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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
    Posts
    157

    Default One New Tire. Bad Idea?

    Our right front tire has been leaking for months. We've been pumping it up.
    In the last few weeks it started leaking faster, to the point where it would go from 40 lbs to > 10 lbs in a day...so, spurred to action, I decided to get the tire plugged.

    The tire shop couldn't repair it. (It was leaking around a previous plug due to the installer of that plug having ground the plug down too far, exposing the steel braiding in the adjacent tire rubber.)

    A new tire was required. Same size, same make, same model.

    I read a post somewhere by a guy who wouldn't put a new tire on an XC70 without having it ground down to the same tread depth as the other tires on the car. His reasoning being that the slightly different diameters of the tires will result in different rates of rotation, which the car will interpret as the quicker wheel slipping. This will engage the AWD system, causing excessive wear.

    "Lunacy," I thought. "Has money to burn!" I grumbled.

    Or is he correct? Will one, brand new tire, on the front of the car, destroy the AWD system?
    2003 XC70 with 345,000 km (214,370 mi)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Devon PA
    Posts
    11,409

    Default

    You did not mention the tread depth of the other tires
    Haldex cars can get by with a larger varience in tread than the earlier AWD cars but I would NEVER put one one ANY CAR on unless it's within 1-2 mm other other side (like 2-3000 miles of wear tops).

    Buy another tire for the other side

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Central Virginia
    Posts
    15

    Default

    When I purchased my XC, I had casually checked the tread of the front and rear tires on the driver's side and was surprised to find the rear one so deep; practically brand new. However, on delivery and close inspection I realized only the single tire had been replaced. Ugh.

    Bought the car anyway because it was too good of a deal, but the tire bothered me. I went to pick up the service records from the Volvo specialist who had previously worked on the car, and mentioned to him in passing how my next stop was to replace the tires and why. He told me that if it was his car, he would immediately replace the tires as a 3mm difference in tread depth on one side would damage the angle gear.

    (He also mentioned that the previous owner had to have known they were getting rid of the car when they replaced the single tire, as he had told them about replacing the tires before, and why. Yeesh.)
    Last edited by Kitheme; 07-28-2011 at 06:19 AM.
    2006 Hyundai Sonata (manual trans., surprisingly fun to drive)
    2001 Volvo V70 XC (family car)
    1989 Volvo 240 DL Wagon (still wheezing)
    ---
    RIP:
    1988 Izuzu Trooper (manual trans., fuel system failure)
    1990 Volkswagen Passat (manual trans., blew head twice)
    1989 Pontiac Bonneville (rusted out underneath)
    1984 Volvo 240 DL (electrical gremlins)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Devon PA
    Posts
    11,409

    Default

    It's 3/32" not mm and that's for 2002s and earlier.
    There is a much larger varience with Haldex equipped cars, 7-8/32", but I still would have them even side to side.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Central Virginia
    Posts
    15

    Default

    Funny; I remember thinking it was odd when the guy said mm instead of in. Still, I agree with you that on any car I'd want them even side to side. Even w/o the issue of damaging the AWD system, the driving dynamics of the car will be negatively altered.
    2006 Hyundai Sonata (manual trans., surprisingly fun to drive)
    2001 Volvo V70 XC (family car)
    1989 Volvo 240 DL Wagon (still wheezing)
    ---
    RIP:
    1988 Izuzu Trooper (manual trans., fuel system failure)
    1990 Volkswagen Passat (manual trans., blew head twice)
    1989 Pontiac Bonneville (rusted out underneath)
    1984 Volvo 240 DL (electrical gremlins)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    eastern MA
    Posts
    171

    Default

    One millimeter is pretty close to 1/32 of an inch.
    '05 XC70 (family truckster)
    '11 X3 xdrive35i (Daddy's daily)
    '05 Sienna XLE Limited AWD (the road tripper)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Virginia Beach
    Posts
    4,116

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by cheapo View Post
    Our right front tire has been leaking for months. We've been pumping it up.
    In the last few weeks it started leaking faster, to the point where it would go from 40 lbs to > 10 lbs in a day...so, spurred to action, I decided to get the tire plugged.
    Ah...Cheapo...months? You put this off for months? They only leak like that when there is a puncture...and the object that punctured it can cause damage if allowed to stay in there...once pulled a nail from a tire on the minivan and plugged the hole (this ain't rocket surgery...you can do it easily...just get the good plugs that vulcanize to the rubber). Looked small from the outside, but it was over 3" long. When I replaced the tires later in the van's life - I found that the sidewall had been chewed up by that nail - damage to the butyl liner, and some damage to the sidewall cord. There are only 2 layers of cord in passenger car tire sidewalls. I never even knew that the tire had the equivalent of an aneurysm...

    Lesson: get a leaking tire fixed ASAP, before it becomes unrepairable. If the object causing damage is longer than half an inch, dismount the tire to check for damage, don't just plug it...

    And everyone is right on about the diameter/tread depth difference. It matters.
    Current Fleet:
    2016 Tundra Crewmax 4WD 1794
    2005 MB S600 (126K, Michelin AS4, HPL 0W40)
    2005 MB SL600 (55K Michelin AS4, Mobil 1 0W40)
    2004 V70R (143K, six speed M66, HPL 5W40)
    2004 XC90 (235K, HPL 0W30 Euro)
    2002 V70-XC (295K, HPL 0W30 Euro)
    2002 V70-T5 (225K, IPD bars, Bilsteins)
    2001 V70-T5 (125K, IPD downpipe, cat back and other mods)
    1932 Packard Sedan (straight 8, dual sidemounts, original paint and interior, Shell Rotella 15W40)

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
    Posts
    157

    Default

    I will measure the difference in tread depth across the front tires and report back.
    2003 XC70 with 345,000 km (214,370 mi)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
    Posts
    157

    Default

    The difference in tread depth between the two front tires is 5/32".
    2003 XC70 with 345,000 km (214,370 mi)

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Devon PA
    Posts
    11,409

    Default

    Not good

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