. That shows the tyre has been approved to European standards.

If it is a retreaded tyre, it should have a British standard marking on which should say BSAU144 with a letter following that.

Then you need to see whether the tyre has its original load index and speed symbol markings.

So the load index will be two or three numbers and the speed symbol will be a letter following the load index. More details of this can be found on the Tyresafe website.

How do you know the age of a part worn tyre?

Now we’re going to establish the age of the tyre. To do this we look for the date production code which is on the sidewall of the tyre. So in this case look for a series of digits on the side of the tyre. Very often before that there is a code that says DOT.

You’ll see a series of digits. In particular we’re looking at the last three or four digits at the end of this code. In this case you’ll see we have a code of 4510, which indicates that the tyre was made in week 45 of 2010.

Although the tyre age isn’t required in the part worn tyre regulation, it’s very important because an old tyre can create a real safety hazard on some vehicles.

So as you go through the tyre markings, it’s a good idea to note down all the details of the tyre, tyre make, tyre pattern, tyre size, And also you can write down the tread depths that we’ll be measuring now.

You’ll need your accurate tread depth gauge. The minimum tread depth for a part one tyre to be sold is two millimetres.

So what you need to do is take the tread depth across and around the tyre in several places. So put the tread depth gauge so its pointer goes into the main grooves. Take your tread depth in several places, making a note as you go along.

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Checking the condition of part worn tyres

So now we’re going to start inspecting the condition of the tyre. To do this, it’s a good idea just to mark the outside of the tire with a piece of chalk. This will mean that you don’t lose your way. You keep your position as you’re inspecting the tyre. Then take your inspection light. Inspect the outside of the tyre first of all.

So we’re going to look at three areas, the bead, the sidewall, and the shoulder area. So go carefully around each of these different areas, looking at the bead area in particular, looking for cuts, slits, fitting damage as you go all the way around very carefully.

Then go around the sidewall area. So it’s this area of the tyre here. Again, looking for any cuts, indentations, evidence of repair. All the way around the sidewall of the tyre here. And also cracking and crazing, which you might get on some tyres, especially if they’re older tyres. And then around the shoulder area. All the way around there, looking for any signs of damage or repair or foreign objects that might be in the shoulder area itself. Do one complete lap of the tyre in each area.

So once you’ve done the outside of the tyre, then we move on to the inside. Again, looking in three areas. So we’re looking at the bead area, the inner sidewall and the inner crown of the tyre.

So again, carefully one lap around, looking carefully for any signs of damage, such as slits or cuts, fitting damage. On the inside of the sidewall you may pick up signs of any run flat damage or evidence that the tyre has been running at low pressures. This has actually weakened the structure of the tyre so it’s important to note this down because this shouldn’t be put for sale.

Then look at the inner crown area, so it’s the inside of the tread. Pick up any signs of damage, repair, delamination or any other aspects that the tyre has had some sort of damage. So one lap of each area.

So we’ve inspected this side of the tyre and the inside. What we need to do now, turn the tyre around and just repeat exactly the same sort of inspection.

Just repeat what we’ve just done on this side this time. So once we’ve completed the inspection of this side and the interior, we can then go on to the tread area itself.

So looking at the tread area, we need to look at all the tread area. So here we’re looking for any signs of damage, foreign objects, puncture repairs, delamination, the tyre becoming misshapen, anything like this all around the tread itself. Again, it’s a good idea to look at the tread in two areas, this side here and then just do another lap on this side here. You can concentrate on these areas individually and not get lost as you’re doing the inspection.

Another thing to look for is any cracking in the grooves itself.
This shows signs of tyre ageing, and the tyre is starting to age effectively, and the rubber is starting to perish. So you might get cracks or crazing in the grooving itself of the tyre, which you didn’t notice on the sidewall of the tyre. So that’s an important thing to look for as well.

So once the tyre has been thoroughly inspected, both internally and externally, and has passed all the inspections that we’ve been looking at, then the tyre must be stamped with a part worn marking here.

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The part worn marking

The regulation states that the tyre must have this part worn marking before it’s being sold on as a part worn tyre.

So remember, tyre safety is very, very important. Tyres are a critical safety item for drivers, passengers and other road users.

Legislation exists regarding part worn tyres for a very good reason and that reason is to improve road safety. For more information about part worn tyres or any aspect of tyre safety visit

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