If one side is considerably more worn (has a smaller rolling radius) or has a different tread pattern (i.e. it's a different brand) then yes it's certainly possible and by swapping the tyres round it's basically proved it. Also check the tyre pressures because a difference could also cause pulling.
Or conversely could even it out. But don't go too far from the 'recommended' pressures...
Do you have a new spare of a similar sort? If so, you could put the spare on the front.
Hi there,
I had my right, front tyre replaced yesterday and today on a 280 mile largely motorway based trip I noticed the car pulls to the left. Its not too bad, but after a while you notice your hand is holding the steering wheel more tightly than normal to counteract it. Not ideal.
I went back to the tyre dealer, and told them, and they just swapped the front wheels around. (The other front wheel is the best part of a year old and has done around 15,000 miles.) Sure enough the car now pulls to the right. The gent said that it could be expected with one new and one old tyre, and they might sort themselves out. Does that sound right?
Thanks for any advice.
All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM)
I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga Game reviews by Amiga players
Stick an extra 5 psi in the tyre on the side the car pulls to. That'll reduce the rolling resistance and even things up. When the tread wear is more evenly balanced the problem will probably go away.
You might like to check the old tyre so see if the wear is even across the tread. If the inner part of the tread is slightly more worn then this is what I would expect.
Uniformity of tyre construction is the most likely cause. New tyres for example have the bias mark on the sidewall of OE tyres so they are fitted to wheels with the red dot on the outside. This causes the bias to be cancelled to an extent because the tyres will either all pull outwards or all inwards when rotating. The manufacturing process never really produces a tyre that tracks true or one that exerts an equal force to the road for its whole circumference.
Gio
Apart for the bit about sorting themselves out, yes.
I'd always replace tyres in axle pairs if the good but worn tyre had done more than a couple of thousand miles.
A
Put it on the back. It will have less effect and the better tread should be at the back. If the spare wheel matches and has new rubber put that on with it. Move both rear tyres to the front and put the old front one in the boot or at rear if you have a spacesaver.
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I'd love to have that much spare cash to waste.
Its not a waste, its a safety issue - you will get uneven braking from it also and a higher likelyhood of lockup. If theres any major difference in tread on one axle its stupid to replace one only. If you MUST dabble with uneven tyre diameters and fudge things at least put it to the back where it will be less noticable generally.
Why do people assume tyres are not a saftey critical item when picking the cheapest and scrimping on them?
Why do people who drive high powered cars 'enthusiastically' assume others need the same level of grip?
FWIW It's not just you.
cheers, clive
You might not need the same level of grip to go, but what about when you want to stop :-)
Chris
Couldnt have put it better myself. I didnt scrimp and save on tyres when i owned a 44hp 1.1 litre front wheel drive, of course i dont now either. There is a vast difference in tyre braking capability and you, as a gentle, sensible driver may only find out the difference when you most need it - when someone else does something stupid and puts you at risk. I guarantee that when you pick yourself out of the side of the vehicle you couldnt avoid due you will wish you went for the tyres that were a little more pricey or hand left that nearly-dead tyre on when you changed the other one. That said, you have to draw a line somewhere i guess.
J
Mistake 1
Mistake 2
Time for bed lol.
J
Thing is those who advocate getting expensive tyres seem to be the ones who push the limits rather more, and thus are significantly more likely to put themselves in the situation you mention above.
So far my policy of getting cheap tyres appears to have worked very well. No problems caused by them. Note this is different to 'scrimping'. I'm not taking the piss with my tyre choices - I've never ended up with the brands mentioned on this ng as being crap though.
Like you say, you have to draw a line somewhere. You've drawn yours to allow a more enthusiastic driving style. Please don't assume your compromises are the same as everybody elses.
clive
My only assumption is that everyone wants to stop as quickly as possible in an emergency - i cant see how thats not top of anyones list of requirements for a tyre.
J
Your assumption is wrong, even for you - otherwise why aren't you fitting the stickiest of racing rubber to your car? Ans - it's too expensive.
The requirements are a balance between performance and cost - 'value' is the word often used to describe this balance. And the specific performance requirements vary between drivers, which is my original point.
clive
I've always gone for cheap tyres. Including on 200bhp RWD cars. But on them it was as much for fun as anything - the lack of grip was useful sometimes ;-)
Now I have a boring Mondeo and I've gone for mid range Vredestein tyres - about £50 a corner fitted for 195/60x15s IIRC, so not the cheapest size. They corner and especially stop far better than any of the cheapy cheap ones did. Amazingly better in the wet.
The definition of *value* may differ between drivers but performance requirements do *not*. Not in braking, everyones performance requirement is the shortest possible stopping distance. And since there is negligible difference in braking performance in my experience between a reasonably expensive road tyre and a semi-slick road legal tyre I balance it at where that performance curve levels out.
Since there is a noticable difference, in my experience again, between a reasonably expensive road tyre and a more budget tyre - I weight the performance higher than the cost in the equation but to a reasonable limit, i wont pay twice the price for a 5% increase in performance but i will pay 50% more for a 20% increase.
It just depends how you want to value your life - cheap, reasonable or expensive i suppose.
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