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The Sandman
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
First is that the information provided is hardly enough to determine what vehicle the wheels originally came on - let alone what else it will fit.
Ya' see, the bolt pattern is expressed as 5x114.3mm, where the 5 is the number of bolts, and the 114.3mm is the diameter of the circle the bolts form. This varies considerably - and my numbers are just an example. I have no idea what they actually are.
But there are other considerations: Offset, hub diameter, clearance around the brakes.
I think your best bet is to advertise them as coming off such-and-such vehicle and let the buyer determine if they will fit. Remember, if you make a mistake on the fitment, then you will have to eat all the resulting expenses - and they could be considerable.
Continental Tire asked me to take the car to a certain small high end Tire Shop in Santa Monica, CA, one of their Gold Continental Dealers and have the Owner, Jon personally inspect the tires.
Jon told me when I arrived that he does this all the time for Continental, many years.
Jon initially looked at the tires on the ground and he told me that it looks like Road damage to him and that when he racks the car and removes the rim he is going to inspect the inside of the tire and find broken cords indicative of road damage. I asked him what is the chance of that happening to all 4 tires in the same place on the tire on both sides?
He racked the car, inspected all four tires, discovered bulging on all 4 tires both on the inside of the tire and outside, with the inside blisters matching the same place on the sidewall as the outside blisters. Some tires were worse than others. He marked most of the tires with chalk:
Photos here: http://s813.photobucket.com/user/photobucketesq/library/Inspection%20of%20Genera- l%20Tire%20Altimax%20HP%20Bulge-
Then, he picked the worst bulging tire and removed the rim and along with a tech, spent 10-15 minutes looking inside the tire with flashlights and feeling around. He then called me over and told me that the inside of the tire is fine--there are no broken cords or indications of damage.
He then generated a report for Continental and me that read:
"Racked the car got all treadware 32nds took the right rear tire because it was the worst one apart checked inside where the lumps were looking for a break in the sidewall did not feel any broken cords and re assembled. LF 10/32, Rt f 10/32, both rears 9/32. Serial numbers XXXX."
General then made this offer which I rejected: If I purchase a brand new set of General or Continental Tires at one of their dealers for full retail, they will pay 50% of the cost of the tires, but no taxes or install costs. In return I agree to surrender possession of the Altimax tires which their dealer will ship back to South Carolina for inspection. If Continental finds on inspection that the tires are defective, then they will further reimberse me another 44%, but not any taxes or install fees.
I asked the Continental rep why they cannot just rely on the opinion of their Gold Dealer, who told me when I arrived that he serves as an agent for Continental and pay 94% of the new tires now?
The Continental representative's response was that they are not agreeing that there is any problem with their tires, and are soley making the 50% offer as an accommodation, not an admission of liability. They need to have the tires back in South Carolina for inspection.
That's it for now.
Your other suggestions are excellent too.
Their firm policy on Tires > 1-Year old is that they will reimburse pro-rata maximum to 50% until they receive the tires and have their engineers inspect the tires. This is if you have a shop tell them like in my case that there is no evidence of road hazard. If there is road hazard then 0. And you must buy new General or Continental Tires at a Dealer to get 50% reimbursement.
My position was that if their General Dealer they sent me to (who I never met before) says no evidence of road hazard, then they should replace the tires without cost to me. Continental said that the opinion of their local Dealers gets a customer up to 50% max until they can inspect the tires in South Carolina.
I will tell you that it was not very pleasant dealing with these Tires folks in South Carolina. No Southern Hospitality from at least 2 of the 3 that I spoke with. Probably the most hardcore attitude of any customer service representatives that I have ever spoken with.
I called Continental/General Headquarters. They even refused to give me the mailing address of their Corporate Counsel's Office and they did not know who I was when I called--I just asked politely for the business address.
Continental/General ultimately suggested that I ask Tirerack for help since they are huge and sold me the tires in the first place. So I took them up on it.
It took approximately 10 calls and 15 emails over the course of 3 weeks, dealing with 4 different representatives and 1 supervisor to get Tirerack to finally agree to refund what I paid for the tires plus shipping. They just were moving at a snails pace to resolve this.
But Tirerack ultimately conditioned the deal requiring that I purchase 4 New Altimax RT 43 (Not HP's) tires first which were selling for just about the same price as the Altimax HP. They explained that I needed to purchase 4 new General/Continental tires so that Tirerack can get their money back from General/Continental.
The Net Monetary Effect was that it cost me installation cost for the New RT 43's @ 66.00, plus 55.00 shipping in 2012 on the HP unreimbersed, plus an additional 52.00 to ship the RT43's to me for a total cost of $173.00 to replace these 1.3 year old tires via Tirerack. Tirerack pre-paid for shipping the defective tires back to them.
Lessons I Learned Here:
1. Don't buy tires over the Internet. It cost too much to ship tires to and from if something goes wrong.
2. Don't buy Continental/General Tires if you can avoid it. Their handling of this matter was reprehensible.
Photos of the inside defective area of one of the 4 tires posted here as well as shipping back photos:
http://s813.photobucket.com/user/photobucketesq/library/Defective%20General%20Ti- res%20Returned
My garage is unheated so if I check my tire pressure "cold", I'm done. Right?
So why does Nokian say:
"Remember that temperature affects pressures: in cold weather, the pressure needs to be higher than in higher temperatures."
Seems like something got lost in translation. Or do they simply mean that your tires won't warm up as fast as they would in the summer and you should add some "extra" air. Or does this statement somehow relate to M+S tires and not ones like my WR-G2s?
What they are saying is because you are measuring your temperature in a garage environment that in winter is warmer than the ambient outdoor temperature, the tires would have to be at 33 lbs in winter because your garage is 30 degrees or so warmer than the outdoor temperature. In contrast, in summer your garage might be even cooler than outdoors, so putting your tires at 30 might end up with tires at 32 with the increase in outdoor temperature. So if your garage is heated above the winter outside temperature, add extra pounds at about 1 lb for each 10 deg. F.
The best thing to do is measure your pressures outdoors at the nominal temperature for that season.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Just checked my three thermometers and they all say 18°, including the one in my detached garage.
In any event holding my pencil tire gauge with my gloves is about impossible and it's too durn cold to check them barehanded so the heck with it.
(I took a hard fall on the icy beach yesterday so I guess I do need some studs).
My garage is unheated so if I check my tire pressure "cold", I'm done. Right? ""...
I guess I am adding to the TMI, according to one TPMS and checks/verifications with hand held dial TP gauges.
No ! No ! No ! ???? In your example of fill @ 18 degrees F and IF you operate in 30 degrees F you are @ least 1# off.
The answers are really of layers. Here are a few. Ambient temperatures have their own effects @app +/- 1# per 10 degrees F. Sun on one side/ none on the other. Leakage over time is @ app - 1# per month. Operating temperatures @ between +/- 4 # to 8#'s
Really, I should lower the psi because of the wind chill effect on the tires.
Or set the pressure at one temperature such that they are correct for some other temperature - the ones that would be experienced during a particular season.
For example, I could set the pressure 3 psi high in September when it's 50 degrees and the tire would be properly inflated when it is 20 degree.
BTW, tire pressures aren't all that critical. A few psi (1 or 2) is not a make of break sort of thing. Don't try to over complicate this.
Are you saying I'm over-complicating this?
I was responding to a question. :lemon:
Actually, in cold winter, <40 degrees F here, I like to keep my pressure at a pound higher than I would in summer when I'm going on a higher speed longer trip. In summer, the tires heat up more and compensate partly by raising the pressures. In the winter with a cold (for here) ambient temperature, the tires run colder and don't add pressure due to the tire carcass's not heating up as much due to the heat's being taken away by the cold air, e.g. 20 deg. F.. :shades:
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
General's Inspector told me that the tires were unsafe and need to be replaced.
The Inpector also opined that Altimax HP is a poor tire that he does not recommend to his customers.
I would have preferred to keep them, and avoid the hassle.
I liked the way they road on the FIT.
General was expecting their Inspector to point to road damage.
When their Inspector did not find any, General turned and backed off on his opinion.
http://s813.photobucket.com/user/photobucketesq/library/General Tire Altimax- %20HP%20Bulge
http://s813.photobucket.com/user/photobucketesq/library/Inspection of Genera- l%20Tire%20Altimax%20HP%20Bulge-
I'm having trouble with your links. I think these are the ones you wanted to post:
Bulge
Inspection Bulge
Wife blew out one of her tires hitting a pothole.
2013 AWD Escape with 15-16k on it. Tires are rated for 60k. Can I just get one or should I get all 4 replaced?
May depend on wear. AWD can be pretty sensitive to tires that have varied outside diameter. I have heard on occasion there are places that could shave a new tire to match the others, but have no idea where.
This is a question you should ask Ford. It is their AWD system and its sensitivity to tire diameter is what is at issue here.
It would be nice if they included that tidbit of information in your owners manual, but this practice is inconsistent and not reliable. In other words, only if it is explicit can you rely on it. If it isn't there, then you can not be sure about it.
Yes I think the key factor here is what wear did you get per 1/32nds (per tire) in your 16,000 miles. Next consideration will be what does the OEM (FORD) recommend for its rotation cycle. (cross/front to rear, etc)
So for example, if FORD indicates the 4 tires in the AWD system are not that critical, AND that you can replace just the one, the worst case will be to replace the axle (2 tires,) so the same thickness tires get rotated correctly.
Longer term, the lessons here are to know HOW tires will be replaced BEFORE one gets a new (and used) vehicle. I am sure a lot of us are used to replacing one tire and are slightly shocked when 2 are recommended. We would tend to get crazy if one expects one tire and the 4 tires are recommended.
We may have gotten lucky. I took a look at the tire/rim today and don't see any damage.
It may have just popped the rim seal, although it couldn't air it back up..
In that case, it seems to need at least a DEEP inspection. Let us know !!
Have the new tire pressure sensors in my new Tuscon and just hope they aren't a pita like they have been on my kids Versa! I now have 17" tires with a 60 height though I prefer a larger sidewall. Wonder if I could go up to 225/65/17 even though I have 225/60/17 on there right now...doubt it would rub on the undercarriage but is this doable folks??? I do like the way the Tuscon rides with this size but do want the higher sidewall.
Any help would be appreciated folks.
_The Sandman
_
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Took the tire/rim to the tire store. Back side of rim has a slight bend and the sidewall is torn.
Tire guy measured the tread depth and said I can get away with a single tire.
Next maintenance interval, I'll get things measured to make sure everything is still within tolerance.
One our Escapes has 225/65/17's and the other 2235/60/60's. Both sidewalls are pretty tall and have a rim protector design.
I would hesitate to change tire size on a modern vehicle, since things are designed as a system.
Did you read about Honda changing a tire model on the Fit, then recalling it to reprogram the stability control because the new tire had different grip characteristics?
New tire is on. Escape drives just fine, but the left front, where it is mounted looks a bit high. Going to drop the pressure another pound to see how that looks.
Just curious and don't plan on doing anything for the time being...agree that the engineers who programmed this vehicle chose this particular size for certain reasons and to be honest, it drives like a dream...very smooth and effortless power when I need it! Having driven small econoboxes for what seems like forever, this Tuscon is a welcome change even though the mileage figures are a bit low still but since i just hit 1300 on it, this is to be expected. Like my other vehicles, once I hit the 5k mark, the engine seemed to be broken in nicely and the mileage numbers did go up to what the sticker said, sometimes even a little higher. I knew going in here that I was sacrificing mileage for comfort and ease of entry and exit so I will just get over it eventually. I think the timing has me a bit unnerved with me starting a new job farther away and buying a vehicle with lower mileage figures. In hindsight, think I should've looked at both the Rav4 and the C5 before purchasing this Tuscon but it was basically a spur of the moment thing. Never even got to drive the Tuscon limited which is what I really was looking to get for the power seat option. The saleslady showed me this new for 2014 model, the SE, and that was that. It checked all the boxes and we stopped looking and I gave her my ridiculous low ball price. We were over $1600 apart so i knew there was no way I was buying that day. Well, as it turned out, another couple of back and forth's and they agreed to my price! I was really surprised actually because it was quite low and there was a trade involved also. But I guess it being end of month and the last few hours of their Black Friday sale, they wanted to push another vehicle out the door. And they did!
Thanks for your advice here and I plan to keep things stock with the rims/tires as it came with special SE alloys as part of the package which I'm not crazy about but look good I must say...very similar to the darker Sante Fe Sport rims. This darker gray color seems to be in right now though I did...and still do prefer the regular Tuscon alloys and they wouldn't swap them out for me which I thought was crazy! I might try to trade on craigslist or Ebay eventually but right now, I am just enjoying the vehicle.
_The Sandman
_
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Need opinions:
My 2008 Eclipse will soon need tires and since I never drive it in snow I was considering summer tires to maximize handling. However in doing research I find statements indicating that summer tires are not to be driven in temps. Below 45F. One tire (P Zero) even said they would not warranty compound cracking if driven below 45.
Are summer tires really that fragile? Of course I wouldn't expect them to handle as well at say 32F as at 70F but am I looking at catastrophic failure should I take them out in the cold?
I never drive the car in snow so traction wouldn't be a issue. What am I missing here?
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
We've touched on this topic a bit before, but my opinion is that summer tires are for car magazine tests, so the last bit of handling can be extracted under track conditions.
I doubt if any summer tires have a 30 day test drive provision.
The only danger in using summer tires at cold temperatures is the lack of traction and control. The tires themselves aren't in any danger, except from winter potholes and frost heaves.
That said, that possible lack of control is something to take seriously.. Any winter precipitation should cause you to stay home..
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I think that unless you are a REALLY hard charger in that car, you don't need grippy summer tires. I've tried just about every combo on my Mini, and I do drive pretty hard, but I never felt that buying ultra high performance summer tires was worth the substantial tread wear and the cold temperature "jitters". I just switch to an all season Conti and yes, they are a bit softer and have a more compliant sidewall but I still seem to be able to go around corners as fast as I am used to--it just feels a little different. Certainly the car rides better, which in a MINI really does matter.
Yes, there are plenty of 'ultra high performance all-season' tires listed for your Eclipse at tirerack. Sacrifice the last 1% of dry/warm road performance for better driving in all conditions. You need good tires most when conditions are poor.
I have summer tires on three of my cars, and while two of them get winter rubber(the 328i and MS3) I run Dunlop Direzza Star Specs on the Club Sport year round. Of course I don't drive them in snow or ice but I have driven them in ambient temps down to around 20F. I just exercise a bit of restraint and I have no problems.
In the case of the Club Sport and MS3 the summer tires make the cars much more enjoyable to drive, I could probably get away with all seasons year round on the 328i but I got a great deal on some winter tires and wheels at Tire Rack, so I decided to stick with summer rubber 8-9 months out of the year...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
I just swapped out the worn-out Potenzas for a set of all season Continental Extreme Contact and while they don't firm up quite as well in hard cornering (I can feel the car move more in the turns), the car does stay planted firmly.
OK, some rubber chemistry. Please note, I am not a rubber chemist. I am a tire engineer, but I've picked up a few things along the way.
First, certain kinds of rubber will crack at very low temperatures. These kinds of cracks don't result in catastrophic failures. - and some summer tires use these kinds of rubber compounds in the tread. That might explain the warranty.
Second, summer tires come in a variety of flavors and some of those are not ultimate grip tires that wear out quickly. (yes, they aren't mileage champs either)
Third, summer tires are designed for hot weather and don't grip in the cold very well - hence the warnings.
May I suggest an all season high performance tire. They will have tread compounds that are designed to be used at colder temperatures, but also have a good amount of grip.
And don't forget, that there is a tradeoff - treadwear, traction (especially wet traction), and fuel economy form a technology triangle and any improvement in one area comes by sacrificing another area.
I had summer/winter tires on my 3-series. Didn't swap out the winter ones until snow threatened. Never had a problem with traction in cold temperatures on the summer tires, so long as there was no precipitation. This is something which is probably dependent to a great degree on the tire.
You can buy UHP all-season tires which are biased toward dry/wet traction to the point that they are "almost" summer tires (if you look at the ratings on Tire Rack, they will score excellent marks for everything except snow/ice traction and possibly treadwear). Some of the older Michelin Pilots come to mind here, although I'm not familiar with their current UHP offerings. In fact, some of the newer UHP all-seasons seem to do extremely well even in snow.
I've been reading lots of reviews on tirerack.com, and many people seem to do OK with all-season tires in light snow
I run UHP all-seasons(Cooper Zeon RS3-A) on the Mazda as my winter tire; no problems so far- although I have the Wrangler to drive if it gets really bad.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Even if the tire isn’t defective and isn’t a counterfeit, the tiny distribution network can be a problem by itself. If a small company imports and sells a single container of tires to the United States, and you get a flat and need a replacement, you may not be able to find a matching one. Some other Chinese tire models didn’t even make it into our Ratings because we could not find enough samples of the same size to test."
'Counterfeit' tires pose consumer risk (consumerreports.org)
Michelin opens first plant dedicated to production of airless tires (gizmag.com)
Still no car applications.
My sister leased a new 2014 Porsche Cayman S at the end of August. She has not changed the tires for the cold temperatures. This afternoon, the ABS kicked in at one point when she stepped on the brakes and this alarmed her. It was the first time it happened while driving this car and it had never happened in the 10 years + she drove her previous car, a 2004 BMW 325xi. At the time the ABS kicked in, she was driving in city traffic. She didn't say that she slammed on the brakes. She said the temperature was 34°; I assume this was what the display inside the Cayman showed. I was watching the weather report on TV as she was telling me this on the phone and it showed that the temperature at that moment nearby was 37° so I presume the air temperature when the ABS kicked in was actually a few degrees warmer than 34°. She had been driving for an hour, hour and a half, mostly on the highway, so the tires themselves must have been fairly warm. In addition, it had been raining lightly for an unknown length of time.
So, do you folks think that the summer performance tires lost traction because it was too cold outside?
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
That's the problem with running summer tires at lower temperatures. They seem just fine in colder weather, until the road surface changes, due to pavement, precipitation, etc.... and, then you find out how little grip you have..
Is 34 F an anomaly where your sister lives?
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Any other suggestions here? The are Continental Pro Contacts in the 225/45/17 size. Maybe one or some could have a bad cord or radial. Just know I want this issue fixed and not ruin a good set of tires.
The Sandman
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Are the wheels aftermarket or OE? If aftermarket, they could require a hub ring to center the wheel on the hub. No amount of balancing is going to fix a wheel mounted off center.
Second, it is possible the tire and wheel assemblies aren't uniform (Think "Out of Round" and you will be close.) To diagnose that, you need to use a Hunter GSP9700 balance machine. That machine (in addition to doing a normal balance) can measure the amount of non-uniformity and give suggestions as to how to orient the tire relative to the wheel to get the best results.