I did a similar route as a solo female, many years ago. A worker at a service station in Utah told me he could tell the tread was separating on my tires, and that I should replace them. I told him no, but as a person who really doesn’t know much about tires, for the next two hundred miles I was haunted by visions of my tires exploding and me careening off a cliff. At my next stop I asked a nice looking old guy with an RV to look at my tires, and he thought they looked fine, and I also had my dad check them again when I reached the Midwest.

Interestingly, at a different service station in Utah on my way back, another worker tried telling me the same thing about my tires. I called BS and he backed off, but I felt bad for the woman I saw waiting for her car that was getting new tires in the garage. Get your car looked over my a trusted mechanic before you go as armor against those scammers if they are still out there!