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Tire Replacement Tolerances - Help!

9K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  SUBTL3 
#1 ·
Hello Everyone,

So I picked up 3 nails in one of my tires yesterday. :duh: Took it to Discount Tire locally and they said that since the 3 holes are close together (yet cover a significant enough area), the tire is not fixable (i.e. no patch-plug possible).

They recommended that I replace the tire, and said that I would NOT need to replace all 4 tires since the tread was practically new. Tires have < 14,000 miles on them and currently sit at 9/32-inch (fyi new tires sit at 10/32-inch). They will not shave a tire (I asked)

Now from what I understand, we should replace all 4 tires if even one of them needs replacing, because the car is AWD and our drivetrain/differential will not tolerate differences in tread depth (i.e. tire circumference eventually).

Question becomes - what is the tolerance for our cars?? And if I am within tolerance, will I be OK replacing just one of my tires (same brand, etc.)?

Specs:

2010 EVO MR Touring
No Mods of any kind
Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires
<14,000 miles.
9/32-inch tread wear currently.

PLEASE ADVISE!! Thank you. :bowlol:
 
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#3 ·
Thanks for the suggestion - I am looking into that right now.

Do you know if shaving the tire can cause any damage in any way (balance, etc.)?
 
#5 ·
Thanks ... I was thinking about tire rack and having them take the 1/32-inch off the new tire and ship it to me. Just wanted to be sure that tire truing or shaving wouldn't cause damage to the tread itself or the tire in any way. Seems like tire rack offers this service to everyone - so they must do it often enough to not screw it up ...



If it bothers you, you can order one from tire rack and they will shave it for you.
 
#6 ·
Where does it say in the EVO X manual not to have tires of different tread depths?

I know for a fact GTR's will have a problem and their manuals clearly state this, but i have yet to find anything from the MITSU regarding this issue.

My thoughts is get it. Yes, our AWD is pretty fucking sophisticated, but it is still nowhere near GTR status. i seriously doubt even 5/32 tread depth would do a damn thing on an evo.
 
#8 · (Edited)
There is a very stated warning in the manual somewhere in chapter 7 (don't remember the page number right now) that specifically says to ensure using identical tires (in every way including tread depth) on all 4 tires and to have them rotated as per the maintenance schedule.

I plan on going with tirerack and having them shave my tire down to match the tread depth of my remaining 3 tires. basically from 10/32 (new) to 9/32 (current depth). I know its only 1/32 of a damn inch - but I want no part of fucking around with my diff.

Other facts:

Dealer said that within 2/32 or 3/32 is fine.
Continental said the same.
Discount tire said the same.

However, if you look at the tolerances for the STI - anything more than 2/32 is too far off. I took that as a benchmark and decided I am better off with the exact same tread depth via shaving a new tire.

I wonder why people think the Evo AWD is less sophisticated than the GT-R? Isn't the GT-R just a RWD-biased Haldex system? Isn't Haldex synonymous with suck? All the front-biased Haldex's that I know aren't marvelled after for their performance.
I know nothing about the details of the GT-R system - what I do know is that the one in the EVO is not neanderthal and the tolerances can be tiny ... so I looked at it from a perspective of risk. So I agree with you.

Also - based on emails from other forum members - seems like my decision is likely the best route, short of buying 4 new tires.
 
#14 ·
Neal - thank you!

I was actually on the phone with TireRack today. I will be placing an order for one of the tires I need and will be requesting that it is shaved to match the remaining tires on my car. Thank you for the information though ... everyone I asked basically gave me this suggestion to start with. :)
 
#11 ·
At a min keep the tires on the same axles at a similar size. Think of a conical shaped cup rolling on a table. The smaller diameter has to turn more to keep up with the larger diameter and this causes the diff to go crazy with two different wheel speeds all the time.
 
#15 ·
Yeah ... noted - hence going with replacing the one tire and having it shaved to the correct tread depth. Best option other than replacing all 4 tires.
 
#17 ·
Thanks man!

I did that ... tire was installed yesterday - all tread depths are 9/32 all around.

Everything seems fine so far :)
 
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