4 tires at once?

[serum161]

does anyone know the real truth about tire replacement? i get contradictory responses all over the place. subaru.com says replace all four at once(and they have to all be the same). The dealership near me says 2 at once is okay, as long as as they're on the same axl. the dealership also said as long as the front 2 are the same they can be different brands as the rear (as long as they're all the same size.)

anyone have any advice?

[BlkWRXWag]

All four tires must be the same size, or within ~2/32nds of each other. That's difficult to do with different brands. Read your manual for the exact amount.

[afbluesv1k]

My thought is if you replace less than 4 tires at once, at least replace them with the same tire brand and model. If they are discontinued replace them all at once. I would put new tires on front, since it is more of an open differential, I have found with my car the fronts wear faster, so if you put the new ones up front they will wear eventually into the same depth as the rears, and you can then add them into your rotation schedule. A good cheap tool that is good to have around if you have OCD like I do, is a tread depth gauge from (CarQuest, AutoZone doesnt carry them), so you can see how they are wearing.

[Aerophyre]

Is it really neccesary to change all 4 tires at once?

[power091999]

Change all four at once, unless you feel like replacing your diff sooner, rather than later.

Just a thought.

[blarg]

all 4....every time.

sucks when you blow out one tire.

the tirerack will shave a tire for you if you ask them, but your chances of getting an accurate enough measurement to make this useful are very very low.

as was said earlier, you have to be within 32nds of an inch.

[Newks]

thats the only reason i dont like awd people complain about that all the time and our sales people are stupid and sell the wrong size tire on an awd car/suv every now and then so check and make sure all the tires are the right size before they install them

[wrxdrvr]

Yes you should replace all four tires at the same time, Same size, Same brand. If you can only afford to replace two at a time then you should put the new ones on the back for SAFETY reasons, If they are within 2/32 I would put the new ones on the front but other than that the NEW thoughts/testing,... about tire safety says, to put the new ones on the back for more control in a emergency...

[Aerophyre]

crap... Ive been mixing and matching tires for years now..... oh well. How can you tell if you broke something?

[blarg]

crap... Ive been mixing and matching tires for years now..... oh well. How can you tell if you broke something?

you find dislodged clips and broken gear teeth on your transmission drain plug.

[Aerophyre]

you find dislodged clips and broken gear teeth on your transmission drain plug.

har har.... seriously though.

[serum161]

thanks to everyone for the info. i guess i'll get all four. it sucks, 'cause i've only got another 8k before i have to turn in the car (leased).

[rr1911]

yea that does suck
but if ur turning it back in you can put some cheap new tires on there

[TheFNG]

yea that does suck
but if ur turning it back in you can put some cheap new tires on there

That's what I'd do. Just take it easy on the new, cheaper tires. There are actually plenty of decent low priced tires out there, but you have to control yourself and not go beyond the limits of the tires.

To reiterate, always replace all four tires, and use the same brand and model. As a last resort, get the tire shaved and measure it once you get it to verify it is within 1/16 of an inch of the rest.

[rr1911]

pretty much