*Sigh* new tire?

[Nite_net]

Hey guys,

As i value your opinions all the time here's what happened to me this time...

I was driving and didn't realize my tire was very low.

I realized this when i got out the vehicle and my door hit the ground.

(I wondered why there was so much sway to my vehicle...)

Now the tire was extremely hot...

Yet, when i re-inflated it, it showed no signs of buldging, no signs of damage, and the heat quickly disipated.

My question is, seeing as how i work at 6 in the morning, and that the spare tire on this car is nowhere to be found...

Do i call in tomorrow and say "I'm not coming to work because i have a tire i need to look at" and go to a tire shop and have them inspect it... potentially spend another 100$...

Or do it just suck it up and think to myself "oh well" and keep going?

These tires are less than 3 months old, so it's really really hard to deal with the idea of buying ANOTHER new tire.

[MCarp22]

I'd want to find out where the hell the air went in the first place. You could probably still get to work ok, depending on where / how far.

[Huffer]

Probably a leaking valve stem or just a bad seal on the tire.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Don't replace just one tire. You'd have to do all 4 if you get new tires on an AWD system.

But I think you'll be alright, it sounds like your tire just needs a small repair. A good tire shop will be able to fix it for you cheaply.

[02LGT]

go to mavis ask them to fix it. should be around $20 for patch or plug...plugs are cheaper than patching usually tho.

[Nite_net]

Thanks guys.
I made it to work without any problems, checked the tire again. She's good.

- I'll bring it into the tire place on Monday and monitor the tire hardcore until then.

[Plays_with_Toys]

Discount tire always repairs flats for free, even if you didn't buy it there. I imagine with only 3 months of use if it was needed you could've replaced a single tire and been fine.

[Sarra]

Don't replace just one tire. You'd have to do all 4 if you get new tires on an AWD system.

But I think you'll be alright, it sounds like your tire just needs a small repair. A good tire shop will be able to fix it for you cheaply.

Not such a big deal on cars with open diffs, but still not something you want to do.

I ran my BE with one odd tire. But then again, all of the tires were bald. I wouldn't recommend running a single odd tire, it really messed things up (alignment, but no diff problems).

[Wiscon_Mark]

It's not the front & rear diffs that can have problems, it's the Center Differential.

[rougeben83]

He's had his new tires for only a short period of time. I don't think he's had them worn down sufficiently to warrant all 4 tires needing to be replaced.

As long as your new tire is within 1/32" in tread depth of your current tires, you'll be fine.

Even if they're worn down past that, you can still get a new tire shaved to the right depth for a few dollars. Tire-rack can have the tire you ordered from them shaved before they even ship it to you, for example.

[Sarra]

It's not the front & rear diffs that can have problems, it's the Center Differential.

Yeah, and you have to have a pretty big gap in tire sizes to hurt the center diff. With 3 tires with hardly any ware and 1 tire with no wear, it owuldn't make a difference.

[Plays_with_Toys]

^^^ you think? Hmmm... I need to figure out what to do with my winters. One is "unrepairable" because an internal tear (about 1/4" long) exposed some chords. They won't patch the tire though. I don't think studded tires would be easy to shave...

[Huffer]

It's not the front & rear diffs that can have problems, it's the Center Differential.

Yeah, and you have to have a pretty big gap in tire sizes to hurt the center diff. With 3 tires with hardly any ware and 1 tire with no wear, it owuldn't make a difference.

With all due respect, bullcrap. You need to read some FSM's before giving out misleading information.

[subyluvr2212]

Don't replace just one tire. You'd have to do all 4 if you get new tires on an AWD system.

I'm glad to see someone actually has this concern, as most people don't give a crap.

But if his tires are less than 3 months old, he'd probably be okay with getting one new tire. And Sarra is kinda right in one way, the open diff should take up the slack in whatever miniscule difference there is and cause no harm to the center diff.

So, in my opinion, be happy this happened as soon as it did, because you should be able to get away with putting one new tire on.

Me, I have a nail in one of my tires, and my tires are over a year old, with over 20k on them, and about 50% tread life because I drive like an a**hole. Thankfully, the tire isn't leaking air, but if it were, I'd have to replace all 4 tires because of that one, because my tires are worn down too much to get away with replacing one.

[Jedi Taxi]

If you drive hard enough to push rubber valve stems out, your driving hard enough. put in some stainless steel valve stems and call it good. unless the problem isn't the valve stem that is. what kind of weather do you have where you live?

Oh, and is it just me, or does Vancouver rock compaired to Montreal?

[Perdue]

yeah...unless he's went through half the life of the tires in 3 months (which would be a lot of driving, I wouldn't worry so much about it. I'd say measure the tread of the new tire against that of the used tires, and if it's not off by a lot, you'll be ok. I think the stigma of, "you'll screw up your center diff" comes from people having tires that are almost worn out getting a flat, then replacing only one tire. I can see where that much difference would do something.

[rougeben83]

^^^ you think? Hmmm... I need to figure out what to do with my winters. One is "unrepairable" because an internal tear (about 1/4" long) exposed some chords. They won't patch the tire though. I don't think studded tires would be easy to shave...

Studded tires can be shaved; they don't come studded from the factory so as long as you buy them without the studs installed first, you can have them shaved, then have the studs installed.

[rougeben83]

It's not the front & rear diffs that can have problems, it's the Center Differential.

Yeah, and you have to have a pretty big gap in tire sizes to hurt the center diff. With 3 tires with hardly any ware and 1 tire with no wear, it owuldn't make a difference.

With all due respect, bullcrap. You need to read some FSM's before giving out misleading information.

Subaru themselves say 1/4" difference in circumference, which translates to 1/32" difference in thread, is the maximum, so for the sake of a better argument, just stick with those numbers for determining whether to get 1 or all 4 replaced.

[Perdue]

hmmm...

1/4 = 8/32, right?

So for an overall diameter difference of 1/4" diameter, you'd need 1/8" difference in tread, which translates to 4/32". Right?

[LegacyRob]

hmmm...

1/4 = 8/32, right?

So for an overall diameter difference of 1/4" diameter, you'd need 1/8" difference in tread, which translates to 4/32". Right?

I would have to agree with this statement!! I'm no math major but it makes perfect sence to me.

[ivwarrior]

hmmm...

1/4 = 8/32, right?

So for an overall diameter difference of 1/4" diameter, you'd need 1/8" difference in tread, which translates to 4/32". Right?

Right. But Subaru doesn't spec a 1/4" difference in diameter, they specify a 1/4" difference in CIRCUMFERENCE. Big difference.

[Sarra]

assuming you're talking about some all season tires, you shouldn't get htat much wear in 3 months. If you hvae sticky summer tires, then yeah, get the new one shaved and be done with it.

I ran three tires that were completely bald and one tire that was marginally bald, and after 4 months, the center diff was fine. your FSM might be god, but my experience says otherwise. There must have been half an inch of difference in diameter different between those tires...

I also hated that BE. It had been beaten on before I bought it, and I trashed it. My BK is a totally different story. Basically, I'm not recommending anyone run on one 195 and 3 205 size tires, but if you really have to, it's not going to die overnight.

[Huffer]

Not overnight - but it will accelerate the wear and tear unnecessarily.
So it's still bad advice.

[MR.MCSICK]

You can replace only 2 tires. Dealerships do it and I have never heard of someones center diff going bad. Think about how many old ladies drive legacies. Do you honestly think they put 4 on every time?? :roll:

[Wiscon_Mark]

I honestly think that they probably wait on new tires until all 4 absolutely have to be replaced anyways.

[dodik]

In my opinion it doesnt matter much because we run higher pressure in front and lower in the rear meaning front tires are always taller even when all four are same size.

[ivwarrior]

1. Some dealerships do all sorts of things. That doesn't make them acceptable.

2. As for the pressure difference front to rear, remember there's also more weight over the front tires, so Subaru likely specs the higher front pressure to keep the overall tire height the same front to rear.

3. In the end, it's your money. Spend a little more now and rest assured you did the right thing, or cheap out now and risk spending a lot more later replacing broken parts. Your money, you decide, but don't come back here whining we didn't warn ya.

[Wiscon_Mark]

IVwarrior hit it on the head.

[MR.MCSICK]

Ill take my chances, if theres a lesson, ill learn it.