Replacing one rear tyre, will death follow?
Discussion
Powerful rear wheel drive car, one ruined rear tyre (thank you tin can), replace said tyre with new 8mm tread tyre.
Leave old rear tyre with say 5mm on the other side.
You SHOULD always replace tyres in pairs right? We've all heard that, handling balance, same amount of heat cycles, same age etc....
But what can go wrong?
I'm guessing increased chance of instability when aquaplaining?
Leave old rear tyre with say 5mm on the other side.
You SHOULD always replace tyres in pairs right? We've all heard that, handling balance, same amount of heat cycles, same age etc....
But what can go wrong?
I'm guessing increased chance of instability when aquaplaining?
Crombers said:
On auto BMWs this can stop the box from changing gear which is a royal pain in the backside as you have to paddle shift to sort it out.
I thought my box was well and truly knackered before realising mismatched tread depth was to blame.
How much difference in tread depth? I thought my box was well and truly knackered before realising mismatched tread depth was to blame.
In theory there is a difference in water cleareance with different thread depths thus a greater chance of loss of traction.
In reality will you notice? Maybe, maybe not. We have had differently worn wets on our ford for tests in the wet.
650bhp rwd no driver aids and nobody died.
/flame suit on/
Worth getting a part work equal to the opposite side?
In reality will you notice? Maybe, maybe not. We have had differently worn wets on our ford for tests in the wet.
650bhp rwd no driver aids and nobody died.
/flame suit on/
Worth getting a part work equal to the opposite side?
Definitely replace both or wet driving might get a bit dangerous. 5mm is still a fair bit but hit a patch of water and funny things might happen. I'd save it as a spare.
When I changed to non run flats I still had plenty of tread on the front tyres. But they were so hateful, I just binned them. I suspect the tyre man may have made a few quid out of them.
Below 6mm the performance in the wet drops quite dramatically. Below 3mm and it goes to rat s
t. The legal limit is pretty bloody lethal. I change mine before they hit 3mm (unless I forget to check like I've just done with the BM - oops. New rear shoes doing well!)
When I changed to non run flats I still had plenty of tread on the front tyres. But they were so hateful, I just binned them. I suspect the tyre man may have made a few quid out of them.
Below 6mm the performance in the wet drops quite dramatically. Below 3mm and it goes to rat s
t. The legal limit is pretty bloody lethal. I change mine before they hit 3mm (unless I forget to check like I've just done with the BM - oops. New rear shoes doing well!)Edited by Vladimir on Thursday 23 February 08:45
Vladimir said:
Definitely replace both or wet driving might get a bit dangerous. 5mm is still a fair bit but hit a patch of water and funny things might happen. I'd save it as a spare.
When I changed to non run flats I still had plenty of tread on the front tyres. But they were so hateful, I just binned them. I suspect the tyre man may have made a few quid out of them.
Below 6mm the performance in the wet drops quite dramatically. Below 3mm and it goes to rat st. The legal limit is pretty bloody lethal. I change mine before they hit 3mm (unless I forget to check like I've just done with the BM - oops. New rear shoes doing well!)
In 99.9% of road conditions and at legal speeds, tyres between 2mm-3mm will be absolutely fine.When I changed to non run flats I still had plenty of tread on the front tyres. But they were so hateful, I just binned them. I suspect the tyre man may have made a few quid out of them.
Below 6mm the performance in the wet drops quite dramatically. Below 3mm and it goes to rat s
t. The legal limit is pretty bloody lethal. I change mine before they hit 3mm (unless I forget to check like I've just done with the BM - oops. New rear shoes doing well!)Edited by Vladimir on Thursday 23 February 08:45
I've tracked cars with less than 3mm on seriously wet tracks and never aquaplaned.
Now if you wish to drive through big puddles at 90mph or use a wet autobahn then you may need the 5mm+ that you're talking about.
If you weren't posting this on PH I'd have said you work for a tyre company.
oyster said:
In 99.9% of road conditions and at legal speeds, tyres between 2mm-3mm will be absolutely fine.
I've tracked cars with less than 3mm on seriously wet tracks and never aquaplaned.
Now if you wish to drive through big puddles at 90mph or use a wet autobahn then you may need the 5mm+ that you're talking about.
If you weren't posting this on PH I'd have said you work for a tyre company.
Nope - just had the life of myself and family "saved" by a decent set of tyres with plenty of tread.I've tracked cars with less than 3mm on seriously wet tracks and never aquaplaned.
Now if you wish to drive through big puddles at 90mph or use a wet autobahn then you may need the 5mm+ that you're talking about.
If you weren't posting this on PH I'd have said you work for a tyre company.
Driving up the hill southbound on the M5 just past J19 in torrential rain. We were going along pretty slowly in the middle lane (lorries were even slower in the inside lane) when a Ford Ka overtook us on the outside lane at 70ish. Saw it lose control in standing water, spin, smash into the central reservation, then bounce into our path. Managed to steer round it with nothing more than a few choice swear words and a very raised pulse.
The tyres had about 6mm of tread on them and I've stuck to the same ones ever since - Continental Sport Contacts.
Had our tyres had less than 3mm of tread, I seriously doubt we'd have been okay. Plus tracks are generally well drained. A lot of roads aren't.
My experience is the opposite to your oyster, once my tyres have got down to 3mm in the past they start to become very unpredictable in the wet, with a much higher chance of aquaplaning etc.
Personally I'd change both and flog the 5mm on eBay just for simplicity's sake - next time they need replacing you can do both in a session rather than waiting another 3mm for the next one to wear down.
Personally I'd change both and flog the 5mm on eBay just for simplicity's sake - next time they need replacing you can do both in a session rather than waiting another 3mm for the next one to wear down.
Z4m from previous posting, not a disaster but it is a m diff and you will end up having different characteristics depending on which way you turn now. Might be quite tail happy and tend to drift to one side when in a straight line as well with the traction control off. If you leave the electronics on and don't drive it hard in the rain/snow etc. it would be fine. Probably find the new one wears down faster to the level of the old one as it sends more power to the side with more grip.
You've not said which car this is for, it matters on some which are sensitive to different rolling ratios, the BMW example has already been mentioned and I had this with tyres that were only a few mm difference on a 528. If you happen to be in a calibra 4x4 then you need to match all 4 within a few mm otherwise it wears out the xfer box. Or it could not matter on the car you have ....
gavgavgav said:
You've not said which car this is for, it matters on some which are sensitive to different rolling ratios, the BMW example has already been mentioned and I had this with tyres that were only a few mm difference on a 528. If you happen to be in a calibra 4x4 then you need to match all 4 within a few mm otherwise it wears out the xfer box. Or it could not matter on the car you have ....
I'm guessing it's the rather tasty 911?Crusoe said:
Z4m from previous posting, not a disaster but it is a m diff and you will end up having different characteristics depending on which way you turn now. Might be quite tail happy and tend to drift to one side when in a straight line as well with the traction control off. If you leave the electronics on and don't drive it hard in the rain/snow etc. it would be fine. Probably find the new one wears down faster to the level of the old one as it sends more power to the side with more grip.
In answer to the above yes it's a Z4M coupe.In full:
I replaced the passenger side rear as I bought the car with a knackered sidewall on that tyre the other week.
Passenger side rear new 8mm
Drivers side rear 6mm
Fronts both 6mm
All conti sport contacts m3 rated.
Track day at oulton park yesterday mixture of damp conditions (only say 12 dry laps)
So old tyres now down to (guess) 5mm, pulled into the drive & obviously ran over something as the sidewall is gashed (suspect flat rusty tin can found in road) & leaking rapidly on the tyre I replaced.
So I now need another new rear passenger side tyre.
Or both rears depending on your views....
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