Two tyres on axle - different wear

To replace both would be the ideal, but who lives in an ideal world?

For most practical purposes, having one front tyre a different age or manufacturer than the other would be undetectable by 99.9% of drivers. You get used to the feel of your car as it corners, brakes etc, and drive accordingly. Well, most of us do.

Steve

it is not necessary to have the tyres the same age, make or style, but it is preferable.

Broadly speaking, to be legal the tyres should be the same (or very close) nominal size and type of construction (crossply/radial), be suitable for the type and use of the vehicle (speed rating etc.), free of damage, with a certain amount of tread, fairly evenly worn and correctly fitted and inflated.

Personally, I would rather have a pair of the same make, type and age on an axle, and if possible the same tyre all round.

In practice the average driver may never notice any discrepancy, until he/she needs that last tiny bit of grip, that only a pair of good tyres in good condition can give.

mrcheerful

Some 4X4 cars used to dislike having uneven different tyres; causing gearbox problems. However any tyre on any corner is posible providing they are all radial or all x-ply ( rare these days). Having said that, the same tyre or tread pattern would be preferable to give predictable performance from each corner under stres conditions ( dont want em to fail at the most important point ! )

If they're the driving wheels, it's preferable that they are the same diameter. Ie, both with the same degree of wear.

IMO, both should be the same make and specification. Different tyres have different charactristics, under braking, and corneriing etc, which is why I would never have different makes or types on one axle. Especially on the front wheels. If one has better stopping power than the other, it could cause a spin under heavy braking. Less of a worry of course if the car has full ABS. That is the ideal. In practice few drivers would notice any difference from having different tyres on one axle, providing they were of similar construction. Mike.

I presume this is to minimise the affect on the differential. This might be a consideration on a limited-slip diff, but is of no consequence on a normal (full-slip) diff.

In fact, when VW Kombis ran reduction boxes at the rear wheel (pre-1968), the replacement set of reduction gears often gave a different ratio on that side. This never caused any problems whatsoever.

John

The message from "paulfoel" contains these words:

I've had cars rendered almost undriveable by this - but then I've had some where it was undetectable.

Of consequence or not, it's not desirable, but you're forgetting the difference it can also make to braking and cornering grip. Even more so in wet conditions. I maintain that a car that has even wear, one make tyres on each axle, is inherently safer than one with different makes and rates of wear. I believe that to the extent that last Tuesday I replaced both rear tyres on my BM at a cost of £200, because Monday evening 1 tyre was ruined by a screw. At the time both had about 4 mm depth of tread left. Mike.

I agree that it's not desirable. I'm saying that the action on the diff isn't _undesirable_ either.

I'm not forgetting that, and I agree with you that the difference in grip could be the undoing of someone. I was commenting on the specific matter of the driving wheels being mentioned. If that advice was alluding to grip and traction issues under applied torque, then I agree that even wear is more desirable.

John

I would have thaught I'd made that clear in my original post,when I went on to explain my reasoning. My point is a simple one. Odd tyres on one axle creates an imbalance in a cars handling. That applies to front or rear wheel drive cars. An imbalance that could make all the difference in a critical situation. That is all I'm really saying. By the sound of it you agree with me, which makes me wonder why you appear to be reading more into my post than is actually there. Mike.