Re: Alignment and Mismatched tires

[structured]

So, for reasons that would take to long to type here, I am running one old tire and one new tire on my left rear and right rear wheels respectively. They are the same size but from different companies.

After the fiasco that led up to me running this setup, my alignment changed significantly and is way off.

My question is this:

Is it possible that, even though the two tires are the same nominal size, the fact that they are from two different manufacturers and one is old while the other is new could be causing my poor allignment issues? Or is it more likely that it was cause by something else?

Then, if it is the difference in tires, what damage could I be causing by continuing to drive the car (aside from excessive tire ware)?

[Collin]

If the size difference is drastic enough you could eventually explode your differential. I wouldn't really be too worried though since they are the same tire size (unless one is down to the belt and the other has enough tread for offroad use).

[Farbin Kaiber]

Worst case, you are working with a radial pull in the old tire. It would make you feel the car pulls, or, pushes. Set your pressures to the same spec, and if there is a heavy difference in tread, you will also get some push/pull. If you didn't get an alignment, nor have specs to post, I'd assume tire issue.

- ex-goodyear dude

[delatlanta1281]

I know that on my Jetta pos, I blew a tire and just put 1 new one on. There is about 20k difference from the orig. 3 to the new one and it pulls a bit. I moved it to the rear, and it isn't that bad now though.

[daniel]

with two different kinds of tires, regardless of wear, one is probably going to have a bit more grip than the other one.

[Farbin Kaiber]

plus there are discrepancies in the width, and, height of the same p-metric size tire.

[euroshark]

There can be huge (sometimes) discrepancies in tire size from one manufacturer to another between tires that are the same size. For example, Yokohama tends to build them narrow, Michelin tends to build them wide. Like Farbin said, there can be differences in circumference too, and if it's too big of a difference you run the risk of screwing up your differential, especially if it's a limited slip unit.

Just buy a couple of tires.

[structured]

Thanks for the replies.

I only bought the one because it was significantly cheaper than towing 30 miles. The reason why I ask about damage is because I need to drive to Maryland in two days. I can't get four snow on before then, which is what I want to do.

[joshh]

Also consider that different tires plant the weight of the car on the ground differently. One tire having a stiffer sidewall than the other could do this.
You can have the car aligned perfectly but one tires pulls differently than the other.
You should at least have the same tires on the same side of the car (IE front and rear).

[ethree]

Thanks for the replies.

I only bought the one because it was significantly cheaper than towing 30 miles. The reason why I ask about damage is because I need to drive to Maryland in two days. I can't get four snow on before then, which is what I want to do.

You need AAA plus! 100 miles free of charge, except for the $85 yearly charge.

[euroshark]

Drive to MD and get some tires. As long as you aren't driving on them for a long time, you should be ok.