4 ms·

Oh man, this really strikes home for me: Last month we had to shell out close to $1k to replace all four tires when a large (>10cm) nail punctured one. Costco

by Jun8 3y ago

Oh man, this really strikes home for me: Last month we had to shell out close to $1k to replace all four tires when a large (>10cm) nail punctured one. Costco guy said you had to change all of them, I didn't't believe him but after research found out that if you have some mileage on your tires, you can't just change one (actually there was mentioned of reducing the grooves of the new tire to match the old ones but that sounded error prone). We need a magnet man for all big cities!

kurthr 3y ago
Unless you have a lot of wear on your tires, or you're driving an AWD, it's unusual to need to replace more than 2 tires. The argument on AWD is that it might cause more expensive increased wear on the AWD system in off-road conditions. If you're only driving on roads this probably isn't such a big deal, and some sports cars don't even have the same size tires front/back. Most nails and screws (1/8" or 3mm) in the middle of the tire can be patched (if you're not driving >100mph), but that was one BIG nail! Side walls really can't be safely patched, and most places won't patch anything even close.
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
  I heard a loud clicking noise while driving to work one day and pulled over to check. Had an "eggbeater-type" mixer sticking out of my tire sidewall. Shop asked if they could have it for their countertop display of weird stuff they pulled out of tires. Anyway, they recommended replacing both front tires, but I only did the one and it was fine. I understand the reasoning, I just don't agree with it because tires simply don't wear at the same rate.
- whaleofatw2022 3y ago
  Above is semi dependent on the AWD system. If it is one of the 'typical' ones you see on something like a Ford Escape or Chevy Blazer where it activates on slippage, you are probably OK on normal roads as long as the wear isn't extreme. But if it's something with a 50/50 default split or other 'always on' fanciness, tires are cheaper than Diffs.
xeromal 3y ago
You can avoid this by having a full-sized spare and rotating it in during your tire rotations. It's what I do so if one goes to shit, you still have 4 even ones left. If you never have a failure, you get much better mileage because one of your tires always gets to rest.
bongodongobob 3y ago
That's only true for AWD. Otherwise it's 2. Also, consider buying used for a fraction of the price. Plenty of cars with good tires end up in junkyards. I've never bought new tires.
- bluGill 3y ago
  If you do not have free labor and time used tires are not worth it. You don't save much money and you have to replace them sooner which means even more time of yours spent. Used tires make sense for used car dealers where they have the equipment and can tell a mechanic to do this "when you have otherwise free time". In that case you can replace worn out tires with only half used tires and since you won't see the car again you don't lose anything. (nobody would buy the car with worn out tires so you have to replace them, but saving money on the replacement is a good idea)
  - legitster 3y ago
    You have no idea what you are talking about. Look up used tire shops in your city. To OP's point, most of the used tires are nearly brand new tires that are getting tossed out because 1 of the set had a flat. So I am rolling on $300 Hanook tires with 95% of their tread life, and I only paid $50 a tire (including install). These are also mom & pop businesses that are actively preventing waste. I made the switch to used tires and have never looked back.
    - bombcar 3y ago
      Used tires are great, especially if you're in a city of almost any moderate size or larger. If you're in a small town, the hassle of finding the right size may be enough to make the new tires worth it. Either way, you can almost always find a "free install" somewhere.
  - bongodongobob 3y ago
    You're just wrong all around here.
onemoresoop 3y ago
Does replacing only two tires on each side not work in this case?
- bluGill 3y ago
  You want to replace fronts or rears at the same time, not sides.
  - onemoresoop 3y ago
    Could you please explain why is that?
    - BoorishBears 3y ago
      Front tires have matching functionality, back tires have matching functionality, regardless of drivetrain. You don't want differing capacity for the same function (steering, braking, or acceleration) on the left and right side or the car will pull to one side.
    - legitster 3y ago
      The suspension of the car is designed to distribute weight to make the car ride evenly. Even small diameter differences across your car might send the weight to one side. Best case you prematurely wear the tires. Worse case it creates unsafe handling characteristics when turning. In contrast the regularly tilts forwards and back, and little changes back and forth don't affect steering.
wtracy 3y ago
The last time I had to replace four tires at once, the mechanic could no longer source the model of tire that my car had, and refused to mix tire models on my car.
nradov 3y ago
You can just change one tire, but you need to shave the tread down to match the depth of the others or else it will damage the drive train (mismatched rotation speeds). This is particularly important for AWD vehicles due to wear on the differentials. Costco doesn't offer that service. But you can order a shaved replacement from Tire Rack and they'll ship it to a local shop for installation. This works fine but takes a few days so it's only practical if you can leave the vehicle parked. https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/can-tires-be-shaved-to-match-tread-depths-on-allwheel-drive-fourwheel-drive-vehicles https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/can-tires-be-shaved-...
sandworm101 3y ago
>> After research found out that if you have some mileage on your tires, you can't just change one You go played by the mechanic. Even if the tread depth thing was an issue, you could have swapped out two rather than four. Unless you are racing, your car will be fine with slightly different treads rear and front. The reality is that most cars are like that anyway. Fronts often wear more than rears these days. So unless you are rotating your tires every month, tread depths will be different no matter what you do.
- legitster 3y ago
  If OP has an AWD the mechanic has to swap out all four.
  - sandworm101 3y ago
    The AWD argument is one of those things that sounds logical but really isn't. Lots of AWD vehicles, I would say most AWD vehicles, are driving around with slightly different sized tired front-to-rear. Fronts just wear faster than rears. So within a few miles even a brand new car will have slightly smaller fronts than rear. The diff will be fine. Think of this scenario. What happens when someone sits in the back seat of a car? That compresses the rear tires slightly, imparting a slightly a different radius. Many cars will ask you to increase rear PSI to compensate, but nobody ever does. Are diffs failing for this? Nope. AWD cars and trucks manage carrying a random number of rear passengers just fine without any adjustment to tire radii.
    - legitster 3y ago
      I am not an expert on the sorts of computer chicanery that goes into AWD systems. But there is quite a big difference between the normal discrepancies that happen while driving and throwing in one or two brand new tires. Especially given that AWDs are already supposed to account for things like wheel slippage and power distribution. Besides, regardless if it's a myth - doing it will void your warranty, it's a requirement in every AWD service manual, and any tire guy caught doing it will be held liable if your diff blows up later. No mechanic or tire shop will agree to swapping out just two.
Der_Einzige 3y ago
So, I straight up don't get how this works but there's a tire shop called "discount tire" which "insures" tires for such a nominal fee that I couldn't believe it. I've gone through three sets of tires now for a price of approximately ~40$ each set (the new sets keep insurance). This is for a Lexus. That tire shop has to have lost a whole lot of money on my car, but they have no issues with this policy at all. Did I just get extremely lucky? Is this the norm? Tires seem really expensive but somehow I'm not paying the fees and my tires are good quality goodyears too.
- bombcar 3y ago
  Many places "insure" the tire to a certain amount depending on road wear. Most people forget about the "tire insurance" and never claim, even if they could, so it's basically free money. They give you new tires because it doesn't cost them anything, they get paid. Discount considers it part of their marketing, so they actually have a pretty decent one: https://www.discounttire.com/customer-service/certificates https://www.discounttire.com/customer-service/certificates It IS limited to 3 years.

by Jun8 3y ago

kurthr 3y ago

Unless you have a lot of wear on your tires, or you're driving an AWD, it's unusual to need to replace more than 2 tires. The argument on AWD is that it might cause more expensive increased wear on the AWD system in off-road conditions. If you're only driving on roads this probably isn't such a big deal, and some sports cars don't even have the same size tires front/back. Most nails and screws (1/8" or 3mm) in the middle of the tire can be patched (if you're not driving >100mph), but that was one BIG nail! Side walls really can't be safely patched, and most places won't patch anything even close.

HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
I heard a loud clicking noise while driving to work one day and pulled over to check. Had an "eggbeater-type" mixer sticking out of my tire sidewall. Shop asked if they could have it for their countertop display of weird stuff they pulled out of tires. Anyway, they recommended replacing both front tires, but I only did the one and it was fine. I understand the reasoning, I just don't agree with it because tires simply don't wear at the same rate.
whaleofatw2022 3y ago
Above is semi dependent on the AWD system. If it is one of the 'typical' ones you see on something like a Ford Escape or Chevy Blazer where it activates on slippage, you are probably OK on normal roads as long as the wear isn't extreme. But if it's something with a 50/50 default split or other 'always on' fanciness, tires are cheaper than Diffs.

xeromal 3y ago

You can avoid this by having a full-sized spare and rotating it in during your tire rotations. It's what I do so if one goes to shit, you still have 4 even ones left. If you never have a failure, you get much better mileage because one of your tires always gets to rest.

bongodongobob 3y ago

That's only true for AWD. Otherwise it's 2. Also, consider buying used for a fraction of the price. Plenty of cars with good tires end up in junkyards. I've never bought new tires.

bluGill 3y ago
If you do not have free labor and time used tires are not worth it. You don't save much money and you have to replace them sooner which means even more time of yours spent. Used tires make sense for used car dealers where they have the equipment and can tell a mechanic to do this "when you have otherwise free time". In that case you can replace worn out tires with only half used tires and since you won't see the car again you don't lose anything. (nobody would buy the car with worn out tires so you have to replace them, but saving money on the replacement is a good idea)
- legitster 3y ago
  You have no idea what you are talking about. Look up used tire shops in your city. To OP's point, most of the used tires are nearly brand new tires that are getting tossed out because 1 of the set had a flat. So I am rolling on $300 Hanook tires with 95% of their tread life, and I only paid $50 a tire (including install). These are also mom & pop businesses that are actively preventing waste. I made the switch to used tires and have never looked back.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    Used tires are great, especially if you're in a city of almost any moderate size or larger. If you're in a small town, the hassle of finding the right size may be enough to make the new tires worth it. Either way, you can almost always find a "free install" somewhere.
- bongodongobob 3y ago
  You're just wrong all around here.

onemoresoop 3y ago

Does replacing only two tires on each side not work in this case?

bluGill 3y ago
You want to replace fronts or rears at the same time, not sides.
- onemoresoop 3y ago
  Could you please explain why is that?
  - BoorishBears 3y ago
    Front tires have matching functionality, back tires have matching functionality, regardless of drivetrain. You don't want differing capacity for the same function (steering, braking, or acceleration) on the left and right side or the car will pull to one side.
  - legitster 3y ago
    The suspension of the car is designed to distribute weight to make the car ride evenly. Even small diameter differences across your car might send the weight to one side. Best case you prematurely wear the tires. Worse case it creates unsafe handling characteristics when turning. In contrast the regularly tilts forwards and back, and little changes back and forth don't affect steering.

wtracy 3y ago

The last time I had to replace four tires at once, the mechanic could no longer source the model of tire that my car had, and refused to mix tire models on my car.

nradov 3y ago

You can just change one tire, but you need to shave the tread down to match the depth of the others or else it will damage the drive train (mismatched rotation speeds). This is particularly important for AWD vehicles due to wear on the differentials. Costco doesn't offer that service. But you can order a shaved replacement from Tire Rack and they'll ship it to a local shop for installation. This works fine but takes a few days so it's only practical if you can leave the vehicle parked. https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/can-tires-be-shaved-to-match-tread-depths-on-allwheel-drive-fourwheel-drive-vehicles https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/can-tires-be-shaved-...

sandworm101 3y ago

>> After research found out that if you have some mileage on your tires, you can't just change one You go played by the mechanic. Even if the tread depth thing was an issue, you could have swapped out two rather than four. Unless you are racing, your car will be fine with slightly different treads rear and front. The reality is that most cars are like that anyway. Fronts often wear more than rears these days. So unless you are rotating your tires every month, tread depths will be different no matter what you do.

legitster 3y ago
If OP has an AWD the mechanic has to swap out all four.
- sandworm101 3y ago
  The AWD argument is one of those things that sounds logical but really isn't. Lots of AWD vehicles, I would say most AWD vehicles, are driving around with slightly different sized tired front-to-rear. Fronts just wear faster than rears. So within a few miles even a brand new car will have slightly smaller fronts than rear. The diff will be fine. Think of this scenario. What happens when someone sits in the back seat of a car? That compresses the rear tires slightly, imparting a slightly a different radius. Many cars will ask you to increase rear PSI to compensate, but nobody ever does. Are diffs failing for this? Nope. AWD cars and trucks manage carrying a random number of rear passengers just fine without any adjustment to tire radii.
  - legitster 3y ago
    I am not an expert on the sorts of computer chicanery that goes into AWD systems. But there is quite a big difference between the normal discrepancies that happen while driving and throwing in one or two brand new tires. Especially given that AWDs are already supposed to account for things like wheel slippage and power distribution. Besides, regardless if it's a myth - doing it will void your warranty, it's a requirement in every AWD service manual, and any tire guy caught doing it will be held liable if your diff blows up later. No mechanic or tire shop will agree to swapping out just two.

Der_Einzige 3y ago

So, I straight up don't get how this works but there's a tire shop called "discount tire" which "insures" tires for such a nominal fee that I couldn't believe it. I've gone through three sets of tires now for a price of approximately ~40$ each set (the new sets keep insurance). This is for a Lexus. That tire shop has to have lost a whole lot of money on my car, but they have no issues with this policy at all. Did I just get extremely lucky? Is this the norm? Tires seem really expensive but somehow I'm not paying the fees and my tires are good quality goodyears too.

bombcar 3y ago
Many places "insure" the tire to a certain amount depending on road wear. Most people forget about the "tire insurance" and never claim, even if they could, so it's basically free money. They give you new tires because it doesn't cost them anything, they get paid. Discount considers it part of their marketing, so they actually have a pretty decent one: https://www.discounttire.com/customer-service/certificates https://www.discounttire.com/customer-service/certificates It IS limited to 3 years.