When you’re driving, you’re bound to run over a rock or two, which can sometimes get stuck in your tread. However, whether or not you should remove these treads is not always clear.
Therefore, if you get rocks stuck in your tread, you may be wondering how they got there and whether or not you should remove them. If you’d like to find out, keep reading!
Rocks In Tire Tread
While most rocks in your tire won’t be a huge issue, they can occasionally lead to punctures. Therefore, you may want to remove them carefully to protect your tires. If your tires are full of rocks, it’s possible that their air pressure is not high enough, and squishy tires will pick up more rocks.
If you’d like to learn more about how to remove rocks from tire tread, if rocks can ruin tires and more, keep reading through this article for useful facts, tips, and information!
How Do You Remove Rocks From Tire Tread?
The easiest way to remove rocks from your tire is with a popsicle stick, as using a material like metal may potentially damage your tire.
However, if you have trouble working the rock out with a popsicle stick, consider using water to lubricate it. Often, this helps the rocks work out easier without any potential damage to your tire.
Often, you can simply work the rock out without doing anything extra. However, you may want to jack your car up if you can’t see the rock or if it’s in a bad position.
Either way, removing most rocks should be straightforward with this method.
Should You Remove Stones from Tires?
Preferably, you should remove rocks from your tire, though they usually don’t cause much of a problem.
However, sharp rocks can potentially cause punctures, in which case they need to be removed as quickly as possible.
Additionally, if you have time to get the rocks out of your tread, there is little reason not to. Most of the time, nothing bad will happen if you attempt to remove rocks stuck in your tire, while accidents might happen if you don’t remove them.
If you have many stones in your tire, you may want to consider checking the tire pressure. Tires that are underinflated will be squishy, and therefore will pick up more rocks.
Further, if there are dozens of rocks, the odds of the pressure being low are quite high.
Can Rocks Ruin Tires?
Anything that causes cosmetic damage to a tire can potentially ruin it, including rocks. As well, though it’s rare, gravel also has the potential to ruin tires.
If you see rocks on the road, you should preferably go around them. However, if you do have to go over a few small rocks, it’s generally quite safe.
Small rocks that can get stuck in the tread of your tire typically don’t cause serious damage. However, very thin and sharp rocks can potentially puncture your tire.
Is Gravel Bad for Tires?
Gravel will always be worse for tires than paved roads. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will damage your tires. For the most part, the amount of damage depends on what tires you drive on.
Off-road tires and similar varieties have no problem with gravel in most cases. However, other types of tires may be less able to adapt to all these rocks. In many cases, punctures will be much more likely to occur.
Either way, loose stones will make the tires wear down much faster, as they are extremely abrasive.
While this may not be an issue if you’re only driving over gravel once, it can be a problem if you drive over gravel daily.
Is it Okay to Drive on Gravel?
Generally, it’s not recommended to drive on gravel. However, if driving on gravel is your only option, then you can rest assured that your tires will be fine. While there is never a guarantee, most tires can handle some gravel.
However, you should preferably not drive on gravel if you can avoid it, as it will wear down your tires more, causing them to need to be changed sooner. Therefore, driving on gravel will literally cost you money.
To learn more, you can also see our posts on how nails get in tires, if it is safe to drive with a nail in a tire, and if it is ok to drive with glass in your tire.
Conclusion
If rocks get stuck in your tire tread, they can be removed using a popsicle stick or an item of similar size and material. However, don’t remove rocks with a metal device, as this may puncture your tire.
If you regularly drive in gravel, you’ll end up with more rocks in your tread than you might otherwise. However, if you find many rocks in your tire, you may want to consider checking your car’s air pressure.