Tire Question: OK to replace one tire?
 

Today I noticed a crack on the outer tread of my right rear tire. I took the car into discount tire, they looked at it and saw cord through the crack, which didn't sound good. So I'm having it replaced.

But I'm concerned about replacing only the one rear left tire, which is what the tire technician recommended. After asking him about it some more he said that you only have to replace more than one tire on 4-wheel drive cars if that one tire is damaged and replaced. Is this true?

Is this any kind of a hazard, and if so what might happen? The damaged tire was at 7/32" which according to the tech. is about 50% wear. Assuming that the other tire is also 7/32" and that a new tire will be around 10/32", will this difference affect balance or handling at any of the other three wheels?

It's only an issue if you autocross or track your car. If you just do the normal street driving, with an occasional few aggressive turns you should be fine. Difference in handling and/or balance will be negligible. I had to replace my 2 rears on my previous car about twice as often as I had to the fronts, but the difference in handling wasn't that big at all.

what if you do autocross/track the car?

Then you might notice some handling irregularities.

is it anything to be concerned about? and can shaving the new tire take care of any difference?

btw its not a timed competition. Just a DE

I've always gone by the axle rule. I'll replace both tires on an axle unless the tire being replaced is within 1 or 2 32nds of the other on the same axle. Think of it like back in high school when you got stuck with the desk with the missing foot and it wobbled :) It's not as severe as that, but it can become a problem with alignment and such.

i have been educated to change both tyres on the same axle if the wear on them is at around 50%. and always put the new one on driving wheels (ie. front wheel drive or rear wheel drive)
i'd change both tyres and keep the other good one as a spare. in your case, use them for the rear :)

Just wondering if anyone else has any info to share re this topic. This weekend, the low air pressure light came on in the car. The first time it has ever happened. I just checked the pressure the day before, so I wondered if it was a malfunction. Turned out that there was a screw in my tire. So I took my car into Discount Tire. I only replaced that one tire (the right rear).

The OEMs on my car is the Dunlop 8090. They didn't have that in stock. So they put on a Bridgstone S03. Seems to have good reviews here and on tire-rack.

I have about 15,000 miles on the car, which is a year old. The tires don't seem to be very worn, but I'm thinking that I should probably match the other rear tire by getting another S03.

Any comments?

I would never change only one tire on an axle unless the other was almost new ( > 5% wear).

I would NEVER place two different tires on the same axle under ANY circumstances....differences in compound, tread pattern, and carcass design would make that combo potentially very unstable.

It would be better to sell the remaining used tire/tires and replace them...than potentially face a spinout.....and a wrecked car

That was my thinking too. Unfortunately, my credit card wouldn't allow me to buy two tires. I'll be buying another tire for the rear axle next week.

Be careful...hate to see a " wrecked my 8" thread :D

the guy at the place i went to recommended against having 2 tires on an axle with a difference in tread height more than 3/32 inch.

I didnt ask about different tires on an axle, but it doesnt seem like a good idea. tires will have different grip levels and different wear rates and just be confusing in general. Especially for ABS systems.