Shopping for used car- are "mixed" tires dangerous?

[Grateful11]

>"radial and bias ply tires"

Do even still make bias ply tires for automobiles? I know they make them for trailers and such.

[Octave Doctor]

If you have AWD, the tires need to be in a set, but otherwise, no.

[Racer X]

Grateful11 wrote:
>"radial and bias ply tires"

Do even still make bias ply tires for automobiles? I know they make them for trailers and such.

yes they do. Most DOT approved drag tires are bias ply. Mickey Thompson and M/T among others.

[Frank]

If you could determine which pair has the better adhesion in cornering, that pair would be best on the rear. Understeer would be the result, which is easier to control for most people than oversteer.

[motopsyco]

Its really hard to set the camber on shopping cart wheels. Get it wrong and, you know, they just wobble.

Cheers!

[Ombligo]

tires are round and black -- get them all the same size and you'll generally be fine.

I seldom rotate, it isn't cost effective imho. I just replace the front two when they wear down by moving the back two up and getting new back tires. I get nearly the same life out of a set but only have to buy two at a time and save nearly $50 per tire on rotation costs over the life of the tire ( [$20 per rotation/4 tires] x [60000 lifetime miles/6000 miles per rotation)

also everyone always touts Tirerack, I've done better at http://www.discounttiredirect.com due to its free shipping. example - set of 4 Yokohama Geolandar H/T-S G051 215/70/16 that I use on my Honda; Tirerack is $103 each with shipping. DTD is $88 each shipped (DTD price includes a current $10 per tire rebate but even with out it is $5 per tire cheaper).

I'm not arguing one store is better, I really don't care - just passing on a cost saving option to anyone interested.

[DRR]

It's not cost effective to rotate tires?? You can do it free with equipment i bet is in your trunk. It's not a good idea to drive around with uneven tire wear.

For the OP - i'd be much more concerned with the mechanical quality of the car than what tires it's wearing. A related concern would be if control arm bushings/tie rod ends are worn, which would cause uneven tire wear, and thus cause the owner to replace a corner at a time instead of all 4 at once. Or just as likely, he got a flat and had to replace. My point is though that tires are simple to replace and should not dictate whether you buy a particular car. You could even use it as a negotiating point.

[space-time]

costco has some goo deals on Michelin tires, usually a $70 off coupon for a set of 4, and they do all the maintenance for "free" while you shop.

Of course, the $50 membership fee has something to do with this, but if you pay it anyway to be allowed to buy into their warehouse, then the tire maintenance is really free.

Plus, if you ever get a flat 1000 miles away from home and there is a Costco nearby, they will fix it for you for free.

[RAMd®d]

Not inherently.

For people who push the envelope, the limits of adhesion, and who *know* what they're doing while doing it, "mixed" tires could be a problem. For the rest of us, including bench racers, no.

Keep them in good shape and you'll be ok. When it's time to replace them, I'd recommend getting four of a kind. You can usually get your best deal that way.

And rotate them regularly. There may be rare exceptions, but most of us will also get much better tire life. EVERY place I've bought tires from has provided free tire rotation for the life of the tires. You might look into that when you replace them.

[Thrift Store Scott]

space-time wrote:
costco has some goo deals on Michelin tires, usually a $70 off coupon for a set of 4, and they do all the maintenance for "free" while you shop.

Of course, the $50 membership fee has something to do with this, but if you pay it anyway to be allowed to buy into their warehouse, then the tire maintenance is really free.

Plus, if you ever get a flat 1000 miles away from home and there is a Costco nearby, they will fix it for you for free.

Ditto Sam's Club.

Personally, I'd be much more concerned by a used car that has four new tires on it, as that would tend to indicate suspension and/or alignment problems that the seller didn't want to deal with and is trying to disguise.

In a similar vein, I'd avoid like the plague any used car that has recently been repainted.

Back to the original question: Unless the vehicle is all- or four-wheel-drive, and as long as the mis-matched tires are the same size and performance rating (S, T, H, etc), it's not a big deal. Used cars are, well, used, and unless someone is obsessive-compulsive about rotating and balancing their tires it's next to impossible to get a set of tires on a modern front-wheel-drive car to wear evenly. This is because on front-wheel-drive vehicles the front tires do all the pulling, all the steering, and most of the braking, whereas basically all the rear tires do is keep the muffler from scraping on the ground.