Hey guys,

After realizing I was losing ~5PSI a week in a tire, I took it to a shop, and it turns out that I got a nice sized nail stuck in a rear tire. They said they couldnt plug it because it was outside the tread of the tire, so I had to get a replacement.

How important is matching tires? I only replaced the single stock Yoko for a firestone. Some people have told me its important to have the same tire on each axle, the guy at the shop said it shouldnt be a big deal. Whats your opinion?

Also, will my tire pressure monitoring still work on the new tire?

 

yes its important to have the same tires on the same axle cause different tires perform differently and have different thread patterns,

 

I would mostly determine if both tires need replacing if the new tire has considerably more tread than the other. Even more so since they're the stock wheels. YMMV.

Yes, your tire pressure sensor will work just fine. Just reset it once all the tires are on.

 

Replace both and keep the good tire as a spare.

 

ugh, i really dont want to have to go back and blow another 140 on a tire/install..

 

You will waste that in gas mileage, having offset wear is horrible, you will get vibration as well having 2 different treads can cause traction issues potentially. Do yourself a favor and get it replaced....

 

how many miles do you have?

 

good advice, check you local yards, ive bought sets of three before where one wheels was destroyed for less than one new at shop

 

20K miles

 

any more opinions on this topic? drove my car for the first time in a while and i definitely noticed slight pull and the car handling a bit different. My other 3 tires have 20k miles on them, so at this point im thinking about just waiting until they die and replacing all 4...

would replacing the other tire on the axle even out my handling again?

 

i had 2 different tires on my front axle and it was fine. i did what you are thinking and just replaced all 4 when the stock ones died. took about another 20k miles...
i replaced all 4 at 43k miles. i didnt notice any vibrations or handling issues really...but then again i dont drive fast all the time lol

 

It's always better to have the same tire with the same (or similar) treadwear on both sides. However, it shouldn't be that big of a deal to use one old tire and one new tire, as long as they're not on the front. The only significant issues are the traction issue (mentioned before), and the size of the tires. As long as they're not on the drivewheels the difference in treadwear shouldn't really matter, but if you have two different sizes of tires then there is a good possibility that you'll experience some erratic handling characteristics. The traction part is a potentially bigger concern. Both tires should be of the same type and the same (or very similar) traction rating. By this I mean you don't want to run a high-performance summer tire on one side while you've got a generic mud and snow (M+S) tire on the other. The traction rating will be stamped in small letters on the sidewall, along with the treadwear and heat ratings. You can find more info about the various ratings here:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=48&

The closer the ratings are, the less likely you'll be to have a problem.

I would not reccomend having two different tires, or even two of the same tires with significant treadwear differences, on the drive or steering wheels of any vehicle. The difference in treadwear or size (the overall diamater of the tire) can cause serious problems with the transmission since the two sides will be trying to spin at different speeds (when on the drive wheels). A difference in traction can cause severe pulling, vibration, and torque-steer (when on the steering wheels).

Bottom line: if you do this, don't rotate them to the front of the car.

~Laken