tires and alignment issues

[icu400]

I recently had a blowout in my 95 explorer. Everything was ok, and so I bought a new michelin tire. My other three tires are BF Goodrich. Recently my alignment has shifted to the left, like right after i got the tire. The car pulls slightly to the right (it was the front right tire that blew). I need to know if I ought to get the other three tires to match the existing one? Is that probably a good idea?

thanks

[NoXferCase]

Originally Posted by icu400

I recently had a blowout in my 95 explorer. Everything was ok, and so I bought a new michelin tire. My other three tires are BF Goodrich. Recently my alignment has shifted to the left, like right after i got the tire. The car pulls slightly to the right (it was the front right tire that blew). I need to know if I ought to get the other three tires to match the existing one? Is that probably a good idea?

thanks

"Probably"...

IMO, the first thing you should do is get a tape measure, remove each tire one-by-one and measure the circumference. Even tires from the same manufacturer can vary somewhat, but what has most likely happened is you have one new tire (with an additional 1/4 inch or so of tread) on one corner and 3 "old" tires which are smaller. I know a quarter-inch doesn't sound like much, but it exists on both top and bottom, so that one tire could be a half-inch or more taller than the other three. Assuming a 29 1/2 inch tall tire (a reasonable number for OEM Explorer tires), a little high school math tells us a new tire would have a circumference of 29.5 X 3.14 or 92.63 inches. The older "worn" tires which are now only 29 inches tall have a circumference of 29 X 3.14 or 91.06 inches. That's over 1.5 inches of difference each time they rotate. (I try not to even THINK about what's happening when I see people screaming down the interstate with a "doughnut" on the drive axle :22yikes: )

So, what do you do? Well, if it's an AWD Explorer the BEST thing would be to first get the alignment checked (something COULD have happened when you got the flat) and then probably end up getting 3 more tires. If it's not AWD you could easily get away with getting one new tire and placing it on the same axle as the other new one.

No matter what, if the differences come back as large as in my example I would at LEAST put another new tire on that axle.

Your mileage may vary......

[icu400]

awesome mate, ty

should be replacing the other 3 in a few days

anyone else got ne opinions? how would I know if the alignment is bad?

also, what does "balancing" the tires mean?

[Hsmith117]

You would notice if your wheel alignment is bad when your car sways on it to the left or the right and you have to constantly or keep the stering wheel at a certain angle. I had this problem a lot after an accident in my 91 Explorer.... You can go to a local shop and have them look at it also..