My best friend is a girl who is currently in nursing school, money is tight, also, her sort-of husband (long story) doesn't much like me, or even know she really has contact with me anymore, we all used to work together and it's a long story...
Anyways husband guy is a bit of idiot IMO and doesn't much take care of her so to speak, but she stays with him, it is what it is. Ok the point is they have 2 vehicles, one is late model (that he normally drives to work) and the other is a crappy beat up 98 4runner that is usually left to her and the kids (she has a 1 yr old and 6 yr old). Knowing this car is somewhat unsafe she basically tries to only drive it when necessary, but sometimes it is.
Anyways the 4runner has 4 really bald tires on it, really bad. Husband guy as mentioned is an idiot and almost certainly will never do anything about it, they are always "broke" even though they both have pretty decent blue collar jobs, because he handles the money and spends it as fast as it comes in. The 4 runner sat with a minor electrical problem in their apt parking lot for like 6 months before he even bothered to look at it as he's lazy and plays video games all day when not at work. Recently one of the tires went flat and again he let it sit for like 2 months until naturally one day they needed two vehicles and had no recourse, he "fixed" it by dumping a can of fix a flat in it.
Too add to that the 4runner has other issues, apparently she says it's hard to steer (power steering going out I assume) and has a pretty bad oil leak. She claims it runs generally well besides those though.
So, reluctantly given the hubby situation, and understanding she is getting through nursing school, and worried about the safety of her and her young kids on those bald tires, I decided to help her out, over the last few weeks I've been exploring options to help her out and get some decent tires on the vehicle (especially before it gets cold/rainy/slushy, we live in Texas). Now, given the shape the vehicle is in, I dont feel like it's necessarily worth it or wise to drop $440 on brand new tires for it. It could stop running tomorrow, or dumb hubby could grow a wild hair and decide out of the blue to sell it (apparently he almost did a few weeks ago, even though they have no other transportation options and REALLY need 2 vehicles given they both work and attend school). It's one of those things were the car itself you feel like is barely worth $440. Not only that but I'm not rich myself, and not hankering to spend any more than necessary.
SO I went looking for used tires, called around, chains dont seem to have used tires in popular sizes, found a couple used tire places in the seedier side of town, one of them had 4 tires in the size I need for $45 apiece, on inspecting them though all 4 have completely different tread patterns. One of them has a lot of chunky tread in very...odd pattern, the other three dont have too much tread, better than the current tires of course, if I was to guesstimate on the three maybe they have 4 or 5/32 tread? They are definitely above the wear bars, but not by a huge amount either.
Also I tried to research if the different tread patterns on the used tires would be an issue via some googling, results mixed. Some say yes others no.
So yeah, I'm not thrilled with any of my options here about these tires, any advice? Should I go for the used ones, or maybe just put two brand new ones on (should run about $220, about $110 per for new tires) for now to lessen the hit on pocketbook?
Late edit: After writing this post I was googling more and found these http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-New-235-7...fb8b8e9&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=201092842979 May be a good middle ground if anybody has comments. Kenda seems to be a low cost chinese brand but what little customer feedback I've found on them on the web so far looks good. Surely better than her current tires.
Anyways husband guy is a bit of idiot IMO and doesn't much take care of her so to speak, but she stays with him, it is what it is. Ok the point is they have 2 vehicles, one is late model (that he normally drives to work) and the other is a crappy beat up 98 4runner that is usually left to her and the kids (she has a 1 yr old and 6 yr old). Knowing this car is somewhat unsafe she basically tries to only drive it when necessary, but sometimes it is.
Anyways the 4runner has 4 really bald tires on it, really bad. Husband guy as mentioned is an idiot and almost certainly will never do anything about it, they are always "broke" even though they both have pretty decent blue collar jobs, because he handles the money and spends it as fast as it comes in. The 4 runner sat with a minor electrical problem in their apt parking lot for like 6 months before he even bothered to look at it as he's lazy and plays video games all day when not at work. Recently one of the tires went flat and again he let it sit for like 2 months until naturally one day they needed two vehicles and had no recourse, he "fixed" it by dumping a can of fix a flat in it.
Too add to that the 4runner has other issues, apparently she says it's hard to steer (power steering going out I assume) and has a pretty bad oil leak. She claims it runs generally well besides those though.
So, reluctantly given the hubby situation, and understanding she is getting through nursing school, and worried about the safety of her and her young kids on those bald tires, I decided to help her out, over the last few weeks I've been exploring options to help her out and get some decent tires on the vehicle (especially before it gets cold/rainy/slushy, we live in Texas). Now, given the shape the vehicle is in, I dont feel like it's necessarily worth it or wise to drop $440 on brand new tires for it. It could stop running tomorrow, or dumb hubby could grow a wild hair and decide out of the blue to sell it (apparently he almost did a few weeks ago, even though they have no other transportation options and REALLY need 2 vehicles given they both work and attend school). It's one of those things were the car itself you feel like is barely worth $440. Not only that but I'm not rich myself, and not hankering to spend any more than necessary.
SO I went looking for used tires, called around, chains dont seem to have used tires in popular sizes, found a couple used tire places in the seedier side of town, one of them had 4 tires in the size I need for $45 apiece, on inspecting them though all 4 have completely different tread patterns. One of them has a lot of chunky tread in very...odd pattern, the other three dont have too much tread, better than the current tires of course, if I was to guesstimate on the three maybe they have 4 or 5/32 tread? They are definitely above the wear bars, but not by a huge amount either.
Also I tried to research if the different tread patterns on the used tires would be an issue via some googling, results mixed. Some say yes others no.
So yeah, I'm not thrilled with any of my options here about these tires, any advice? Should I go for the used ones, or maybe just put two brand new ones on (should run about $220, about $110 per for new tires) for now to lessen the hit on pocketbook?
Late edit: After writing this post I was googling more and found these http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-New-235-7...fb8b8e9&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=201092842979 May be a good middle ground if anybody has comments. Kenda seems to be a low cost chinese brand but what little customer feedback I've found on them on the web so far looks good. Surely better than her current tires.
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