How important is it that tires match?

[theknight571]

I had a set of tires on my truck for 49,000 miles. They were needing replacement when the passenger side front tire got a hole in the sidewall, so I broke down and bought the new tires I needed.

Fast forward 1500 miles. The passenger side front tire gets a hole in it, in just about the same spot on the sidewall as the old tire.

The dealer will not replace the tire under warranty (I didn't really expect him to, but asked anyway cause you don't know if you don't ask) so I needed to purchase another new tire. Unfortunately at the time I didn't have the money to buy it, so the dealer loaned me a used tire so I would still have a spare.

I've been driving on it for a week and a half now and will be purchasing the new tire this weekend, but during the week and a half I began to wonder why I couldn't just keep the used tire and not spend the 140 for the new one.

I understand that it would wear out before the others, but then I would just need to spend $50 (or whatever) at that time for another used tire, making the hit on the wallet a little easier this time.

I've always heard tires should match, at least fronts to each other, and backs to each other, but is this really necessary? If so... Why?

FYI... when I refer to the dealer, its a local tire place that I've dealt with several times and not the Dodge dealer. Just in case the question pops into your mind.

 

[soccerballtux]

I have originals on the rear wheels on my car while I replaced the front ones. 62k miles. Going for the steel braid...

 

[SKORPI0]

I always make it a point to match front tires and match rear tires. Maybe it has to do with the thread patterns on the tire for even wear/control. Just make sure that the speed rating is all the same on all 4 tires.

Some better answers here.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110228083802AAGS6gR
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100303150615AA641vD
http://www.cartalk.com/content/must-all-four-tires-match
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/other-talk/539104-car-tires-do-front-ones-have-match-rear-ones.html

 

[Howard]

Fronts should be the same, rears should be the same.

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

I've ran a car for over 10k miles with the left two matching and the right two matching. Never noticed any issues except in the snow. This was a front wheel drive Toyota Matrix.

 

[Ferzerp]

There's no reason for the back tires to match the front really.

But yeah, for the best consistency, you want the front two to be the same and the back two to be the same.

You can ignore that as you will, and for casual driving, there will be little consequence, but weird things might happen if they are too different and you need to dodge something, stop quickly, etc.

If you do ignore it though, please try to keep the diameter as close to the same as possible, at least on drive wheels.

 

[sdifox]

There's no reason for the back tires to match the front really.

But yeah, for the best consistency, you want the front two to be the same and the back two to be the same.

You can ignore that as you will, and for casual driving, there will be little consequence, but weird things might happen if they are too different and you need to dodge something, stop quickly, etc.

If you do ignore it though, please try to keep the diameter as close to the same as possible, at least on drive wheels.

unless you drive an AWD car.

OP, your tire doesn't come with road hazard warranty? Usually they prorate wear and since it is only 1500mi in, you should be able to get a replacement tire for fairly low price.

 

[Ferzerp]

unless you drive an AWD car.

OP, your tire doesn't come with road hazard warranty? Usually they prorate wear and since it is only 1500mi in, you should be able to get a replacement tire for fairly low price.

Granted. There are typically very tight constraints placed on those.

I'd never do it anyway. I tend to not skip on things that I place my life in the hands of. Brakes, tires, etc.

 

[hanoverphist]

i had 3 different size tires on my subaru (FWD, not AWD) during a period of weird flats and even weirder used tires. the sizing difference didnt matter nearly as much as the tread patterns, at one point i had 2 same size and similar wear tires on the front but with very different tread patterns. one was a street tire, the other an "all weather" tire. serious pulling to the side with the all weather tire. even having a 60 on one side and a 70 on the other didnt make it pull like that. it was a scary 60 miles back to the valley on that set up, i tell you. i was lucky enough the small tire shop even had one i could use, since it was a truck stop in the middle of nowhere and focused on truck tires.

normally id never even consider doing something like that, but when the need is there, ill deal with it.

 

[sdifox]

Granted. There are typically very tight constraints placed on those.

I'd never do it anyway. I tend to not skip on things that I place my life in the hands of. Brakes, tires, etc.

1500mi wear on tire is not a whole lot, unless he is talking sliks

 

[Ferzerp]

1500mi wear on tire is not a whole lot, unless he is talking sliks

1500mi on my tires are a lot! I'm hoping for 10k out of the rears if I'm lucky.

 

[theknight571]

1500mi on my tires are a lot! I'm hoping for 10k out of the rears if I'm lucky.

Huh?

So far during this week and a half I haven't noticed a difference... no pull, no unusual sounds, no unusual handling, etc.

I asked about a warranty, but was told it wasn't covered since it was a puncture in the side wall and not in the tread area. I will be asking again before I hand over the $$ for the replacement.

I admit I bought the tires due to their price point, but I had a set of the same tires prior to this set and they lasted just about 49,000 miles, so I didn't even hesitate to put the same tires on again.

 

[Throckmorton]

Does your truck have a front differential? If so, differently worn front tires will put some extra wear on it.

 

[Ferzerp]

Huh?

So far during this week and a half I haven't noticed a difference... no pull, no unusual sounds, no unusual handling, etc.

I asked about a warranty, but was told it wasn't covered since it was a puncture in the side wall and not in the tread area. I will be asking again before I hand over the $$ for the replacement.

I admit I bought the tires due to their price point, but I had a set of the same tires prior to this set and they lasted just about 50,000 miles, so I didn't even hesitate to put the same tires on again.

He said 1500 miles wasn't a lot on a tire. On some it might be.

 

[JulesMaximus]

On a truck? Not very important.

 

[FiLeZz]

WRX all tires must match in treadware and type

Times like this AWD sucks

 

[TheKub]

I replaced a trashed tire with a new one on my car. 10K miles later the tire opposite the new one was the most worn tire by far. Then I replaced them all.

 

[dawp]

unless you drive an AWD car.

OP, your tire doesn't come with road hazard warranty? Usually they prorate wear and since it is only 1500mi in, you should be able to get a replacement tire for fairly low price.

Most of the time road hazard is an added expense not included in the base price, if he didn't buy it he was SOL.

 

[sdifox]

Most of the time road hazard is an added expense not included in the base price, if he didn't buy it he was SOL.

Interesting. Road Hazard is standard up here.

 

[_Rick_]

A reason to match fronts and rears is that if they have sufficiently different behavior, your car may end up way more over or under-steery than expected.
A common theme where I live is to swap fronts to winter spec, and leave summer tires on the rear. If you get into snow with that configuration and hit the brakes, the car will have a far greater tendency to over steer, as the rear will have close to zero grip. Even during normal cornering on snow, this may become noticeable.

Similarly, if you run low tread rears and new fronts on the same car: in rainy conditions the rears are much more prone to aquaplaning, which during a lane change may come as an unwelcome surprise.

As a rule of thumb, try to keep your tires as similar as possible (switching them around twice a year, replacing them at least in pairs, of the same type as the other pair, etc).

 

[JulesMaximus]

A reason to match fronts and rears is that if they have sufficiently different behavior, your car may end up way more over or under-steery than expected.
A common theme where I live is to swap fronts to winter spec, and leave summer tires on the rear. If you get into snow with that configuration and hit the brakes, the car will have a far greater tendency to over steer, as the rear will have close to zero grip. Even during normal cornering on snow, this may become noticeable.

Similarly, if you run low tread rears and new fronts on the same car: in rainy conditions the rears are much more prone to aquaplaning, which during a lane change may come as an unwelcome surprise.

As a rule of thumb, try to keep your tires as similar as possible (switching them around twice a year, replacing them at least in pairs, of the same type as the other pair, etc).

Why on earth would anyone do that?

 

[_Rick_]

You only need to buy two winter tires instead of four. With front wheel drive cars, you can still mostly get around.
Also, easier/faster to swap, if you swap wheels yourself.
Laziness beats security every time.

 

[sdifox]

A reason to match fronts and rears is that if they have sufficiently different behavior, your car may end up way more over or under-steery than expected.
A common theme where I live is to swap fronts to winter spec, and leave summer tires on the rear. If you get into snow with that configuration and hit the brakes, the car will have a far greater tendency to over steer, as the rear will have close to zero grip. Even during normal cornering on snow, this may become noticeable.

Similarly, if you run low tread rears and new fronts on the same car: in rainy conditions the rears are much more prone to aquaplaning, which during a lane change may come as an unwelcome surprise.

As a rule of thumb, try to keep your tires as similar as possible (switching them around twice a year, replacing them at least in pairs, of the same type as the other pair, etc).

I would rather have slippery fronts than rears.

 

[Raduque]

Before I was able to match up all 4 of my tires, I was getting some handling weirdness on my truck. I had on the rears a Falken Rocky Mountain ATS and a BF Goodrich Long Trail TA, and the back end felt like it was stepping out on some corners. There was no squealing noises, the rear end just felt loose. The feeling went away when I put another RM ATS on the back.

I also had a 255/70 and 255/65 on the fronts for a couple weeks, and it wanted to wander a lot. Matched up the sizes and it was fine.

 

[_Rick_]

I would rather have slippery fronts than rears.

On FWD?
That's not a good idea.
Having no traction to get going is really annoying, and at least you can power out of over steer.
With under steer, you just go straight off the cliff...Especially because the rears will have less traction during a braking maneuver anyway.