Tire Question

I ecently got one of my tires slashed, and I went to a tire shop to have it replace, but they didnt have the exact tire i needed. just like the other 3. They said that they would put a tire almost exactly identical to the one i really neede, same specs everything, but the only difference is the tread design. is this bad for my vehicle? please let me know. thanks guys

Hello

Replacing just one tire can be bad if: you have a all wheel drive vehical, you put on a tire that is taller or shorter than the others...ie,..dont' run the donut on the drive wheels, it will make your dif work over time.

I don't think you will have a probem

What type of car?

Regards

Dan

Any tire shop that sells you a tyre that puts different tread patterns, tyre brands, types etc, on opposite sides of the same axle should not be in business.

On a 2wd vechile you can usualy get away with running different tyres front and back, although its not recomended.
On a 4wd vechile all 4 tyres should be of the same type, and of similar wear levels.

But you should never mix tyres across an axle. Since all tyres have slightly different grip levels you effectivly unballance the car.
Under brake is where it could be most dangerous, one tyre will have more grip than the other, causing un-even braking performance, which can easily turn the car in one direction, causing loss of control and possibly a spin.

LeSabre i have a 07 Civic LX coupe. and thanks for your put back guys. i really appreciate it.

LeSabre i have a 07 Civic LX coupe. and thanks for your put back guys. i really appreciate it.

Since your cars is so new, check around different tyre shops and dealers.
Often several will have the same tyres that have been traded for something with more bling.

Just my 2 cents... putting on a different tire like you described (same service type, different brand) is no different than putting on a brand new tire of the exact same brand while leaving the others partially worn.

I've seen and driven cars with three or four different brands of tire, all the same size. Its ugly and a lazy way of doing things but it works fine.

The main concern is different size. Between tires of the same size (even in the same brand) there are differences in section width, tread width, overall diameter, etc. A Michelin touring tire that is 215/60/15 has slightly different dimensions than a Michelin performance tire of 215/60/15. BUT, its no different than using the exact same tire where three are half-worn and one is brand new. Its also quite possible that since the three good tires on your car were manufactured, the specs or tolerances have changed, or even more consequential is that its possible that the company who makes the carcass or supplies the materials has changed five times since then. Your new tire of the exact same brand and model might be just as different as another name.

If you're anal or picky, replace it with the same exact tire... but it won't do any damage to replace it with a different one.

I might suggest checking the specs of both on the tire manufacturer's website. Avoid tires that are obviously very different in specification.

yea i went to a different tire shop, they said that all the tires were the same size, not sure about with but everthing matched size wise. they said that tread design was just for looks. the only thing that would be bad for my car is if they were different size. thanks guys for your put back

A Michelin touring tire that is 215/60/15 has slightly different dimensions than a Michelin performance tire of 215/60/15.
this is true, but not really a problem in the real world.
lots of people drive around with underinflated tires. this can cause a much greater variation in size than your example if one tire is 10 psi low and the other three are fine. (not that you had a bad example or anything)
most ECUs are designed to compensate within a certain amount of tire size for ABS and Traction Control ect...
you should try to get identical tires and replace all tires in pairs, but the reality is that sometimes you dont have the money to pay for 4 new tires at one time.
i'll probly get flamed for saying this, but as long as the tire is the same brand, same size and same model, the tread pattern is not a big deal in most cases.

I've seen and driven cars with three or four different brands of tire, all the same size. Its ugly and a lazy way of doing things but it works fine.



Ever had to do an emergancy stop in a car with 3 different tyres on it?
Or make a fast swerve to aviod something, like a person or another car?
The car will behave unpredicably, and dangerously, Iv been there, tried that.

hahaha.. well in my situation all 3 are the same but 1. and all 4 of them are made by the same brand. i dunno what to do. ive heard mix opinions about it. why can't people just not be gay and slash tires.

Usually if tread patterns are similar enough, its not a big deal, emergency stops and swerves included. dont quote me on this, but i believe tire shops have reference guides for tread patterns.

Ever had to do an emergancy stop in a car with 3 different tyres on it?
Or make a fast swerve to aviod something, like a person or another car?
The car will behave unpredicably, and dangerously, Iv been there, tried that.

Yes, but we're talking about a car with 4-channel ABS and its a civic... the tires are hardly the limiting factor in its handling.

However this is a good example of how different continents view different aspects of a car.

Any tire shop that sells you a tyre that puts different tread patterns, tyre brands, types etc, on opposite sides of the same axle should not be in business.

well, in wonderfully litigation happy US of A, we are dictated exactly what we can and cannot do as a business, by the court systems and their joy in putting the screws to companies with frivolous lawsuits.

Now a days, we can only use one type of tire patch, thanks to lawsuits. We can not sell any less than 4 snow tires for a car due to law suits. And of course, we can't sell less than 4 tires for a AWD car, and no less than 2 tires to a posi rear/front driven car/truck.

Of course....we can recommend all we want, but the end result is, no matter what we "suggest", if we actually ALLOW them to talk us out of our hard-line suggestion, we must be the bad guys.

BTW moppie, you should work the front counter of a tire store some time, and try the hard nose line for a couple days. After you get ripped up one side and down the other, you would rethink your strategy IMO. There are a lot of cheap ass Mo-Fo's out there, and they will see such tactics as an attempt to steal money from them, and they would tell you such, for several hours, and all the other customers in the front office too.

People are loopy in general, IMO.

But anway, to answer the original question, its not really a big deal. If you really want to be anal, you could buy an original model tire, and take it to a tire shop that is capable of cutting down a tire to get the same tread depth....but this is pretty overkill. It really depends on what the actual tread depth (total diameter) is between the two tires. If we're talking less than 3/32", and the traction quality is simular, I definitely wouldn't worry about it.

If you're talking 6/32" difference, and/or the traction qualities are different, I would personally just replace 2 tires as a set. But thats me.

whats wrong with selling two show tires.
if you have FWD 2 is all you need in most cases.
if you have RWD 4 is better, but 2 is fine too.

whats wrong with selling two show tires.
if you have FWD 2 is all you need in most cases.
if you have RWD 4 is better, but 2 is fine too.
The courts have decided that poor unintelligent people that don't know how to operate a vehicle in the snow, can't be expected to operate a vehicle that has 2 tires that grip well in the snow, and two tires that don't, causing sub-optimal braking.

These poor souls, wrongfully sold such a tire combo were completely caught by surprise when they pushed the pedal thingy that is supposed to stop the vehicle, and instead of it stopping in a nice safe manner, caused a set of wheels to lock and the vehicle "lost control" suddenly.

It must of been the tires fault, and thereby, the shop that sold them the tires. So I've heard.

uhh they installed a Bridgestone Potenza 205/55R16 RE960AS on my car, but all the rest are Bridgestone Turenza 205/55R16 EL400. i really dont know how to find out thread depth and such. But thanks for your help unclebob.

here's the deal, if the tread depth is a noticable difference (3/32"+)...or depending on the tire/car situation, even less, you may have a slight, or not-so-slight pull, when that tire set is on the front.

In other words, it may hamper your tire rotation intervals.

Now if you're like the average car owner, you don't pay much attention to tire rotation scedule anyway, so then it wouldn't matter anyway. Put the new tire on the rear, and you'll be good.

If you do pay attention to such things, and depending.....if it causes a pull that annoys you, you really have no choice but to replace the mating tire.

So worse case, you end up replacing 2 tires anyway.

well, in wonderfully litigation happy US of A, we are dictated exactly what we can and cannot do as a business, by the court systems and their joy in putting the screws to companies with frivolous lawsuits.

Now a days, we can only use one type of tire patch, thanks to lawsuits. We can not sell any less than 4 snow tires for a car due to law suits. And of course, we can't sell less than 4 tires for a AWD car, and no less than 2 tires to a posi rear/front driven car/truck.

Wow, I'm soo happy I live in a place where lawyers don't chase ambulances.:uhoh:

Wow, I'm soo happy I live in a place where lawyers don't chase ambulances.:uhoh:

Hey, its the American way. I've already picked out my little plot in Canada :iceslolan but I'm not allowed to say that because the Secret Service will hunt me down and say I hate George Bush... which is true.:cool:

Well, the other factor we seem to be ignoring is that often times cars are delivered from the factory with different sizes front and rear... some of the best performing vehicles on the road are that way; BMWs, Corvettes, Vipers. If a high-performance, 1G car can survive with 315mm rear and 245mm front rubber, then I think a stock civic can survive with one tire of a different manufacturer, especially when the driver doesn't know the difference.

The bottom line is that 90% of the drivers in the world couldn't tell the difference between a Z-rated Michelin performance tire and a skinny truck retread as far as how they act on the road. That's why things like ABS are invented so the panic driver can still stop when they mash the pedal to save the life of a rat crossing the street. That way they can effectively endanger everyone else on the road equally.

What I'm saying is, you can't really expect A) the driver to know the difference, B) the different tire to effectively alter the entire balance of the car in 99% of the driving situations, and C) the actual emergency handling of the car to be negatively influenced by one tire. Almost every driver on American roads sucks at emergency driving. One tire different won't make a hoot of difference. If they slam on the brakes, who knows... it might help stopping distance if its a better tire.

How many people are driving around with underinflated tires, bald tires, bad shocks, inoperative brake lights, a bad master cylinder... trust me, a single different tire is the least of the worries.

^
agreed.

the different sized tires on corvettes and such are front to rear, however, not side to side as the problem would be in this case.

how do you go about rotating tires on a car with different front and rear sizes? wouldnt the outside of the front tires get horribly worn before the rest of the tire went bad? i guess if you own a porche/corvette/viper you can afford tires.

how do you go about rotating tires on a car with different front and rear sizes? .

You don't. Mine currently can't be rotated at all on my Impala SS. I have directional tires so they can't go side to side, and they are different front and rear so I can't rotate that way either.

Wow, I'm soo happy I live in a place where lawyers don't chase ambulances.:uhoh:


No, but Nanny Helen has her share of say in things.


Current NZ law, and I believe Ausie, and Japan are similar, is pretty clear about mis matched tyres on the same axle.
Its illegal.

You can of course put different tyres front and rear, some cars are designed with that in mind, and the suspension is set up accordingly, some are not, and you simple get some unbalanced handling, but its generaly not an issue.
(Although my Prelude will rotate around a corner a lot faster than it should..... ;) )

No, but Nanny Helen has her share of say in things.


Current NZ law, and I believe Ausie, and Japan are similar, is pretty clear about mis matched tyres on the same axle.
Its illegal.

You can of course put different tyres front and rear, some cars are designed with that in mind, and the suspension is set up accordingly, some are not, and you simple get some unbalanced handling, but its generaly not an issue.
(Although my Prelude will rotate around a corner a lot faster than it should..... ;) )

Did you know you can get the entire vehicle inspection sheets online?

Here is the one for tyres:
http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/publications/vir-manual/general-vehicles/10-tyres-wheels-and-hubs-v2-3.pdf

A vehicle may fail if:
1. Tyres on the same axle are:
a) not of the same size designation, or
b) not of the same construction (mixed steel ply,
fabric radial ply, bias/cross ply, asymmetric), or
c) not of the same tread pattern type (mixed
asymmetric, directional, normal highway,
traction).

My interpretation of that is mixing similar tyres from different manufacturers isn't a problem.
"tread pattern type" is the keyword, not just "tread pattern".

By those rules the corolla I bought from a dealer with a fresh warrant shouldn't have been on the road. 3 snow tyres, one normal.

This is a very interesting point of difference between countries. Here its quite accepted to put different tires on. My wife's Tercel came with three different tires; different brands, tread patterns.. but the same size... and that was a used car from a Toyota dealer.

I'm always fascinated by how laws drive the "morality" or safety of a repair and how they are different in each country. For instance, in some European countries its illegal to have tire tread that sticks out past the fender, so the hottest craze for the customizing crowd is to use really wide wheels on tires that are skinny enough to meet the law's requirement. Looks weird to me, but its a hot look in some countries.

A vehicle may fail if:
1. Tyres on the same axle are:
a) not of the same size designation, or
b) not of the same construction (mixed steel ply,
fabric radial ply, bias/cross ply, asymmetric), or
c) not of the same tread pattern type (mixed
asymmetric, directional, normal highway,
traction).

My interpretation of that is mixing similar tyres from different manufacturers isn't a problem.
"tread pattern type" is the keyword, not just "tread pattern".

My thoughts exactly. As long as its the same size and the same type of tire (winter for winter, touring for touring, performance for performance, radial for radial) then the law's requirements are met regardless of brand. At least that's how it appears to me.

Another difference here is that in the states we wouldn't typically use "tread pattern type" to delineate its application. Although you might look at a tread pattern and say that it looks like an off road tread pattern, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is. There are tires sold here with an aggressive looking tread for people who want to pretend like their grocery-getter SUV is a mean off-road machine, but in actuality they have more in common with a touring tire.

For example: This tire...

http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/michelin/mi_mxx3_pilot_sx_mxx3.jpg

Is in the "max performance summer" category.

So is this tire...

http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/sumitomo/su_htrz_ii.jpg

This tire has more in common with looks with the first, but in actuality it is an all season passenger car tire...

http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/goodyear/gy_eagle_gt11_rwl_ci2_l.jpg

So, tread pattern can be deceiving.

I have no doubt that such regulation is pretty vague in practice, causing wildly different recommendations from different inspectors.

IMO, it really shouldn't ever be an issue: simply replace tires in sets of 2, at the least. Then you avoid the issues with uneven tire wear, pulling issues, uneven traction, and all the other issues. If you have a vehicle that requires expensive tires ($200+ per tire)....then you should have considered that, among many other things, before buying it IMO. Thats something else I see quite often. People for some reason think that after they purchase (sign the paper work) a vehicle, that there's no other cost considerations. Quite a silly "belief". But quite common