A hodge-podge of tyres

[mubs]

Preamble:

1) Car is 11 years old, 175k miles. Will keep it for at most 9 months, and put a max of 10k miles on it in that time frame.
2) Car will be driven in the city only; including local freeways with speeds up to 65 MPH (I will cut back on my usual 85 MPH speed). When I'm on the freeway, if I don't go 65, I'll be mowed over by S. CA traffic. Car will almost never be used for any trip longer than 25 miles one way (will use wifey's car).
3) Car has one new tyre - rear right (~ 500 miles on it). The other three are bald and I think are structrually weak as well. They are all Michelin MXVs from Costco, about $150 each.
4) Rainy season is coming (it's raining heavily today and will tomorrow as well).
5) Car came with a full size spare that still looks/feels new. It has never been used (never had a flat). Don't remember which make, but pretty sure it's not a Michelin.
6) Considering the limited future life of the car, I want to spend as little as possible. I don't want/need hi-performance or long-life tyres.

Now:

I'd like to put the spare on the rear left; use the best of the three bald tyres as the spare; and put two new cheapie (~ $50 each) tyres on the front. This will mean the two tyres on the front axle are same brand/model, but the two on the rear are different from each other and different from the tyres in the front. There will be three brands / models / treadwear patterns on the car.

Questions:

Is this legal?
Is this safe given the usage patterns outlined above?

Thanks!

[Will Rickards]

Just put 4 cheapies on it. The extra $100 is worth it for your safety, no?

[Fushigi]

Legal? Sure. There's no law that I've ever heard of that says your tires have to match.

Safe? Safe enough. If the spare is really old it's rubber may have deteriorated some but otherwise what you're planning is fine.

You're taking the correct route by matching front-to-front for the new and putting the used/spare on the rear. That structure is the best as far as wheel alignment & handling are concerned.

You might even want to carry a can of fix-a-flat in case you have something minor enough to avoid having to use the bald spare. Or if you do use it, resign yourself to buying another tire to replace the flat. (Note: Fix-a-flat is not generally recommended but can have it's uses.)

[Tannin]

In general, you are supposed to put your best tyres on the rear, so as to avoid oversteer. But that's crap. Put your best tyres on the front, because the front does most of the steering and almost all of the braking. Just remember that your rear end is likely to step out sideways in the wet and drive accordingly.

Old tyres tend to go hard. So your spare will probably wear forever but not have a lot of grip.

I'd go with your current plan, but I'd look at the spare and make a judgement as to whether it and the near-new MXV are better than the cheapies you are going to put on. If so, I'd put them on the front.

Drive gently and take care.

[Buck]

Is this legal?
Is this safe given the usage patterns outlined above?

Yes and Yes.

[mubs]

Thanks everybody, for the sound advice.


Old tyres tend to go hard.
Yup. The three oldies certainly have. Strangely, the spare looks to be in excellent condition. Maybe because it's been sitting there in the trunk in the wheel well, protected from the elements.


I'd go with your current plan, but I'd look at the spare and make a judgement as to whether it and the near-new MXV are better than the cheapies you are going to put on. If so, I'd put them on the front.
My reasoning was that it would be better to have the wheels that steered and pulled the car using the same make/model/tread for consistent steering and handling. The cheapies will be new; a domestic, national (instead of international) brand, with probably 30k or 40k treadwear, which is plenty for my situation. It probably won't handle very well, but then I don't drive like an idiot either (my age helps too :)).

Thanks. Ya'll a bunch of swell guys.

[Tea]

Thanks. Ya'll a bunch of swell guys.

And apes, of course.

[Tannin]

The swellingest part of Tea is her head, of course. But apart from that she's fundamentally a nice person.

[Stereodude]

And to think, I just spent $720.00 a few weeks ago on 4 tires after I got a non repairable puncture in the sidewall of 1 tire. The 4 tires were almost to the wear bars, so I just replaced them all.

Maybe 245/40/18 tires weren't such a good idea.

[sechs]

How bald is bald? Many places of minimum tread depth requirements.

[Groltz]

How bald is bald? Many places of minimum tread depth requirements.

Agreed.


Lots of tire stores and wrecking yards keep racks of used tires for sale too. They can be had for dirt cheap with still better remaining tread than the ones you've described, Mubs. Think about it.

[mubs]

I may be borderline with the tread-depth. I have a guage somewhere, I'll have to fish it out. In any case I will be away for a few weeks, so the car won't be used at that time.

Thanks for the tip, Groltz.