4 or just 1?

[Payback45]

Long story short my Wifes 02 L might need a need back tire and I was wondering if they cant repair it with a patch job will she need to buy 4 brand new tires instead of one new tire? The AWD thing.

[AJM]

Lies all lies.

[Sarra]

Umm, just replace them all. Ulness you want to be replacing transmission parts.

[SilentRacer]

As far as im concerned thats a bunch of crap. Replace one.

[Reason]

Sarra is right, the the diameter of the tires are too far off you will burn the center diff. If it's not on the sidewall they should be able to plug it. If not replace all 4 and save yourself any headaches in the future.

[Plays_with_Toys]

how old are the other tires?

[Huffer]

if the other 3 are all badly worn, replace all four. If they're new, replace one.

If they're somewhat in between, replace one but have it shaved to match.

[Payback45]

Having AWD sucks when it comes to buying new tires. Its not quite on the side wall but it is pretty close. I will take the car in today and see what they say. Thanks.

[sybir]

If it's borderline (other tires are half-worn or whatever) toss it on the left front. I nuke that tire first because of railing onramps anyways, so it wears faster ;)

The big problem comes not from a side to side imbalance that minor, but from front to rear (when you do 2 new tires and have 2 worn ones) because it effs with the center diff trying to balance power output. You have one front corner that gets more abuse anyways, just move the new tire to that corner and you'll be fine.

That said, I keep spare half-worn tires around for my setups......heh.

[Sarra]

I ran 3 half worn tires and one flat spotted, bald tire on my Legacy L, and it was fine for a while. Then I got new tires.

I would certainly not recommend it, especially on what it did to handling. :( Totally unpredictable. I kept the balder tire on the rear of the car, though.