coolarrow

Hey fellas; i popped my front left tire after rolling over an ice pick that someone had thoughtfully tossed in the road and therefore need one new tire. im wondering if the single new tire will cause any problems with the transmission and tourqe differentials. i had about 2800 miles on the tires at the time i lost the front left so there is still a lot of tread on the other three. maybe i should spend another 300 to get two tires?

lowkey

iTrader: (5)

2800 miles is not much. If it was me I would not get two, but I would put the new one on the back axle.

fryedchikin

Just buy the one and get it shaved down to match the others if needed.

STi2EvoX

Have the tire shaved down to match the others or the seemingly little difference in treadwear WILL cause the differentials to potentially overheat and fail.

Noize

iTrader: (24)

Dude...
Not on a 2800 mile car. There are tons of VIIIs and IXs running around that the owners were lazy to rotate. I've seen cars with totally dead tires and perfect tires mismatched with no issue whatsoever. Its not ideal for handling, but its not going to make the center diff overheat.

STi2EvoX

Depends on the car and how much wear there is on the tires but I have read cases where there were diff failures at very low mileage differences on swapped tires. It just depends on the kind of diffs used and the amount of difference in tire wear. And it's not just the center diff that is of concern, it's the limited slips. If the tires are rotating at different speeds constantly for prolonged periods of time then you may as well be doing donuts in a parking lot. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.

EDIT: From the link that fryedchikin supplied, there is a great example of how only a small difference in tread depth can make a big difference. Here is the most pertinent part of that article:

"As an example of different tire diameters resulting from tires worn to different tread depths, we'll compare two 225/45R17-sized tires, a new tire with its original tread depth of 10/32-inch and a second tire worn to 8/32-inch of remaining tread depth. The new 225/45R17-sized tire has a calculated diameter of 24.97", a circumference of 78.44" and will roll 835 times each mile. The same tire worn to 8/32-inch of remaining tread depth is calculated to be 1/8" shorter with a diameter of 24.84", have a circumference of 78.04" and will roll 839 times per mile. While the difference of 1/8" in overall diameter doesn't seem excessive, the resulting 4 revolutions per mile difference can place a continuous strain on the tires and vehicle's driveline. Obviously, the greater the difference in the tires' circumferences, the greater the resulting strain."

coolarrow

the owners manual does mention the differentials overheating with different tire treads. to avoid any issues i will probably replace both front tires. thanks for the input!!!

fryedchikin

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...currentpage=43

thrshr

As stated, 2800 miles is so minute that it won't make a difference.

Bighec

iTrader: (9)

You guys are nuts!!! I would rather spend the extra cash, and buy two tires instead of shaving down a perfectly good one! Just save the good tire that you replaced, and you've got one for the parts bin!

mksevo

Parts bin. what chance do you have of ever needing the partial worn tire. might as well throw it away or stick it on your old trailer. 2800 miles is a short distance but if you are worried. the shaving the Tire is the appropriate answer and they can match you old tire. since we dont here of frequent DIFF failure and you know alot of people are not **** about matching tread or tire age , the LSD is very forgiving. I think you would have to have a moderate tire size mismatch and if this is heat related failure it would probably need to drive for greater than 24 hours straight before high heat build up would do damage. case in point. most people never drive for more than 1-2 hours constant without stopping and starting, each time you would alow the diff to cool and no heat damage would occur. your Diff is already design to be self cooling with just the normal driving and slippage to get you around every corner.

Bighec

iTrader: (9)

I would never junk a tire with only 2800 miles on it. I don't make that kind of money to be doing things like that. I was just trying to say that I would never shave tread off of a brand new tire.

goevox

iTrader: (10)

yaeh your ok with 2800 miles.

bryonboals

iTrader: (23)

It also depends on what kind of tire. 50 wear tire 2800 miles is 1/5 of the life