How to Replace < 4 Tires on an LGT

I managed to salvage 3/4 of a set of 215/45-17 Conti DWS's recently. Here's how I did it:

 

1) Ruin one tire by hitting something in the road and cutting the sidewall...oh, and ding up one BBS RK wheel pretty good while you're at it.

2) Buy 2 used tires from someone on LGT.com (Thanks RockawayLGT!).

3) Seeing that the 2 tires you bought have more tread than the ones you have, move on to plan B, which is:

4) Make sure your daughter's Scion tC has the same make, model, and size tires as your car (NOTE: For most people this will require a time machine so it may not be cost effective).

5) Measure the 3 tires on your LGT and the 4 tires on your daughter's tC and pick the 4 that are the closest in circumference. As it turns out those happened to be my 2 rears and her 2 fronts, which were within 1/8" of each other.

6) Drive to Discount Tire with a) both cars (my LGT was back on its summers), b) the 2 used tires, c) The undamaged front wheel/tire, and d) the repaired wheel minus tire from 1).

7) Have them a) swap the 2 used tires onto the fronts of the tC, b) Mount the 2 fronts from the tC on the front + repaired wheel of the LGT, c) Rotate the tires on the tC so the better tires are in the rear, d) swap the RK/DWS set for the RS-05/F1 Asym set on the LGT, and e) Keep your fingers crossed that this will all work out.

 

As it turns out the timing of this ordeal was almost perfectly timed as we had sleet Sun evening into Monday morning and I doubt I would have even tried to get into work on my summers, and that would have cost me a bundle as I'm a contractor so no work, no pay. The whole process cost my ~$100 but should allow me to delay purchasing a new A/S for at least another year. Oh, and now I have a spare tire if anything else should happen (fingers STILL crossed!).

Or... you could have purchased one tire, had it shaved down to match the 3 tires you still had, and called it a day. Depending on the tire, it'd probably also cost between 100-200 dollars, and you would have spent only 5 minutes on the phone with Tire Rack, plus another 5 minutes to drop off your fixed wheel so your local garage can mount/balance the tire that Tire Rack would send them.

I've tried to find people to shave tires locally w/o success. Also, I've spoken to TR about shaving and didn't have any luck there either. Finally, there's no guarantee that shaving a tire down to n/32" depth, especially when it's not mounted, will insure that its circumference will be within tolerance. Besides. it was fun going into Discount Tire and watching their brains explode when I told them what I wanted done (not really)!

OEM recommendations

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=18[/url] "]

Audi: As published in their vehicle owner's manual, "rolling radius of all 4 tires must remain the same" or within 4/32-inch of each other in remaining tread depth.

 

Porsche Cayenne: within 30% of the other tire on the same axle's remaining treadwear.

 

Subaru: Within 1/4-inch of tire circumference or about 2/32-inch of each other in remaining tread depth.

 

Also, I bought a set of WRX wheels from a guy that ran staggered tires in the front and rear; said he ran them like that for over a year with no issues(I think it was like a 96-ish Outback). Also, some race cars run slightly staggered tires to manipulate handling(Bozz Speed). As long as it's not working the diffs too hard, you wouldn't notice an issue.

I had to replace a winter tire just this past fall. I knew Tire Rack offered tire shaving, so I measured the tread on the remaining 3 tires, called a sales rep, and then waited a few days. They sent the tire to my local garage, who had my rim fixed, then mounted and balanced the tire. It was easy and painless start to finish.