Flat tire - spare is totally different tire - how bad is this?

[ELeBlanc]

This is 97 5.0 AWD with 92k but siginicant rust in undercarriage. So I don't want to replace all four tires to make everything uniform because considering replacing vehicle. Buying one new Hankook would also not match... The spare is an 11 year old tire from two years ago when I got the Hankooks (used). No good answers. I guess best option is to put on spare and drive to tire repair guy and see if they can fix the flat Hankook and put that back on. I can't tell what made it flat. This seems like one of those cases where all of the choices are bad just picking the least and hopefully simplest of the bads..

 

[Mbrooks420]

Your only real option is to buy new tires. If you don’t want to do it because you are too cheap you’re just a screwing the next guy by selling him a vehicle that’s bound to have an issue with its transfer case.

4 decent used tires aren’t that much.

 

[German Engineer]

If you resort to buying used tires, make sure you understand the date code in the DOT number. It tells you the year and the week when it was manufactured.
I wouldn't waste my good money on buying tires that were manufactured more than 5 years ago. Even if they may still look good, the rubber slowly ages and hardens with time, resulting in gradually reduced traction and stopping power. It's just not worth spending your money on old used tires, plus paying the work for mounting and balancing, if they have aged that much already.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Identical pairs front and rear are irrelevant. The front and rear axle need to match, or it’ll force the viscous coupling to constantly slip, and burn it out in relatively short order.

 

[German Engineer]

Identical pairs front and rear are irrelevant. The front and rear axle need to match, or it’ll force the viscous coupling to constantly slip, and burn it out in relatively short order.

I forgot he has 4WD, my sport only has 2WD.

If you put reasonably good tires on the car you can point that out and it'll make it easier to sell the vehicle and should increase the value accordingly.

 

[toypaseo]

cheap 235/75r15 at my local big box are $57.66 free pickup or free delivery...

 

[ELeBlanc]

Your only real option is to buy new tires. If you don’t want to do it because you are too cheap you’re just a screwing the next guy by selling him a vehicle that’s bound to have an issue with its transfer case.

4 decent used tires aren’t that much.

You have provided valuable feedback to past issues have had with my two 97 5.0 AWD vehicles but I find this comment about too cheap offensive. I said right in my post that I was hesitant to put money into the vehicle because it's not a keeper. And your comment about screwing the next guy is also crap because if the car is in bad shape then for me the next guy has been a junkyard.

 

[CDW6212R]

You should no matter what, maintain the exact same diameter(total) tires front to rear, new or used. So either repair the old one without driving the vehicle with non matching tires, or buy a different set, again without driving it any distance with a non matching tire.

If the bad tire is not worth fixing, find one that is a match to the others, or buy four others that do match.

The AWD must have the same front and rear total diameter tires. Technically that means all four the same. But the AWD doesn't care if somehow you had four tires all with differing diameters, but the front two together matched the rear two in combined diameter. The front and rear driveshafts must spin at the same rpm, the AWD will fight any change of that. If they don't match, the AWD will create heat as it fights to keep them the same. That is what ruins the viscous clutch.

 

[Mbrooks420]

You have provided valuable feedback to past issues have had with my two 97 5.0 AWD vehicles but I find this comment about too cheap offensive. I said right in my post that I was hesitant to put money into the vehicle because it's not a keeper. And your comment about screwing the next guy is also crap because if the car is in bad shape then for me the next guy has been a junkyard.

You already have all your answers. If you really plan to junk it, who cares? Drive it into the ground.

You already know you need to have matching tires. You came for comfort that doing the wrong thing is fine. You want it, you got it.

Run what ever tire you’d like. I’m sure it’ll be 100% fine, these AWD trucks aren’t very picky about tire size.

 

[ELeBlanc]

MBrooks420 - now you are a comedian.

Here is the plan - Put the spare on, drive 2 miles to tire repair place, have them (hopefully) fix the flat tire, put fixed tire back on vehicle, pray it holds up....

Maybe at Harrys U Pull It buy another set of four used and replace all the tires. Harrys is a huge junkyard, 3 actually, where when a car arrives if the tires are in excellent condition and date code, they remove them and sell them as a set up front for $200. That is where my Hankook's came from two years ago. I had a choice of Wranglers at that time but sidewall on the Wranglers is much thinner than on the Hankooks.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Nothing I was wasn’t dead serious. You wanted someone to confirm it’s okay, it’s okay.

Nothing I typically joke about is suitable for this forum.

 

[ELeBlanc]

Nothing I was wasn’t dead serious. You wanted someone to confirm it’s okay, it’s okay.

Nothing I typically joke about is suitable for this forum.

Wow. Even this reply I dont get... I'm here for the tremendous knowledge of all the contributors. As I said before, it's been a great help with my two 97 5.0 AWDs and this forum was the reason I bought a Gen 2 when my Gen 3 piece of crap died for the second time. You've been one of the several people who have helped me with answers in this forum. Someone to sarcastically confirm bad ideas isn't helpful. I don't get all of this from you over the last two days.

 

[BummerDude]

How much does tire wear matter? Same tires, but one has half tread and other is same age but unused (ie spare)?

 

[CDW6212R]

How much does tire wear matter? Same tires, but one has half tread and other is same age but unused (ie spare)?

Huge difference, it matters a ton. The diameter is not the same, the AWD will not like it. Driving far at all like that is terrible for the AWD, two miles is pushing your luck. It's far better to not drive it, and take the bad tire to repair, and bring it back to put back on.


A spare tire on an AWD vehicle is almost useless. I had a flat I discovered in a parking lot far from home. I could have spent 20-30 minutes changing to my spare, but I knew it was not a match in diameter(age and size doesn't matter to the AWD). I called for help and got a friend to take me to a nearby Matlock Tire store, they serviced the tires I had bought. They patched the tire for no charge, and I took it back to the parking lot, and put it back on. I could have plugged the tire, but that would have voided the warrantee.

 

[XLTrunner]

Ideally, a person should buy five new tires for these type vehicles and put them all on a rotation basis so there is always a proper sized spare just in case. But, when you're already spending upwards of $600 for a set of four quality tires mounted and balanced, it's easy to rationalize that you'll never be in a position to need that fifth tire and forego spending the extra money. Then, guess what...........

 

[BummerDude]

Then, guess what...........

Then I end up with a 10yr old spare tire. Which is what I got when I just bought it used.

 

[C420sailor]

This is why I want a 4406 box.

That said, you can drive to a repair shop with a full size spare, as long as its close and I would go slow to minimize heating in the VC.

I drove a high mileage AWD for nearly a thousand miles with literally four different tires on. Is it smart? No. Would I do it again? No. I bought the truck like that, so god knows how long it was in that shape. I didn’t know about the AWD system when I bought it...now I know better. Live and learn.

Did it do some damage/wear? Take some life off the box? I’m sure. Did it grenade and explode and leak viscous fluid into the TC fluid? No. Everything seems fine for now.

If you need to drive on the spare, you need to drive on the spare. Just do it in moderation, and do your best to rectify the situation ASAP. No need to nuke the problem.

 

[ELeBlanc]

So while I was on my knees looking around the tire, I saw the driver side rear leaf spring bracket. OMG the rust - it's scary... He has a 2005 4Runner for sale with 100k for $6500. That amount of money is painful but seems to make more sense than spending more on my Explorer. Remember I dont do any of my repairs.

 

[Mbrooks420]

That seems a little high?

 

[C420sailor]

That seems a little high?

Yeah I wouldn’t pay that.

That’s low-ish mileage for a Toyota, but still. Better deals to be had.