Tires

[apn68015]

When it comes to tires for a subaru, lets say with tires that have
been worn a bit and one needs replacing... Do all tires need to be
replaced or can one new tire work together with the other worn tires.
Does it affect the way a car handles?

 

[Todd H.]

When it comes to tires for a subaru, lets say with tires that have
been worn a bit and one needs replacing... Do all tires need to be
replaced or can one new tire work together with the other worn tires.
Does it affect the way a car handles?

You're supposed to replace all 4. Subtle circumference differences
apparently do bad things to the AWD system otherwise.

 

[Catherine Jefferson]

When it comes to tires for a subaru, lets say with tires that have
been worn a bit and one needs replacing... Do all tires need to be
replaced or can one new tire work together with the other worn tires.
Does it affect the way a car handles?

With Subarus, as with any AWD vehicle, you need to ensure that there is
no more than 1/4" difference in circumference between any two of your
tires. It sounds as if the other tires are worn, which means you sohuld
either replace the damaged tire with an equally worn tire, or replace
all four tires. If you don't, there will probably be no noticeable
damage in the short run, but if you continue to drive the car on
mismatched tires, eventually it wears out differentials and even the
transmission, or so my Subaru specialist mechanic explained to me.

If you drive a Subaru like a Subaru (i.e. off-road), you'll want to
invest money in a good set of tires anyway. That, and regular
maintenance and safety checks, are what prevent you from being stranded
a long way away from the road.

 

[nobody >]

With Subarus, as with any AWD vehicle, you need to ensure that there is
no more than 1/4" difference in circumference between any two of your
tires. It sounds as if the other tires are worn, which means you sohuld
either replace the damaged tire with an equally worn tire, or replace
all four tires. If you don't, there will probably be no noticeable
damage in the short run, but if you continue to drive the car on
mismatched tires, eventually it wears out differentials and even the
transmission, or so my Subaru specialist mechanic explained to me.

If you drive a Subaru like a Subaru (i.e. off-road), you'll want to
invest money in a good set of tires anyway. That, and regular
maintenance and safety checks, are what prevent you from being stranded
a long way away from the road.

Some tire shops can "shave" a new tire down to match the circumference
of the existing good tires.

I had this done (not on a Soob) years ago when there was one outsize
tire out of 4 new Pirellis. That tire was almost a quarter inch larger.
This was a temporary fix while they shipped out a replacement. (I had
special-ordered the tires, none in stock). The handling was "fun" at
120+ mph with the larger single, didn't matter if it was on the front or
the back.

FWIW, I lived in Montana "pre-55" then and had service calls over 250
miles one-way, boss was paying expenses.

 

[AS]

Others have already told you how it should be.

I read somewhere that in extreme cases, people put 2 good tires in one
side of the vehicle (left or right) and 2 tires (same tread left) on the
other side. This prevents damage to the center differential put puts
some additonal work on the front and rear diffs. Handling and pull
could be affected.

Good luck