I damaged a front tyre at about 20000 miles, and bought a new one from the local garage. Now, a bit less than a year later the steering wheel developed a wobble, and I took the car in to have the tyres rebalanced. The fitter balanced the newer tyre, but refused to do the older tyre was because it was down to 4mm across the middle, and 1mm at the edges. I could not get a new tyre of the same type because the maker had discontinued the model just after I bought the last. Hence, instead of one new tyre I have had to buy four.
Thank you ATS in Macclesfield for making me see sense. The car is now stable again, and the weather forecast for Sunday is snow.
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4 new tyres in my opinion is a waste..... it is perfectly ok to have a matching pair at the front and a matching pair at the back.
In my student days I had a different brand tyre on each wheel, (usually part worns for a tenner), and still had no problems.
I think Please feel free to correct me!, by the way was that their recommendation by any chance?
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ATS refused point blank to balance the part worn tyre, the fitter said because it would not make that much difference because of the wear pattern. Must be replaced! I contacted Subaru technical dept who insisted that the same type of tyre be used on all four wheels (all wheel drive). The car is still under warranty, hence I was a good boy.
If you have a mix of tyres on the same axle, and you brake sharply under in wet road conditions, you will have different friction results for each tyre, leading to instability. If you are going fast make sure your insurance is paid up.
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Second thoughts.
The insurance company wouldn't pay out, anyhow!
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Subaru AWD system like tyres of exact same diameter with same coefficient of friction; i.e. same tyre, same amount of wear. Rotate them regularly.
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Having run a number of Legacy estates,only recently did I realise the importance of identical tyres. Living in rural North Yorks, and not wanting a spare set of 'full on' winter tyres,I decided on Toyo Roadpro R610s. I have no connection with Toyo,but they do the business, and at £170,all in and fitted by my local dealer for a set of four, seem good value for money.
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How much wear differential are you allowed with a subaru? I know the cosworth sierras were very fussy and calibras were a bit fussy about this.
What happens when you have tyres of differing pressure?
teabelly
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In my Legacy there was nothing in the manual about replacing all the tyres if you changed a single one. There were warnings to regularly swap tyres front to back but NOT side to side.
I do not think the Subaru AWD system s as sensitive to wheel circumference
as say the early Volvo AWD system which had very specific tolerances before damage to the drive system could result.
regards
Ian L.
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Sorry didnt realise you had a 4 wheel drive.......I'll go and eat that humble pie.
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I asked the dealer's service engineer who approached Subaru technical for advice. He relayed the message that the tyres should be the same wear on each axle, i.e., the two front should match, and the two rear, but not necessarily be the same. But, on Isuzus it is critical to have all alike. Not being able to get two tyres to match the old I rang Subaru technical myself and asked about two tyres of the new pattern on the front, and retain the old, servicable, ones on the rear. They vetoed that, so I ended up with four new ones; which I don't begrudge, now that the car rides so much better.
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