Hi,

I need to ask a favor. As many of you saw the pictures of, I was involved in a pretty reasonable accident in which a red light runner hit me. The repairs have begun, and I have begun discussing some of the intracacies of AWD cars with the Insurance Co.

I have Falken ST115's 245/45/17 on all 4 wheels, with about 30%-40% tread left. The ST115 is discontinued. The body shop has determined the need to replace the tire that was directly struck. This is the question that I pose to the experts here so that i can show this thread to the Ins. Co. (so no swearing!):

1) Is it safe and good for my car (a 2005 Subaru WRX Sedan) to have 3x 30% tread ST115's and a 100% tread tire on the 4th wheel?

2) Is it safe and good for my car to have a totally different tire tread pattern on 1 wheel compared to the others?

Just a response of 'Yup, its fine' or 'No, its not' is fine. If you are a Subaru expert or shop owner, please include that along with how much experience with AWD Subaru's you have.

I do intend to provide a copy of this thread to the Ins. Co., so please try to keep the discussion and name calling to a minimum. I appreciate your help!

--Matt

 

No. It is not fine.

 

No, its not' is fine, need to replace all 4 or shave that 4th one down.

 

NEVER run diff tires brand size or any other combo. I was erluctant to replace my rear tires with the same model but the tread wear diff's were within Subarus "ok zone".

 

No it's not fine. According to the Subaru owner's manual, tire tread must be within 2/32nds on all 4 tires. I.E., the minimum could be 3/32nds and the maximum could be 5/32nds. If you have a 10/32nds (new) tire on one corner and 3/32nds tires on other corners, you will break drivetrain components.

Also, having a different tread pattern on one corner causes the car to have different amounts of traction on different sides/ends. This could make the car unstable in the rain making it difficult and unsafe to control.

 

yeah im pretty sure its in the manual

 

no it's not. see the owners manual maintenance section 11-45 through 11-50.

 

<-------former Subaru service advisor (2003-04)


There are only two options:

1) Have the tread depth of the new tire shaved-down to meet the tread depth of the other three tires.

2) Have all four tires replaced.

 

one of my tires got slashed and at the time i could only replace one tire. they were about 30% tread left.
granted i only drove 1000 miles on the new tire, the car felt crappy and i had to fight my steering wheel a lot.

it's not ok to just replace one.

 

Direct from the Tire Rack website: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=18

 

Where does one get a tire shaved down?

 

AIM Tire at Infineon might do it.

 

YES

 

Uhhhh, I wouldn't show them this thread. They will try to go cheap on you, buy a single tire, and shave it down 50%...

Just show them that link from Tire Rack, and the operator manual.

 

Different tire brands/models with the same size rating (i.e. 225/50/16) may, and most likely will, still have different dimensions in both overall outside diameter and contact patch width. This can be confirmed by looking at the tire specs at a website such as www.TireRack.com. It is not okay to have one tire of a different make/model, shaved or otherwise, installed on any constant AWD vehicle.

-Chris