CGriswold

Hello-

We purchased a 2006 GX with 44K miles on it about 2 months ago. So far we really like it.

It has BF Goodrich Long Trail A/T tour tires on it that are only about halfway worn down. Last weekend I found a screw in one of the tires. Took it NTB and learned that the screw had just barely punctured the tire and it was too close to the side to fix. I just had them put the spare on, which is a Dunlop and researched on this forum what tires to get for replacement. After choosing the Michelin LTX M/S 2 I went to a tire store I've used before and had a pair of the Michelin's put on. As I was paying, I asked the service man if I would notice having different pairs of tires. He said no and then thought about it and said some all time 4WD vehicles require the same treads on all four tires and told me to check the manual. Sure enough, the manual says the tires must all have the same tread. Now I'm looking at replacing all 4 tires because of one little screw and I wanted to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Thanks- Phil

JuLeX47

The manual is absolutely correct. It's just good practice weather 2WD or AWD.

Drew903

Well if you only replace 2 then you are always going to be stuck replacing 2... Maybe take one of the good tires and use it to replace your spare? I had a tire dealer tell me it was to close to the side wall before and I ended up doing the repair myself and never had an issue. Maybe get a second opinion? I just took my GX to Discount Tire they fixed the tire and rotated them for free!

CruiserGX

Do all 4, check your spare and pick one of the best of your old tires as the spare unless your spare looks better.

CGriswold

Thanks for your replies. It never occurred to me to ask for another opinion. The hole was almost at the edge and I took them at their word. I'm already in for two, but was hoping I could upgrade the other two later on and match them all up then. As far as always needing to replace two if I only did two now, that confuses me. Isn't it just a matter of how much wear they have? If the tires are pretty new and something happens, can't you just get one of the same and it will match alright, but if they have a decent amount of wear and one needs to be replaced, won't you need a pair anyway?

Lexanna

Do not just go by looks - there is a date code on the tire telling when it was manufactured My spare tire looks great - it has never been on the ground Problem is - it was manufactured in 1994.... Two of the tires on the car have the date part of the DOT info very professionally ground smooth...???? Check the dates before you buy tires

Lexanna

Here is a link to a story that was done a couple of years ago -

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/aged...hazard-4826897

CGriswold

I went ahead and did all four tires. Not something I was planning on doing now, but I'm hoping at least I'll have a better ride.

As for the date being ground off, did you check both sides of the tire? Since I started researching this in the last few days I learned a lot about the date code. Federal law only mandates it on one side. This saves the manufacturers from having to constantly change the dies for both sides of the tire. The side without the date could have nothing or a blank area that looks "ground smooth".

z0lt3c

iTrader: (1)

Change all 4 and then sell the used ones. Used tires move like hot cakes around here.

snhrph

Replace ALL FIVE tires, incluiding the spare!!! Extends the life of your tires by 20% if you rotate all 5. You never have to worry about riding on a tire with a different thread when you deploy a spare. And how old is your spare???

And the most important reason - dump the Dunflop...

Btw, I just sold my Dunflop spare on ebay for $90... So there is a but of money to offset the cost of new tires...

Johnny Rad

You got screwed.

Lexanna

GOOD info about the date on one side... I was thinking that someone had screwed this little old lady that I got Lexanna from... The tread pattern requires two tires on one side to be reversed. I guess rotation will be limited...