Category: Advisory
Code: 5.2.3 (e)
What does Nearside/Offside Front/Rear Tyre Worn Close to Legal Limit/Worn on Edge mean?
In plain English this Advisory simply means that one or more of your tyres are wearing out, almost to the legally allowed limit.
The notice “Nearside/Offside Front/Rear Tyre Worn Close to Legal Limit/Worn on Edge”, or any variation of this, on your vehicle MOT check is classed as an Advisory defect, meaning your vehicle will not fail its MOT should this advisory be noted by your MOT tester.
Probably one of the easiest checks your MOT tester will perform is to inspect the depth of tread across the circumference of each of your fitted tyres.
The primary grooves of the tread pattern (these are the grooves in the middle three quarters of the tyre) must be at least 1.6mm deep around the entire outer circumference of the tyre (1.6mm for vehicles first used on or after 3 January 1933).
If any part of this tread section on any of the tyres is coming close to the 1.6mm legal limit then you will receive this advisory.
Your MOT will state which tyre is affected by way of noting either nearside (passenger side in a right-hand-drive car) or offside (driver side), and whether it is a front or rear tyre advisory.
By the way, our data shows that nearside front tyre advisory warnings appear slightly more often than the offside front advisory. Likewise with the rear tyres.
The MOT tester may also check your spare tyre, however the result of this will not affect your MOT status. They’ll let you know of its condition and advise a replacement if necessary though.
But wait, what does “close to legal limit” actually mean?
There’s no actual rule about what an MOT tester has to deem as “close” to the legal limit. It’s entirely up to the discretion of the tester. We’ve heard a common figure is around 3mm of tread remaining.
Essentially, the tester believes that the tyre in question will fail the next year’s MOT if it is not replaced by then.
Interestingly, this is by far the most common advisory notice we see on MOT data across all vehicles. It appears on approximately 15% of ALL MOT tests we have seen!
It makes sense being the most common advisory though. The entire purpose of a tyre is to ultimately wear out; they are the ultimate consumable product on your vehicle.
And let’s face it, we all want to maximise the lifetime of our tyres. You don’t need me to tell you that tyres are expensive; if we can eke out the maximum amount of miles from a set of tyres then that’s the most economical method of dealing with this consumable.
Most of us will rely on an MOT to tell us how close we’re getting to the legal minimum allowed tread depth. Unless you enjoy getting on your hands and knees and looking yourself of course!
By the way, most tyres do actually include tread depth indicators so you can visually check the tread depth yourself with no tools or measures.
What Causes Tyre Wear Close to Legal Limit/Worn on Edge?
Tyres wear naturally over time, it’s exactly what they’re designed to do. The average lifespan for a typical road tyre is hard to evaluate due to a multitude of factors including vehicle size and weight, road conditions, quality of tyre and even the way in which you drive.
Seeing 50,000 miles from a set of tyres isn’t unheard of, but at the same time some performance cars may shed a full set of tyres in as little as 5 or 10 thousand miles. This is why it’s so important that monitoring tread depths and tyre condition is a vital part of the MOT test.
Outside of natural tyre degradation, the three leading causes for accelerated tyre wear are under-inflation, tyre age and wheel alignment issues.
Under inflated tyres
Part of your general vehicle routine maintenance should be regularly checking your tyre pressures, and inflating them when necessary.
Keeping your tyres at their recommended pressures for your vehicle is crucial for not only safety, but prolonging the lifespan of your tyres.
Under-inflated tyres often cause premature wear to the edge of your tyres in particular.
Age of tyres
Many people don’t consider the impact the age of their tyres can have on safety and tyre wear. Especially drivers who drive a low number of miles per year.
The quality of the rubber materials within a tyre will degrade over time, leading to a tyre that will wear faster or potentially crack or fail.
It’s recommended that tyres are replaced once they reach around 10 years old, regardless of how much tread they may have remaining.
Wheel alignment
Excessive tyre wear can occur in specific regions of your tyres if the tracking, or wheel alignment, is out of normal bounds.
This relates to the angle of which your wheels contact the road. Incorrect alignment can lead to increased wear of either the inner or outer edge of your tyres.
Your wheels may fall out of alignment over time due to road conditions, i.e pot holes, or even from mounting kerbs when parking.
How to fix Nearside/Offside Front/Rear Tyre Worn Close to Legal Limit/Worn on Edge
This is an easy one! To immediately fix this defect you’ll need to replace the affected tyre(s) on your vehicle.
However, as this is just an advisory notice and not an immediate cause for concern from your MOT tester, it will be worth keeping a close eye on your tread depths for the next few months.
In time and with further mileage the tread on the affected tyre will wear beyond the allowed legal limit of 1.6mm.
When this happens, you will need to replace the tyre or your next MOT may result in a failure.
It’s just a matter of safety, the less tread you have on your tyres, the worse they will perform. Not to mention if we have adverse weather – a sudden rain downpour or snowfall would cause havoc on tyres with little tread.
To sum up, although this is just an advisory and will not fail an MOT, it’s probably one of the most important warnings you should heed.
Good condition tyres are critical, and your safety in your vehicle is paramount.
Watch those tread depths carefully!
Other variations
- Nearside Front Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
- Offside Front Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
- Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
- Offside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
- Nearside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
- Offside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
- Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
- Offside Rear Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)