Matching front and rear tires???

[asburydan]

We knew we were near replacing at least 2 of the 4 tires on our 2011 Pilot EX-L. A puncture meant we had to replace 2 while while in another state (great Firestone store). We had about 34,000 on the OEM tires. Now have over 36K on the other 2 and need to replace them soon. Anyone have experience with having different brands of same size on front and back. The two we bought are Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza uni-t 245/65/17. If I get a better price on a recommended tires in another brand, it's a temptation to switch brands since the rotations are always front to back. The Bridgestone base price was $163 per tire plus the various charges like balancing, valve kit, etc, but with discournts (carry-over from Christmas specials) the total for 2 was $321 + tax. Any thoughts ?????
Thanks.

[humanoid]

No problems whatsoever. I was on the same boat you were a few years ago. Had to buy 2 different tires for the rear. Driving on them for a couple years or so now, no problems at all. Make sure to put new ones on the rear for better traction.

Sent from my Moto Droid RAZR MAXX

[xGS]

Doubt you'd save all that much on an equivalent tire from another brand - so one vote for matching tires all around.
If you do get another pair of the Dueler H/L Alenzas, be certain that the speed rating is the same as on your existing set - either "T" or "H".

[RinconVTR]

Your car wont know the difference, and neither will you.

Its just not common or good practice, for what it's worth.

[rocky]

Agree with everyone else. Won't make any difference.


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[xGS]

"Four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles are equipped with additional differentials and/or viscous couplings that are designed to allow momentary differences in wheel speeds when the vehicle turns a corner or temporarily spins a tire. However, if the differentials or viscous couplings are forced to operate 100% of the time because of mismatched tires, they will experience excessive heat and unwarranted wear until they fail."

"This necessitates that four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles use tires that are very closely matched."

"Using "matched" tires means all four tires are the same brand, design and tread depth. Mixing tire brands, tread designs and tread depths may cause components in the vehicle's driveline to fail."

From the TireRack website: Tire Tech Information - Matching Tires on Four-Wheel Drive and All-Wheel Drive Vehicles

[RinconVTR]

Originally Posted by xGS

"Four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles are equipped with additional differentials and/or viscous couplings that are designed to allow momentary differences in wheel speeds when the vehicle turns a corner or temporarily spins a tire. However, if the differentials or viscous couplings are forced to operate 100% of the time because of mismatched tires, they will experience excessive heat and unwarranted wear until they fail."

"This necessitates that four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles use tires that are very closely matched."

"Using "matched" tires means all four tires are the same brand, design and tread depth. Mixing tire brands, tread designs and tread depths may cause components in the vehicle's driveline to fail."

From the TireRack website: Tire Tech Information - Matching Tires on Four-Wheel Drive and All-Wheel Drive Vehicles

The only obvious thing is not to install a new pair to run with an old pair. However this can easily occur when tire rotations are not done often enough. Of which many neglect, so where are all the driveline failures?

The rest is all bla bla bla. Diameter will be very close if not right on, and NOTHING in the system will detect tread design or brand.

[whizmo]

I believe the Pilot has some language in the OM that says they recommend replacing all four tires at the same time, but it is Okay to replace in pairs. And the Tire Rack is in the business to sell tires, so take what they say with at least a bit of salt - they have everything to gain by being ultra-conservative.

The Pilots basic drivetrain design of being a FWD except during slippage is much more misgiving of front/rear mismatches than some continuous AWD cars. Those that are very sensitive to this problem usually include some specs in the OM about acceptable mis-match. Since the Pilot has none, I wouldn't worry in the slightest about replacing in pairs. I would match sizes and general type of tire (snow, all-season, etc.) just to get decent handling. And as others have mentioned, when you replace a pair of tires, you want the new ones on the rear.

- Mark

[xGS]

Originally Posted by RinconVTR

The rest is all bla bla bla.

Remarkably persuasive argument.

Originally Posted by RinconVTR

NOTHING in the system will detect tread design or brand.

Not even if there is a significant difference in traction between tires of different tread design or brand?

[asburydan]

Thanks for comments, A couple of dealers I called also said it doesn't matter unless it's all wheel drive. Apparently the folks who drove the car the first 9,350 didn't rotate tires, therefore my need to buy in pairs. Since the same out-of-state dealer will put 2 more Bridgestones on for the same as December price, and we will be there again next week, my wife wants all four to look alike, so we'll soon have 4 Bridgestones - 2 with 5,000 miles and 2 new.

[1YESfan]

Off topic but maybe someone with knowledge could fill me in. On the subject of run-flat tires ( which I don't own) I always thought that these were a good idea ( you can purchase certain CRV models with them mounted on) until I read somewhere that you would have to replace all of them if you got a flat in one. Any truth to this? Thanks, just curious.

[xGS]

Originally Posted by 1YESfan

Off topic but maybe someone with knowledge could fill me in. On the subject of run-flat tires ( which I don't own) I always thought that these were a good idea ( you can purchase certain CRV models with them mounted on) until I read somewhere that you would have to replace all of them if you got a flat in one. Any truth to this? Thanks, just curious.

That's one solution, if all tires need to have the same approximate diameter.
Another, is to have the tread of the new replacement tire shaved down to the same depth as that on the undamaged tires.
It may sound like a bit of a waste to remove perfectly good tread from a brand new tire, but it allows you to extract the residual life out of the undamaged tires.
It's a good option if the undamaged tires are relatively new or you're planning to sell/trade-in the vehicle in the near future.

[2010exl]

Originally Posted by asburydan

Thanks for comments, A couple of dealers I called also said it doesn't matter unless it's all wheel drive. Apparently the folks who drove the car the first 9,350 didn't rotate tires, therefore my need to buy in pairs. Since the same out-of-state dealer will put 2 more Bridgestones on for the same as December price, and we will be there again next week, my wife wants all four to look alike, so we'll soon have 4 Bridgestones - 2 with 5,000 miles and 2 new.

In this case, I would put the new tires on the front and leave the 5,000 mile tires on the rear. Since the front tires wear faster than the rears, you will have similar amounts of wear on the tires after the next 5,000 or so miles, then you can begine a regular rotation schedule to keep the tread wear even.

[whizmo]

Originally Posted by 1YESfan

....I read somewhere that you would have to replace all of them if you got a flat in one. Any truth to this?

I've never heard of any special more-than-one requirement like this associated with run-flats. They are generally harder to repair and are more likely to need replacement after a flat, but this only affects the flatted tire.

- Mark