Radial tires

That sounds like an excellent idea to me. Tire place should be able to find a close match.

I'm guessing, but the replace-in-pairs may have come from the early days of radials replacing bias-ply to avoid have two different kinds of tire on the same axle. Perhaps someone knows more?

Pete

Well, I don't know about that for sure but it sounds plausible.

What I do know is that I sure as shit wouldn't be buying a used tyre for any purpose other than an emergency spare.

lol. And what is the big deal in "not" buying a used tire ???

If we're supposed to replace radials in pairs, then why don't any of the tire warranties provide for this?

I'd be reluctant to buy a used radial because they can look good on the outside but have internal damage, like tread separation, because their treads last so long. Of course I'd make an exception for tires bought from In The Name Of Jesus Guaranteed Used Tires (a real tire dealer here) because they're made with holy rubber.

It depends on the tire, but it's not nearly as important as it used to be.

Still, if you don't have a full-sized spare, this is a good chance to get one. Get a new pair of tires, then a junkyard rim, and put the worn-but-usable tire on the junkyard rim and make it your spare.

--scott

I tried this once, I thought I was being so smart and helpful, and then I discovered that Nissan Sentras don't have a spare tire well big enough to put a real tire in :(

nate

I wouldnt replace a ruined radial tire with anything but the same brand and model and about the same amount of wear as the other tire on the axle. And I would only do that if I were forced to. Admittedly, I am nitpicky about tires.

It doesnt cause the remaining three tires to wear, so much. It can give you a car that is unwieldy under rain, snow, and slippery conditions. It was always thought that if the rolling diameter were not well matched to the other tire on the differential bearing axle, the differential gears might wear prematurely.

I wouldnt worry so much about the differential gears, but I do worry about a car that might skid or lose control under harsh conditions.

Does she have a new or at least good spare of the same make and tread design? If so, rotate it into the set, against a tire of similar condition.

You dont want somebody to die for the price of a tire or two... My $0.02

I don't know about most people but you sure wouldn't catch me putting a used tire on a car and sending one of my loved ones out in it. A person is worth more to me than a potential $25 savings.

If you can't replace the failed tire with the same brand and type then you should replace them both on that axle. Different tires have different handling characteristics. In bad weather or in an emergency situation those differences could cause her an issue. Again, it would probably never make a difference but that just isn't a chance I would take with another person driving the car.

Steve B.

It's pretty easy to tell if a tire is ok. I've bought many used tires and have never had a problem with them. On the other hand, I've bought many new tires and have had many problems with them. Ever hear of a little recall called Firestone Wilderness AT? How about Firestone 500's? Or Firestone Load Range E Steel Tex (3 out of 4 coming apart at high speed)? If a used tire is bad you will probably know it within the first 50 miles if you didn't notice the bulges and puncture repairs before then.

I don't think I have ever had a car that has a full size spare. Now that the group has reminded me, she does.

Thanks everyone.

If it is so easy to tell that a tire is OK who bought all those tires you are talking about having been recalled? I'm sure that if it was as easy to tell a bad tire as you say everyone who bought said recalled tires would have immediately gone back to the shop / dealer and had them replaced with something else...

The fact is that those tires felt fine up until a few moments before they disintegrated. I'm sure lots of people have good luck with used tires but it doesn't make sense to me. The mounting and balancing is the same price as a new tire... the tires are what.. half price? You have no idea why the used tires are not on the original car anymore or what the guy who traded them in hit on his way to the tire store. A decent new tire for anything I drive can be had for around $50. I'm not willing to risk the family to save $25. It's all a game of chance. Any time I can spend a couple extra $$ to stack the odds more in my favor I will gladly do so.

Steve B.

In 36 years of driving I've used a spare tire twice.

Full sized once. Midget once.

No need for a full size unless you live near a nail factory or drive on recaps.

Actually, you did know there was something wrong with those "new" tires before they came apart. Usually they were impossible to balance but the manufacturer and tire shops just say "there's nothing wrong with them". I'm just stating my own experience with used tires, never a problem'; with new tires, many times there have been problems. Main point is that new tires are no guarantee anymore then used are.

I dont think so. There are very long stretches here in the Southwest where you will not see a service station nor a living human for many tens of miles. Includes northern Mexico.

You had better have good tires and a decent spare to get you back to civilization.

I also carry a tire repair kit, and a pump and/or a FixAFlat can.

There are places you really dont want to be left with a donut on your axle.

My experience is different from yours. In twenty-seven years of driving I have probably had about ten punctures - some of them slow punctures which were only noticeable several hours after last driving the car, when I returned to it and find that it was sitting on a flat tyre; others were fast punctures like when I hit a kerb (forced off the road by an oncoming car on the wrong side of the road) or a nail.

Almost every one of those punctures was discovered late at night at the beginning of a long journey, when a space-saver wheel would have been useless because of the restriction on how far you are allowed to drive on it (and it would have been tedious to have to drive a couple of hundred miles at 50 mph). Space-saver wheels are only useful if you get a puncture while the repair garages are still open.

I'd like to see space-saver wheels made illegal and all manufacturers required to supply a full-serviceable spare wheel which may be freely interchanged with any of the normal wheels and used as far and as fast as the normal wheels to allow the journey to continue without restriction so you can get the flat tyre replaced when it is convenient and when the repair garages are open.

Honda Civics now come with no spare whatsoever; for minor punctures you squirt in a temporary filler to allow you to drive a short distance at low speed (as for a space-saver); for a severe puncture you have to wait for the RAC, AA or other roadside assistance service to come and tow you to a garage (assuming one is open). That's the official line, as told to me by a Honda salesman. Why would I want to wait for an hour or so for the RAC to arrive, when with a proper wheel I could be on my way in ten minutes or so?

I have a different reason for liking full sized spares... I am a project manager for a major supplier of life safety equipment (e.g. fire alarms and sprinkler systems.) As such I am always visiting job sites, many of them new construction. Not a tire-friendly environment... I seem to pick up a screw or nail at least once a year.

At one point in my past, I was actually working at a screw factory... I'm hard on tires.

nate

I guess I have had nearly two dozen flats before.Nails, screws, glass, things that looked like shrapnel.I give my old scrap metal and empty beer cans to a buddy of mine so he can haul that stuff to a scrap metal yard.Those places are some of the best places in the world to get flat tires. cuhulin

When I worked in a production machine shop I ran an Automatic Screw Machine and I wasn't making screws.

This kind of thing is not really new. As you may recall, 1963-1966 Rambler Classic and Ambassador 3-seat station wagons did not come with a spare tire. The factory provided "captive-air" tires, which had inner air chambers to provide support in the event of a puncture.