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Tires and vehicle inspections

Poopyface

Poopyface

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 8, 2020
Member Number
1904
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697
Took the truck to a small local shop for inspection. They were gonna pass it but were backed up for weeks. I decided to try a chain shop who could do it that week. They said my rear tires need replaced before getting the sticker.

i mentioned to both that I was ordering new tires for the Toyota and swapping the half worn tires to the truck within the next two months so there was no interest in purchasing tires. I also mentioned it was not a DD and only used to drive 4 miles to home depot.

Both rear tires still have tread above the wear bars, one having more than the other.

Would you have passed it? I am just curious how tires are determined to be passable or not.

20200817_114148.jpg


20200817_114135.jpg
 
Tire rusted? No? Bah, yer fine.
 
commercial vehicles its 2/32's on drives and 4/32nds on steers. does that apply to autos? I dunno but ive always changed tires before they get there anyway cause we get rain here

those look like more than 2/32nds
 
When I lived in Virginia and it was time for inspection, I would find the bars close to the auto repair places. Buy a guy a few rounds of beer and he may just give you a sticker.
 
Get it inspected at a place that doesn't sell tires. Guessing they just want to make more money from you.


How old are the tires, doesn't the actual age play a factor now a days? I know a tire shop in Washington refused to mount an almost brand new set of tires for me because of the date on the tire. They had been stored factory take offs with less than 1000 miles on them. Next shop down the street didn't seem to care.
 
Less than 2/32" in groove closest to center fails here. Second one looks pretty close to 2/32" (even less on the outside). States vary. Look it up the law. What, where, how much. Them measure it, and tell them to eat shit if they're wrong.
 
Those are really close but should barely pass as far as tread depth is concerned. There may be dry rot or sidewall issues not seen in the pics, though. Here in PA the inspector has discretion to fail tires they are not comfortable passing.

If no sidewall or rot issues I would pass with a note on the R.O. that they barely pass and need to be replaced ASAP so I can show it to the state police when they show up at my inspection station after you spin out in the rain and kill a bus load of special needs BLM kids.

telling the inspection shop you only drive to Home Depot and back or similar stories won’t make them more likely to pass it, btw. Probably less likely because everyone tries to lie to us.


edit: I would have to measure the tire in the 2nd pic.
 
Last edited:
Scott Cee aka 2drx4 said:
Tread is above the wear indicators, it is not worn out.

Any communist in here that disagrees with me should be hanged for conspiring with the state to defraud citizens.
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Meh. Peoplle choose to live in states with safety inspections then they get safety inspections. Chris could move 15 miles to Ohio and no more safety inspections.
 
VA has a whole laundry list of shit to check for, but all anyone really looks at is condition and tread depth. As long as there's more than 2/32 and they're not dry rotted to shit, bulged, ect you'll probably get passed. Though the state has really cracked down on inspections the last few years (see below), most inspectors are going to pass anything the State Police might side with a customer over. It's a lot easier to lose your license now for failing stuff that shouldn't.

KarlVP said:
When I lived in Virginia and it was time for inspection, I would find the bars close to the auto repair places. Buy a guy a few rounds of beer and he may just give you a sticker.
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Can't really get away with that here anymore. State Police started really cracking down on it a few years ago and implemented pretty stringent credit requirements to even get an inspection license. People aren't willing to risk their license over it now.

Know a couple guys who got burnt for passing stuff that shouldn't and having customers report them for it. Had it happen to two guys at our dealer as well. First one passed a used car for shit he didn't feel like replacing, guy that bought it called the State Police. Had another guy just write a sticker for one of the service writers. Writer's wife was batshit and got pissed at him for something and called the State Police to report the sticker. Tech ended up losing his license for it.
 
Fuck safety inspections. They do nothing but drive the poors to predatory BHPH dealers.
 
DMG said:
Meh. Peoplle choose to live in states with safety inspections then they get safety inspections. Chris could move 15 miles to Ohio and no more safety inspections.
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My 87 year old mother insists on having her rice-cooker inspected even though the state doesn't require it. Fuck she hasn't driven it over a year! Rhode Island was a fucking stupid state that would fail you for minor rust.
 
No dry rot. I haven't checked for the date yet. They are worn due to bad joints that I replaced for inspection. Front tires have plenty of tread.

I mentioned the use of the truck because the tires will still be like that when I do replace them with the 4runner tires. I figured they would think it will wear out by next month under normal everyday driving. I put just a hair over 100 miles on the truck last year.

I know the owner of the shop that wouldn't pass em. He is a friend of my dad's and they go back a long ways. He just looked at the tread and said he can't pass em. I have no issue with that and did not argue it. It just made me wonder how others judge tires for inspections.
 
Poopyface said:
No dry rot. I haven't checked for the date yet. They are worn due to bad joints that I replaced for inspection. Front tires have plenty of tread.

I mentioned the use of the truck because the tires will still be like that when I do replace them with the 4runner tires. I figured they would think it will wear out by next month under normal everyday driving. I put just a hair over 100 miles on the truck last year.

I know the owner of the shop that wouldn't pass em. He is a friend of my dad's and they go back a long ways. He just looked at the tread and said he can't pass em. I have no issue with that and did not argue it. It just made me wonder how others judge tires for inspections.
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You're acting like the individual inspector is just arbitrarily deciding on what passes and doesn't and not basing it off state requirements. Did you not ask specifically why they don't pass? They don't give a shit if you put a 100 miles a day or a 100 miles a year on the truck. Your use or intentions are completely irrelevant.
 
Motorcharge said:
You're acting like the individual inspector is just arbitrarily deciding on what passes and doesn't and not basing it off state requirements. Did you not ask specifically why they don't pass? They don't give a shit if you put a 100 miles a day or a 100 miles a year on the truck. Your use or intentions are completely irrelevant.
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^ This, what's the minimum legal depth for the inspection? Should be the same no matter where you take it.
 
I had a place fail my car for tires, I am convinced it was because they thought I would buy tires from them.

I took it somewhere else and they passed the tires.
 
grumpy356 said:
I had a place fail my car for tires, I am convinced it was because they thought I would buy tires from them.

I took it somewhere else and they passed the tires.
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I failed a smog inspection over a gas cap. The guy tried to sell me a new one I chewed him out because it was a new cap and just like that my truck passed and didn't need his new cap anymore.
 
M92PV4U said:
I failed a smog inspection over a gas cap. The guy tried to sell me a new one I chewed him out because it was a new cap and just like that my truck passed and didn't need his new cap anymore.
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In the early 2000's I was a SMOG tech in CA, I failed a lot of cars for gas caps. The gas caps always failed because they were not built to last long and it was a brand new test.
I always just pointed to the nearest auto parts store and told them to go buy a cap and I would hand them the certificate. All you did is screw the cap to the machine, the machine passed or failed it. I am sure there were cheats out there and always screwed on a bad cap, but I did not.
 
welndmn said:
In the early 2000's I was a SMOG tech in CA, I failed a lot of cars for gas caps. The gas caps always failed because they were not built to last long and it was a brand new test.
I always just pointed to the nearest auto parts store and told them to go buy a cap and I would hand them the certificate. All you did is screw the cap to the machine, the machine passed or failed it. I am sure there were cheats out there and always screwed on a bad cap, but I did not.
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wait, there's an actual gas cap testing machine?
 
welndmn said:
In the early 2000's I was a SMOG tech in CA, I failed a lot of cars for gas caps. The gas caps always failed because they were not built to last long and it was a brand new test.
I always just pointed to the nearest auto parts store and told them to go buy a cap and I would hand them the certificate. All you did is screw the cap to the machine, the machine passed or failed it. I am sure there were cheats out there and always screwed on a bad cap, but I did not.
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Same test. In '12-'14 ish he would always say the gas cap failed and I wasn't in a good mood to start with and it really was less than a month old.
 
Find someone with better tires and swap them, pass test, switch them back. Then drink beer.
 
Move to America, you don't have to worry about inspections there.
 
M92PV4U said:
Yes but they don't inspect your tires. Except at the dmv when taking your drivers test.
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that's wild.
what a colossal waste of money.

I come from a land of anything goes on the road as long as it has lights.
so all this shit is a foreign concept to me.
 
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