What are the run-in indicators?

New things always need to be introduced gradually. In a car, there are many such components, and one of them is tires, especially studded tires. We must not forget that anti-skid studs are foreign objects in the thickness of the rubber, which are often simply inserted into special holes. The load directed at the tires is sufficient to make them fly out or at least change their position. What to do to prevent this? Run them in!

Running in or seating the studs is an important process that needs to be done on all tires, even expensive ones. The only exception, perhaps, can be Continental tires, as they are already glued into the tire tread at the factory.

The principle of running in is that the anti-skid studs heat up and heat the rubber around them during the running-in process. This constant heat is enough to change the properties of the rubber around the studs, which contributes to their best retention in the future.

To run in the studs, you should move especially carefully for the first 1000 km. Exclude sharp maneuvers. The start and end of movement should be smooth.

Many tire manufacturers, in turn, set their own run-in limit for the studs. To do this, they install special indicators - depressions around the studs in fractions of a millimeter. When they are worn out, the studs are considered run-in.

Important! Do not confuse the run-in indicators with special depressions designed to remove excess ice chips when braking. We wrote a separate article about this.