tonytony

I was wondering if anybody knows how important it is to match new tires with old tires? I am asking because I am trying to replace only one of my tires to the rest of my tires. The other three are "relatively" new...probably around 4 to 4.5k miles on them...How important it is to match brand/type as long as the "settings" are correct, meaning 205/60/16...i think. The tire would be for a '00 ES, so it would be the michelin Energy MXV Plus.

lexusk8

I replaced tires with different brands on my '96 ES before. No problems in terms of ride and handling besides having different treadwear. At that time I had Toyo Proxes in the front, and Pirelli P8000 in the rear. The tire shop did not have any Toyos in their inventory so I went with Pirelli. As long as the tire specs match up with the rest of the tires, you should be OK.

I noticed though that you say you only want to replace one tire. Have you thought about mounting your spare in place and switching the wheel to it? Could be something to think about if you want to save yourself some money.

tonytony

Are you suggesting that I take the tire off my spare and wrap it around the new wheel? That would indeed save me some money, then i can just get something else for my spare..you know just in case =)

lexusk8

From an economical standpoint, I'd say it makes sense to purchase 2 or 4 tires at one time. If you're replacing only one tire, just use the spare tire and have the tire shop mount the wheel and adjust tire pressure among all tires. Talk to the tire shop manager and just confirm with him the use of your spare as a full-time tire; he should be cool with it.

Whenever you have new tire(s) mounted (whether it's a spare or someone else's used tire), you should consider a wheel balance and alignment so that at least the treadlife on all your tires stays consistent. Hope this info helps

tonytony

thx dude, but my deal to acquire a wheel feel throught...back to waiting again.. *sigh*