Tires Help General

I work for a tire place, and I'm here to help with any questions you may have regarding your tires.

>Are gas station/gummy plugs safe?
For the long run, absolutely not. For a temporary fix just to get you to a safe place, yes they are.
The reason gummy plugs aren't very safe is because as you drive on the tire with the gummy plug, water can get into that repair, that will expand the plug, and as the plug dries out, it'll shrink. As the plug continues to shrink and grow continuously, there's a chance it can fall out as you're driving, which can even result in a blow out.

>How should a tire be repaired?
The correct way to do a proper repair is to remove the nail if there is one, drill through the hole to remove any obstructions, pull a glue coated plug through the hole, snip both sides so it sides even with the tire, grind the area on the inside down, coat it with glue, place a patch over it, and place sealant on the patch. If done properly, the repair will last the life of the tire.

>I've got a tire light on, and it won't go away?
If it's solid, then that means you just need to add, or remove air. If your light is flashing, that means your sensor is dying and may have to be replaced to remove the light.

>I need to replace my sensors in my tires, is it worth it?
In all honesty, no. At my store we charge $60-$100 per sensor. They are not important at all. I usually just give them to customers, if nobody else is around. If you want to get rid of that tire light, then you must replace the dead sensors.
***ASK THE TECHS TO SHOW YOU WHICH SENSORS ARE DEAD BEFORE PURCHASING***

>I aired up my tires, but my light is still on?
You may have to just reset the light.
Hondas, jeeps, and newer toyotas relearn on their own.
Fords, chevy's need to be taken to a tire shop to be relearned.
BMW's/Mercedes can be relearned on their own through the menu.

Continuing in next post.

Other urls found in this thread:

tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza RE-71R&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=25WR8RE71R&tab=Sizes
twitter.com/SFWRedditVideos

Are normal tire shops allowed to sell motorsports rubber over there?
I asked several local tire suppliers here, but a few select motorsports companies have monopolized the market to the point where a local tire guy just simply isn't allowed to sell a racing slick even though he carries the brand.

Tire help cont.

>I'm feeling a vibration when I drive, what could it be?
Depending on the tires that you've got, it could be an uneven cupping in the tread which is causing the bumping. Or it could be that the tires are out of balance. I would suggest having them re balanced before taking it to an alignment shop, or replacing any parts in the front axle. Reason being, most places offer free rebalances. So if it is the balancing, you won't have to pay a large amount of money for nothing.

>Where do tires with the better tread go?
Most places will recommend that the tires with the best tread go on the rears, regardless of whether it's A/F/RWD. My store recommends placing them on the rear, to prevent over steering.
Even if stores recommend placing tires in a certain place, you could just request they be put on in a certain place.

>I've got a bubble in my tire, can it be fixed?
No, it cannot. That tire is dead now. Bubbles in tires usually come from hitting pot holes, rocks, or anything that you might hit in the road, replace the tire as soon as possible.

It really depends on the store, and what the company policy. My store is not allowed to SELL racing slicks, just because they deem them unsafe for daily driving, but we will mount, and balance them.

Do tire "truing" machines still exist? For fixing cupped tires. I think its like a big belt sander.

mounting and balancing is no issue here either, as long as I supply the slicks myselves, but the market is shut tight as far as stores being able to supply them.

Not exactly, the best way to safely combat that is to just rotate them.

For TPMS sensors, how long do they last before they need replacement? Can just the battery be replaced or does a whole new sensor need to be purchased? If I have to purchase a replacement, it is cheaper to get it at your tire shop, or is it cheaper to buy them online and then have a tire shop install them?

Sensors tend to last around 6-8 years. The battery itself cannot be replaced, so the whole sensor must be replaced.

After doing some research, it's cheaper to get online, specifically Amazon, but there is a chance that the sensor would not work with the ECU of your vehicle. I would recommend giving your information to a tire shop, asking them which sensors your vehicle would need, have them help you out, then once you know what to do, go ahead and take it to a tire shop and ask them if they'll just put them in for you.

Are you the goy that works for discount tire?

Do y'all price match tirerack.com sales price?

I was wondering because these

tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza RE-71R&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=25WR8RE71R&tab=Sizes

are $144 at my local discount tire and $102 at tire rack.

That's me. And yeah, we match whatever price you've got as long as you bring proof of price.

I'm not telling you to do this, but I know a guy who printed a proof of price, and photoshopped the price to lower it.

Depending on the salesman, we'll usually just take your word for it, even if we know it's fake.

Okay tire jockey it's admirable your trying to help people but do not pretend you know everything after busting tires for a year. People have doing this longer than you or I and there's always more to learn

A flashing TPMS light doesn't not always mean the sensor is damaged or the battery is dead. They may need a relearn which I'm requires a tool, Bartech is a common brand to read the sensors and then program them to the vehicle through the OBDII port.

As you incorrectly stated ford's and Chevys and Hondas are primarily auto relearn after rotations or fixing a patch. Some Chrysler and jeeps and a dodges have positional sensors which gives a readout on the dash for the each wheel. These usually do require a relearn. Some Toyotas have a button to the left of the steering wheel to reset the TPMS light. but I've never seen a car that required a dealer tool except Mitsubishi Ralliart's and Evo's but all you need is a magnet and adapter.

TPMS is now required on all new vehicles dumbass so yes they're important you will not pass a safety inspection if OEM equipped.

If people are feeling a sudden vibration and all the old wheel weights are still on the rim there's a pretty good chance something is wrong and a rotation or alignment won't help much. A belt could have snapped, ball joint worked it's way halfway out of the control arm. If you can't check for these then don't pretend you know how to fix it.

Bubbles or bulges in the sidewall are usually caused by hitting curbs etc. Bubbles in the the tread is again usually a belt snap. Or 2 punctures along the same axis causing the belt shift.

>, pull a glue coated plug through the hole, snip both sides so it sides even with the tire,

Actually, most shops use a plug with the patch already on it. You apply the adhesive, and pull the plug through until the patch bottoms out, then press the patch until its firmly adheded, then cover with protectant, and cut the excess off the outside of the tire.

>How should a tire be repaired
A tire should never be repaired. Only replaced.

Once it has a hole, it is compromised, as the metal bands will have been damaged, and water will work its way in no matter what you do, which will corrode the bands.
A plugging tire should be treated as a temporary, keeping below 55mph and increased stopping distance.

Don't believe me? Check the DOT.

I was a retard and forgot to mark which tire went on which corner when I swapped my summer tires out for winters. They're directional, so 50% of my work is done, but is it feasible to gauge the tread depth to figure out which axle gets which tires? I drive a Subaru so the AWD system fucking hates mismatched tread depth.

yeah brah, no problem. line up both driver side tires and eyeball which one has more tread. Ditto for the passenger side. If cant eyeball it, use a coin and make a mark on it or use a reference point (Lincoln's head) and go from there.

put it upfront or in the rear, depends on who you talk to. "new tires in the rear always" is retarded, but I worked at a dealer and all of their cars were FWD based so they'd chew through front tires MUCH faster than rears.

pic semi-related

>new tires in the rear always" is retarded
This is because normie s can not control a car when it loses grip.

It is safer for them to slam into an oncoming car front first from understeer, then rear first from oversteer because of airbags and seat design.

I gotta ask, whats the deal with the shit on the inside of that rim?

One of the guys from the neighbouring infiniti dealer came over to mount and balance tires, they were aftermarket rims iirc and they had 2 valves, is that common? one was rubber and one was a TPMS sensor.

Also he was mounting bridgestone tires that had a weird foam on the inside of the tire, whats the deal with that?

pic unrelated

>foam on the inside of the tire
Run flats

blindly following that is foolish imo. If the rear tires are BRAND NEW and the fronts are at the wear bars, yeah then that's what I would do aswell

If the fronts were never rotated and the rears are at 50% life or so, would you still put the new tires in the rear?

I do agree, though, that understeer is favourable to understeer for normies

moar FD's.

>As you incorrectly stated....

But thats wrong. Chev 100% doesn't relearn positions. Ford and Chrysler, regardless of dash layout, don't require relearning after rotation. The only time you should have to relearn a Chrysler or a Ford is if you've replaced a TPMS sensor, and even then most Fords will pick up the new sensor anyway.

Regardless, aftermarket TPMS hardware has come a long way. Bartec and Shradder TPMS have come a hell of a long way over the last few years, making TPMS one of the easier things to work on a vehicle.

quick google makes it sound like its designed to reduce tire noise.

I'd never seen additional shit inside tires for run flats. I've done a BUNCH of 3/5 series BMW tires and they look like regular tires until you sit on them or try and put them on/take them off. Rigid as a motherfucker and heavy.

Will my tires on my stock wheels, 215/55/16r, fit on my new wheels, 215/60/16r?

The rim difference is from 16"x6.5" stock to 16"x7" new set. They both have the 5 lug 108mm.

Thanks OP or whoever answers

Bridgestone doesn't use any kind of foam. Must be some infiniti thing.

No you put the rears on the front and put the new tires on the rear.

If it is unsafe to replace two tires and still have tread depth on the front, then the customer needs four tires and you should refuse service until they comply. Their safety is the importance.
The fug.

.......... are you asking if the 55 high tires will fit, or the 60 high tires?
The 60 high tirewalls will be under less stress on the wider 7j rims, but I don't see a reason why any of them would not fit. the 55% has a tirewall of 12cm, the 60% has a tirewall of 13cm, should have enough slack.
Still, why go for wider wheels if you're not also applying wider tires?

is there a good brand of tire thats under $75 each?
Bought a used car with goodyears that are at just under 50% so i'm looking at my options
I live in tennessee so our winters are generally mild but I'm thinking of just sticking to all seasons. I also want them to actually look half decent.
locally we have a bunch of local garages, a michelin, firestone, sears, walmart, jiffy lube and similar, and a discount tire, if that helps at all

what size tire do you need?
i mean a michelin could be that cheap if it was for a fiat panda.

P195/65R15 for a 2001 mitsubishi galant. I'm going to run outside to double check that though. need to write it down for future reference in case the wheels arent stock

Ok thanks, I will buy wider tires later I was just trying to save some money til then. Im trying to put the 55high tire on the 6x7 rim. I never liked the stock rims on my focus they are the black ones with the plastic cover, it just looks tacky.

sounds similar to what i use on my toyota yaris, except i ha ve them a bit flatter.

kumho ecsta spt ku31, try finding those.

I checked with the tire itself, they are indeed 195/65R15/91T

I wanna buy a WRX, the dealer will probably give me winter tires or summer tires depending on when I buy the car. What kind of summer slicks should I get if I choose to buy the car now in the middle of the winter?

Dunlop Direzza Z2 Star Specs are the shit, I've used them at autocross and road racing often and they grip real well. Hankook Ventus V12 Evos are also good, and cheaper.

It was actually a piece of hard plastic. The tire itself was extra load rated but no run flat and that big metal band in the centre of the rim is presumably to protect the sensor. It was a 2017 acura ILX

Foam is to quiet down the tire, lots of high end tires have it these days. Honda used a giant plastic insert for run flats, can't remember what it's called but it's completely fucked to change a tire on it, I think it pays 4 hours for a set or something ridiculous. You have to push off a giant plastic collar and the wheel itself doesn't have much of a rim for the bead to seat on. Here's a Pilot Super Sport with the foam.

Just looked it up, it was called PAX

I'm looking to get the pirelli cinturato p7 for my DD for maximum comfy. Are they as comfy and as quiet as the reviews say? I live where its always Sunny so i don't care about weather. Is their any other tires i should consider? I want them to be quiet and comfy

I have had two chevys with tpms. A 2010 and a 2015 both owners manual have instructions ( simple) for establishing the new positions and the light goes off once aired up on its own for both

continental premium contact 5 are max comfy and min noisy

holy living fuck

Ya PAX is Michelin's version of runflat technology. Its basically a dealer-only job, technically, Michelin says you HAVE to have a special machine to do them, even though you can sometimes get them with a normal machine.

Lots of places wont even look at them though.

>is there a good brand of tire thats under $75 each?
My local Sam's Club had some type of goodyear all season at $77 each. Don't remember the specific tire name though.

Ohtsu makes a pretty decent tire for cheap. I've driven through some really nasty thunderstorms and the traction was surprisingly good. Not something you would expect from a cheap tire. Ohtsu is owned by falken in case you're wondering.

The only catch is that the warranty is 40k miles. But depending on where you shop, $35 a tire isn't bad for 40k miles.

Any idea when No Air tires will become the norm?

>Any idea when No Air tires will become the norm?
They are rated not on mileage but upon how many impacts the tire has sustained. So they suck. And with any type of honeycomb support approach, it's possible to have a perfect storm impact situation such as a deeper pothole that has a rock at bottom. That would perfect storm the tire because the rock at bottom compresses the comb above it. The coming edge of the pothole then impacts the tire but the compressed section doesn't lend enough support to the new impact location. The rim thus gets crunched.

Don't haven't ridiculous vibration at certain frequencies? I thought that was the reason they haven't been adopted.

no, they are noisy

This,
I remember an article talking about Michelin stoped trying to push this product as consumer product mostly because of the noise and vibration was difficult to manage above 90km/h

In mass tpms system faults are not failable for safety inspection.

>Don't haven't ridiculous vibration at certain frequencies?
All that road vibration transmitted up to the axle will kill the bearings. An unintended consequence will appear years later when lots of these cars need new bearings.

Fucking dumb question here.

I drive a FWD car, making decent power for FWD. 205hp tune coming faiiirly soon.

How dumb would it be for me to change *just* the front tyres to semi-slicks? Nankang NS2Rs. Keep the rears the stock, Sport Contacts or whatever the hell Ford put on it.
There doesn't seem any point upgrading the rears atm, they are decent enough and all they need to do is grip in the turns which they do.

What is the point of only buying 2 tires? I only see this happen on shitboxes no one cares about

Bought a used Elantra recently. Doesn't come with a spare tire, just a compressor and a can of sealant goo.

Is that sealant going to cause an expensive mess, if I ever have to use it? The trunk has space for a spare tire, if I want to pay for one and carry it around. Presumably, that would also slightly reduce mileage due to the extra weight.

Nah, that sealant stuff is actually called fix-a-flat. It won't damage the wheel, but just be sure as soon as you can, take it to a tire shop to get the tire either repaired, or replaced. With most shops, we just wash the wheel and inside of the tire off with some water, and it's totally safe to use.

Financial reasons. Sometimes people can't afford all four tires, or sometimes they have to replace only one, so instead of replacing just one, they replace two together.

Falken is a great brand, and like user suggested, Ohtsu's are also great. But if possible, I suggest getting Falken's Pro G4 model.

Balance this if you're so great

Just static tape it dude

Tire "tech" here. How the fuck did you even do that

Probably bent wheel, or wrong sized cone. I've hit 640oz before

The most I've gotten was 6 ounces, and that was a truck tire with tons of mud just caked on the inside of the wheel

Thoughts on this?

Favorite tire brand?

Best A/S tires for a 2017 Mustang GT?

Best summer tires?

if i need help with tyres i will go see my buddy he used to manage a tyre shop. not just one of the fitters who works there.

>Falken's Pro G4
sadly $75 each is the max i can handle in my current job so those cost a tad more around here, on average my paycheck comes out to $250 biweekly and i'm trying to do a lot of work on this car. Even though its got 245311 miles on it give or take, its a nice car and i got it for $700

Probably just some aged tires. Depending on how old they are, they should be fine.

My personal favorite is the BFG KO2.
Best all season tires would have to be the michelin Defender A/S

Okay, great. Go ahead and ask your buddy. Way to waste time telling us you won't ask me questions. In the mean time, I'll go ahead and help people who have questions that I can answer.

>Doral SDL-A 225/45/17

Worth it? I can drop up to 100 dollars on each tire, but fuck man I don't really drive a whole lot right now anyways.

What car do you drive?

What am i looking at

so the pilot super sports on my 3000GT VR-4 I have are great and all, but they're starting to get old... I realize I want the car to be a bit more comfortable/quiet, but still have a decent tire... Any ideas on options? I realize the car will never be a proper sports car, so I want to dial it back a bit to be a nice GT car... as it was meant to be.

Unfortunately I've been lax on my research... I've thought about toyo proxies or Pirelli P-zeros. My friend has a set of Continentals on his Focus ST that he seems to like. But they're all sport tires I believe. Any input would be apprecaited.

tires/wheels require weight to balance them
if you check on your car's wheel they're either clipped to rim or sticked to the inside of the wheel

this is asking you to put a shit load of weights on the outer lip

Can someone help me to figure out what the fuck are these tyres?
Says Nordman but I haven't seen Nokian on them, and I can't find similar Nokians in the catalog

Nevermind, that's fucking Amtel

>Best all season tires would have to be the michelin Defender A/S

Wouldn't the Continental PureContact be a bit better? They have great handling dry, good when wet, and have low noise like the defenders.

There are also those ultra performance all season versions such as Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 and the Continental Extreme Contact DWS but those Pilot A/S 3 are $177 each unfortunately.

Hey I drive an impala with the 3.6 V6 makes very good power from the crank but damn near no grip with the tires there currently well tread 225's but my question is would going wider help or just going with like something better than my shitty cheap ones?

>Nah, that sealant stuff is actually called fix-a-flat. It won't damage the wheel, but just be sure as soon as you can, take it to a tire shop to get the tire either repaired, or replaced. With most shops, we just wash the wheel and inside of the tire off with some water, and it's totally safe to use.

Does it ruin the pressure sensors though? Wondering how much it would cost me if I ever had to use it.

>Does it ruin the pressure sensors though?
Fix-a-flat sealant in a pressurized can was available for along time. It was invented in a time before TPMS, so compatibility with TPMS sensors was not an issue.

Can't TPMS sensors be flushed clean? Or does that sealant also partially seal up the sensor so that its pressure readings could be inaccurate?

The super sports are some great sport tires, as implied by the name, but another tire you can check out is the Continental touring tire. They're comfortable, have a great mileage warranty, and from what i've heard, they're pretty quiet as well. A little pricey, but you're paying for quality.

Continentals are second best to Michelin but only in my opinion. I've heard positives and negatives to both. I only prefer Michelin because that is the tire I've been using for my non off road vehicles.

Before trying a different size, just try a different kind of tire. Bigger tires are more expensive, as well. So just pick up some better tires and they should be better.

No, it will not damage the TPMS. The battery in the sensor is under a bunch of plastic, and is safe. You should be totally safe to use fix a flat, the TPMS will not be damaged at all. Infact, you'll actually be saving it if you use it. That's only in the case that if you don't use fix a flat, your tire will be completely flat, and running on the rubber/wheel flange. If that's the case, you could definitely damage the sensor by driving on it by accident.

Get Conti ExtremeContact DWs, you won't be disappointed

Do you mean grams and not ounces? I'm running an old Sun Balancer that maxes out at 9.9oz and I have never seen it max out (excluding bent rims) even with used 37" MT tires on a giant diesel pickup.

ive had patched and plugged MPSS up to 160+ mph

>Are gas station/gummy plugs safe?

you just reminded me that I used one of those to plug a screw hole in one of my 33's like a year ago. still going strong though. maybe it will cause a blowout and give me a reason to upgrayedd to 35's.

For what car? I know you probably already know, but I still have to say this.
Please be sure your axles are strong enough. I sold 37's to some guy. Turned out he was putting it on his lifted, and stock axle wrangler. Once he mounted them, he took it for a test drive and his front axle snapped in half.

Basically Rears are perfect so it just seems a waste to replace them.
Fronts will soon be toast because I drive like a dickhead.

May as well ask here since it's available. Is there really anything more to consider getting an alternate set of wheels and tires aside from matching size or using a size through research is compatible and their offset? I'm considering getting wider wheels and tires for a Camaro for when I go to autox/track days with it. I know all the numbers, but don't know if there's anything else to be fearful of before making such an expensive purchase.

Not exactly. Bolt pattern, offset, and spacing. Make sure the wheels sit flush against the hub, if not you'll probably need hub rings. If you take your car to a tire shop, ask them to test fit the wheels and tires on the vehicle. Ask them to do a rub test and have them CALL YOU IN FOR IT.

There are so many times when customers ask us to do the rub test, and then just wander off and don't answer their fucking phone, so we have to put the wheels and tires on even if they do rub, just to pull it out of our bays.

It seems like you already know what you need, but just double check and be safe, ask the people up front to do a rub test, and please for the love of god, ask them to notify you and pull you in when they do it.

I'm replacing the stock 17 inch wheels on my 2007 328xi with 18 x 9 ASA GT5's.

I want to put Kumho Ectsa LX 225/40ZR18 tires on them.

This is a 1 inch increase in width, and a slight stretch for the tire.

Are there any glaring red flags here? I know the bolt pattern is correct, and the setup will be square as to play nice with xDrive.

Best summer tires for Toyobaru?

I've got some 245/40s hankook rs3's on my 17x9 rpf1's. They're great but desu next time I'll probably get something with a higher tread wear rating like mpss. I'll just see how long these last with light track use and my short commute.

anyone got pic related? did you replace them or keep em?

Best thing is to see what other people are doing.
Get on a dedicated Camaro forum and see what specs people are running.

They're fine, as long as the taper matches the wheels you're using.

Is that something the thieves can ruin trying to get it off? It would be bad if the owner couldn't get a ruined lug nut off because the edges were rounded and the tool just kept on sliding on the rounded ridges.

i'm fairly sure the ones on my car are factory, its used so its hard to know. I've never actually had 'security lugs' before.
no idea, but my socket key i noticed is knurled up a bit from hefty use. That could be bad if it gets too bad

buy replacement.

Had Contis PC for the past 3 years, now using Defender A/S.

I think both have the same handling in dry, both are good when wet, fair with snow/slush. Contis PC and low noise? Not as quiet as the Defenders.

Also, tread warranty with the Defenders are 90000 which is great for a high-mileage driver like me (average 180-250 miles a day)

its plenty fine to use for now, i can sand it a bit with a dremel to smooth it back out. But local tire places dont seem to notice that its not a socket meant for their air tools.

Just don't get caught napping. If you hear the company making those is going out of business, then you'll have to decide to buy another tool or get rid of the lugs. Otherwise, you'll find out one day that you need new tires but you can't take the lugs off because after you removed one tire, the tool became stripped or it developed a crack.

What are the grippiest 15 inch tires I can put on a foxbody?

225/60/15 or around there

should probably get a second one