Replacing two tires

[djr]

I have a 2003 HP. I'm on my 2nd set of tires with about 55% tread remaining. One of the sidewall belts failed on the front drive's side. The owner manual recomends replacing all 4 tires. They also say you can get away with replacing just two tires on the front or rear. Has anyone tried replacing just two tires on the front and experiericed any problems?

[rocky]

Tire diameters even with the sme size printed on the sidewall varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, with tire pressure, and with wear.

I wouldn't be concerned about doing what you are talking about. However I would prefer to stick with the exact same tire if that is possible

[rockman19762001]

I had too replace two tires on the 03 Pilot years ago. I bought the same tire, same diameter, and make as the other two that stay on the Pilot. Just replaced all four this year. Never had any problems, the new tires and the old tires were like 3/32 of an inch from being the same size. The tire installers also installed the new tires on the front.

[whizmo]

The recommendation to replace all four is basically conservative to get the best-handling car afterwards, not a maintenance requirement.

If the tires on the other axle are good, I wouldn't waste them. Just buy two new ones reasonably similar to the other two good ones.

- Mark

[NJGuy]

I know that my reply is a bit late, but I had the same issue a little while ago.

I replaced 2 tires with the same model when one of them was damaged. I kept the non-damaged old tire as a backup just in case. I later bought another Pilot wheel and mounted the backup tire on it. Now I have a full size spare for peace of mind .

I had the new tires installed in the front, and I'd occasionally get some oversteer skidding on wet cloverleaf ramps. Of course after rotating them, it switched to understeer on sharp turns in the wet. The difference in traction between front and rear is something you might want to keep in mind, especially if someone else (i.e. significant other, teenager) drives your Pilot.

By the way, most tire shops recommend installing the new pair of tires on the rear of the vehicle.

[carguy07]

If you have AWD there is some risk when you just replace a tire or a pair of tires. As expensive as these things are to fix I would always replace as sets of 4. Not saying that you will have a problem, but not worth the risk to me.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=18

[djr]

I have been running for over two months without any issues.
My concern is how the full sized spare is mounted under the vehicle, see the picture.

[jl_ss]

Originally posted by carguy07
If you have AWD there is some risk when you just replace a tire or a pair of tires. As expensive as these things are to fix I would always replace as sets of 4. Not saying that you will have a problem, but not worth the risk to me.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=18

Very much a concern with full time awd systems like Subi and Audi. Not so much with the mostly disengaged clutch system in the Pilot as long as you keep the rears matched and fronts matched.

It is OK to replace in sets of two per the Manual:

[NJGuy]

Originally posted by djr
I have been running for over two months without any issues.
My concern is how the full sized spare is mounted under the vehicle, see the picture.

For some reason I didn't see the picture.

I saw that you posted another thread where you were concerned about how the the full size spare fits up against the underside of the body. Like everyone else told you, there's no need to worry. Just install the full size spare with the valve stem facing upward and you're good to go. Also, if I remember correctly there is a spring on the spare tire holder at the end of the cable. It looks like the spring is there to help hold the tire firmly but not too tightly against the vehicle. I guess the spring also helps to account for the slightly less than horizontal angle of the tire.

If you're still that worried, then just lower the full size spare at every tire rotation (or any other interval that pleases you) to check & exercise the cable and to check the air pressure. Besides, I don't recall seeing any members post here about having problems with the spare tire holding cable.

[samc]

While technically this is true it's a bit of an overkill. It's perfectly fine to replace a pair of tires especially if it's not an all-time awd system such as our pilots.

I bought my pilot CPO and the rears are somewhat more worn then the fronts and I have no trouble using the VTM-4 to get out in snow ditches.

Originally posted by carguy07
If you have AWD there is some risk when you just replace a tire or a pair of tires. As expensive as these things are to fix I would always replace as sets of 4. Not saying that you will have a problem, but not worth the risk to me.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=18

[bigdadi]

Tirerack.com will shave the repalcement tire for you to match the other 3. You can email them on how they do it.