tires

[Igovert500]

Hey, I'm just curious what tires you guys prefer on your rides. I got a 96 vr4 on 18s. When I bought it, it had sumitomo htr z II's on it. Since July, I have blown two of these on the highway. When they go, the entire sidewall has blown almost 75 percent of the circumference of the tire. It might be due to bad alignment that I am getting uneven wear on the tires( I'm 99% percent sure this is causing them to wear down so quickly) I also have to admit that I don't remember checking the tire pressure before driving on these two occasions. But basically they both blew while I was on the highway cruising between 90-110 for about 90 minutes. The speed ratings on these tires is a Z. The odd thing is that the tire that has been most affected by my bad alignment and had the most wear hasn't gone flat yet. Basically, I'm not sure if the problem is too much wear due to the alignment, possibly low tire pressure, and other things that are my fault and will be fixed, or if anyone else has had similar occurances. So being that I need to spend the money and replace one or two, I would rather choose 4 new tires that will be worth the extra money, rather then replacing one, and then going back and replacing all 4 in the next few months. Any thoughts?

[sLADe781]

My tires blew in the freeway while I was going about 75 or so and it was crazy. My steering wheel started shaking really bad and I thought to myself "something's wrong here" and as soon as I thought that, my back tired blew. My car started swerving and I went from the lane next to car pool all the way to the lane next to the exit, did a 360 degree turn around back across all the lanes and ran the back of my car into the center divide. WHEW! Freaky experience....
But yeah, my tires blew because my alignment was bad and the tires I had were really uneven. I was planning on getting them changed but never got around to it....don't make the same mistake...
Anyways, I think you should get all four tires replaced if you change them. Also, get your alignment fixed too so that it doesn't jack up your new tires. It's about 75 bucks or so more but it'll help your new tires last longer. As far as rating goes, I think the the stock rating for your car should be good...but I'm not entirely sure about that so don't quote me on it. Good luck!

[Igovert500]

wow, I am sure glad my blowouts weren't nearly that bad. I will fix my alignment on Wednesday no matter what. And definantly be more conscious of checking my tire pressure before long drives. The Z speed rating is good for up to around 150mph, maybe more if I am not mistaken, so that's not the problem. I guess my point is that I am going to buy the tires this weekend and I really want to know what everyone else is driving on, just to consider some other possibilities. I've checked tirerack.com's reviews on a few, but I value all of your advice more. Thanks in advance, Geoff

[morrell831]

Igo, check your cambers, this controls the approach angle you tires have on the road, if it is to tall then you will wear out the outside of your tires quicker, mine was too short and i wore out the inside of my tires quicker, it took my $1000 worth of tires to figure that out. i bet the camber is what is cousing you uneven wear.

[Igovert500]

Thanks, I'll check that when I am putting the new tires on...I gave in and due to my small budget, I only got 2 of the sumitomo's that I had on there.
ps., If you guys don't already know, tirerack.com is amazing. I saved about 110 between the two tires, and that includes shipping. But if anyone else reads this, I am still interested in what tires you all use on your 3kgts, for future reference.

[Igovert500]

What should the cambers be at, I haven't ever worked on them before, any instructions would be appreciated.