Need to replace a tire

Shel_B

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Just a short while ago I got a flat tire, right front. I discovered the sidewall was ripped open and the tire is unrepairable. My plan is to replace it with the same tire brand and model.

The tires on the car have about 7,500 miles on them. Rather than put the new tire on the RF, I thought I'd put it on one of the rear wheels and take a rear tire and use it on the RF. That way the front tires would be more equal in wear and the car would suffer the least amount of handling issues. The tires were just recently rotated, so the rears are pretty much the same as the front ...

That said, should I not be able to get the same tire, I'd get two that were similar so that each axle would have matching tires. I'd then take the odd good, used tire, buy a steelie, and use it as a spare, maybe get a few $$ for the temp spare and wheel. My plan was to eventually get new tires and wheels, and use one of the older wheels and tire in that way.

So, as far as placement of the new tires goes, am I on the right path? Any better ideas than what I've put forth? Thanks!
 
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I think you're right in terms of maintaining handling, which I can't argue against as a priority. The downside of putting a new tire on the rear of a FWD car is that it will likely never catch up to the older tires in terms of wear. In other words, it will live on the back of the car until the rest of the set is worn out, which complicates rotations.

The last time a similar thread came up, I looked on TireRack and found that they offer a shaving service, which would allow you to get a new replacement with the necessary amount of tread depth taken off. Perhaps a local tire store offers the same thing?
 
Where did you buy the tire? I always like the road hazard warranties that come automatically when you buy from one of the big club stores like Costco, Sam's Club and BJs. Some other chains also have road hazard warranties. Some tire manufacturer also offer 1-3 year years of road hazard warranty on their tires.

You should also get a tread measuring tool. I bet with just 7500 miles, there's hardly any difference, probably just 1/32's worth of tread so pretty much about the same so no need to shave down a tire.

 
OP, what vehicle, what engine, and how is it used?

OP, with a site name like Shel_B, I am wondering if your vehicle might be something with a lot of HP and used on a track sometimes?

What comes to mind even if it is a low HP gorcery getter or daily driver, is getting a tire identical to the ones on the vehicle and getting it shaved so the tred depth matches the ones on the vehicle and of course the tread depth of the one that was damaged.

There are places with machines that shave tires. That is almost a must if it is AWD or 4WD, and in general not a bad idea for the others.
 
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My aunt got a RR sidewall flat on Pirellis with 3/4 tread on the 16' Avalon. Replaced the one and I forgot about it, finally put it on the front where it will die. Still a tread difference but it drives fine. I drive the car often.

If I could do it again I'd put it on the front where it can get closer to the other tires tread life, and rotate the other 3. Maybe swap it left and right sometimes.
 
All sounds like good planning to me. Have done similar. I ALWAYS buy the road hazzard + lifetime balance n rotation. I just had a front tire replaced a while back when wife hit something and sidewall ripped. Other than having to wait 2 hours for SLOW MOTION mechanics at tire store I was on the way with a new tire. Did just as you plan. Rear to front and new one went on back.
 
BTW, inhaling tire rubber shavings is very hazardous to your lungs and is a strong carcinogen.

I have a cousin that worked for a big tire manufacturer and one day he said that all the men who worked in the tire shaving section for resurfacing tires had lung cancer.
 
Realistically it won't matter on a Camry DD. If you measure the tread depth of tires on most vehicles they are all over the place. Heck, lots of vehicles driving around with different brands of tires with no handling issues.
Not for me ... literally, that's not how I roll.
 
Get the tread depth and find a used tire of that same make/model with the same tread you measured from the old tire. If all four tires have the same amount of tread left on them, put the new tire where the flat is now. Ebay is a good place to get used tires, and someone on here recently went that route and got the tire the next day.

What kind of tires do you have on it now? How much tread? What is the tire size? :unsure:
 
Not for me ... literally, that's not how I roll.
I think you're way over thinking it. As others mentioned, you could probably get away with sticking it on the front. Normally you put the new tire with the most tread on the rear for handling purposes so the rear doesn't lose traction first. But with so much tread on the tires, I don't think that's a factor.
 
It's not going to make one iota of a difference which wheel position this new tire winds up on.
 
I'd get two that were similar so that each axle would have matching tires.
Waste of money and unnecessary. If only one tire is needed, just replace that one. Axles don't need matching tires as long as they are the same size. I'm running 2 of these on one side of the car,

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and 2 of these on the other,

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Can't tell anything from behind the wheel.
 
Capriracer in a different thread:
Additional thoughts: The idea behind having 4 of the same tires is so the handling characteristics are the same and the vehicle behaves as benignly as it can. Having an odd tire on the vehicle creates a situation where one corner is doing something different than the other corner - and this is particularly true for the front positions. So having one side with one brand and the other side with a different brand not only is puzzling (Why would any mechanic not know to pair tires on an axle?) , but also effectively doubles the chance that the car will behave oddly - and you usually don't figure this out until it is too late. I'd recommend getting the same brand on a given axle.
 
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Assuming you can get a matching tire, and you're putting it on a front wheel drive car, I'd be tempted to put that new tire on the front (where the wear rate is much higher) and rotate the other 3 until the wear on all 4 is even. Since you got this much wear in 7500 miles, my guess is that would only take 10,000 - 12,000 miles.

Admittedly unconventional but I think it would work.
 
I think you're right in terms of maintaining handling, which I can't argue against as a priority. The downside of putting a new tire on the rear of a FWD car is that it will likely never catch up to the older tires in terms of wear. In other words, it will live on the back of the car until the rest of the set is worn out, which complicates rotations.

The last time a similar thread came up, I looked on TireRack and found that they offer a shaving service, which would allow you to get a new replacement with the necessary amount of tread depth taken off. Perhaps a local tire store offers the same thing?
That's a valid point except that I intend to take one of the used tires and ultimately use it for a full-size spare, so if it has a little extra tread on it, so much the better.
 
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