New Tyres Needed

[rsvp]

I will be needing two new front tyres shortly - I don't do a huge mileage neither do I take it on the motorway often. Any recomendations please? Thank you.

[SlackAlice]

BRIGHT SPARK

I hope your not referring to any of my bad habits which are enumerable?

Kidding aside, I always change my tyres when they get down to 2.5mm, putting the new tyres on the rear. Must admit I do not swap tyres front to rear.

Now that I'm retired I cover quite a low mileage, so probably would have to change all the tyres anyway due to time expiry. Previously a professional driver of 35 years unblemished, except for getting caught in a 'yellow' box.

[Khandro]

No sound on video, but they are both American rear wheel drive cars.

[sadanorakman]

People don't look after their tyres anyway. I see people almost daily driving around with a badly under-inflated tyre, which is wrecking the sidewalls, and risking a catastrophic failure. They don't care though! The number of times I've pointed it out to people and they are like 'so what'.

Having had a blowout on the outside lane of a motorway on a front tyre, it was all I could do to keep control of the car. this was a two week old, premium brand tyre by the way with a manufacturing defect.

People also don't realise that tyre rubber hardens with age, resulting in sidewalls starting to crack, and treads losing substantial grip. The industry recommends I think six years as being the maximum safe lifetime of a tyre. If you don't swap your rears to the front, you may only wear the rears down by half in six years, but then are driving around with compromised tyres... you would be increasing risk by transferring those to the front!

[Hopkirk]

This thread is going to cost me money.

I'm going to have to buy two new tyres.

[Baldric]

/// some 'off-road' tyres have directional patterns so should not be reversed.///
Agreed some do, but these don't.
///evidence for not swapping tyres side to side, and you reply by actually contradicting your own original advice. ///
I said "they can go side to side" as they are not directional, they don't as I don't want to reverse rotation.

[sadanorakman]

Baldric... why do you think that reversing the travelling direction of a non-directional tyre would have any 'bad' effect on it in the slightest?

The tyre is shaped as a toroid, with driving and braking forces transferred through it's side walls from the wheel at the centre to it's tread. Acceleration forces apply a torsional stress via the sidewalls in one rotational direction, and braking forces apply a torsional stress via the sidewalls in the opposite direction. Swap a wheel to the other side of the vehicle, and these stresses are reversed... So what.

[gingejbee]

Call me daft (if you like)...but I like to have all four tyres (well, five if possible) of the same design by the same manufacturer. Same size, as well! So, I'd get two that match the two that you're keeping.

[alavahalf]

Poor rsvp .. I bet you wish you had gone down to the garage and asked for a mid priced tyre.

My wheelbarrow is overflowing with bullsh-t and this has caused the tyre to go with a bang. Will it matter which way round the tyre rotates when I fit the new one ?

[sadanorakman]

gingjbee. I don't think you're daft. I had a puncture too near to the edge to repair so needed a new tyre... it seemed logical to buy one that matched the rest. How much difference it truly makes... probably very little.

[sadanorakman]

Ah a wheelbarrow tyre...

How many BHP (Brake Horse-*** Power) would you be putting through it?

[alavahalf]

How many BHP (Brake Horse-*** Power) would you be putting through it?

That depends on how fast the wife pushes it !

[TWR]

Correct me if I am wrong here people, if it was a "Must do" would I be wrong in saying that the Manufactures would stipulate this? Especially a Product like the one Baldric owns BMW, & the one I have just sold? myself, my car is checked without fail weekly, that includes the spare.

[rsvp]

My head hurts!

[Zacs-Master]

Just buy some Hankooks and have done with it. A friend of my dad's ran a tyre distribution company and he would take the tyres off his new car and replace them with Hankooks.

[Hopkirk]

Look what you started rsvp!

Ah well, it's kept us all entertained.

[TWR]

RSVP you want whipping.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

rsvp...so to re-cap..Michelin..from Tyreshopper ..on the back..please let us all know what you decide..:-)

[TWR]

Go for solid Tyres, Never ever need to replace in your life time.

[rsvp]

I've found it interesting - honestly!
Amazing how many different opinions there are on the subject.
Think I may well end up buying four just to be on the safe side - at the end of the day it's cheaper than a funeral.

[Hopkirk]

Don't worry about the cost of a funeral, you won't be paying.