What fails a tire at Pennsylvania inspection

Pennsylvania runs an annual safety inspection for private passenger cars, so unlike most states somebody does look at your tires on a schedule. Under 67 Pa. Code 175.80, a car is rejected if any of the following is true of a tire.

The rejection list

• Tread below 2/32 of an inch in two adjacent grooves. Not one groove. Two, next to each other.
• Any ply or cord exposed, anywhere on the tire.
• A bump, bulge or separation. This is the one that catches pothole damage: a sidewall bulge is an automatic rejection even though the tire holds air perfectly.
• A repair using a blow-out patch or a boot. A correct tread-area plug-and-patch is not a rejection. A boot is.

What this means in practice

A pothole strike that leaves a bulge has cost you the tire, not just a repair, and you will find out at inspection if you do not find out sooner. Sidewall damage cannot be repaired by anyone at any price — that is a tire construction fact, not a Pennsylvania rule.

A tire at 3/32 passes inspection and is legal to drive. It is also close enough to the floor that paying to repair a puncture in it is usually money wasted; the repair outlives the tread.

The other Pennsylvania cost

Pennsylvania charges a $1 fee on each new tire sold for highway use, on top of sales tax, wherever you buy it. Four tires is $4. It appears on any honest quote and it is not a markup.

Before your inspection

Measure, do not guess: the quarter test tells you whether to get a gauge out. Look along each sidewall for a bulge, especially after a winter of Pittsburgh potholes. Check for a boot or a mushroom-headed plug from an old repair.

If a tire fails, we can fit the replacement where the car is parked rather than at a shop: mobile tire replacement cost, or Pittsburgh.

Questions people ask

• Does PA inspection check tire tread? Yes. Below 2/32 in two adjacent grooves is a rejection under 67 Pa. Code 175.80.
• Will a plugged tire pass? A correct tread-area plug and patch is not on the rejection list. A boot or a blow-out patch is.
• My tire has a bulge but holds air. Is that a fail? Yes. A bump, bulge or separation is listed explicitly, and the tire is not repairable in any case.
• Do all four tires have to match? 175.80 governs condition, not matching. Mismatched sizes raise other problems, particularly on all-wheel drive: see mixing tire brands.