New Tyre Rules!!1

[Hits553]

Hi Guys

Just wanted to know if anyone had heard of the follwing: Went to Costco lasy week to price up a pair of rear tyres (285 45 19) and iw as told by the guys behind the counter asked me what the trend is on the front, so i said about 3.5m, he said in that case your going to need all 4 replace, i asked him why he said they cant just fit the rears as its company policy due the the front being less then 50% tred left

He said i could buy just the rear and get someone else to fit them

Anyone else had this?

[Turks]

Not heard of this... a little short sighted of the company if you ask me - People will walk away rather than buy another 2 tyres when there is still over 5000+ miles left in the ones that they have got. They may change their company policy when they see sales figures dropping off a cliff!

I would buy them and just get someone else to fit. Only about £10-15 a corner to fit at an indy.


Turks.

[MartyVFR]

I have heard of this before - i think i's only 4x4's that Costco do this with but i could be wrong.
Does seem daft though.

[fenj66]

i would somehow take the rims only to costco and ask them to fit the tyres, if they ask what car its from, tell them to mind their own business!!

by the way, hi to all the gang!! glad to see the old forum back and running..

[Sanj]

[quote=""fenj66""]by the way, hi to all the gang!! glad to see the old forum back and running..[/quote]

Welcome back fella! Stick yourself in the Introduce Yourself section and I'll welcome you there as well! Haha!

Good to have you back - how did you find us?

[Turks]

I have heard that LR Disco's have to have both tyres on the same axle changed at the same time... something to do with the Diffs on the 4WD system and having different rolling radius accross an axle can do damage? That came from a LR Dealer to my missus' dad who has been a mechanic for 30 years plus. He asked how can that be when off-road the Diffs allow each wheel to turn at different speeds and have power independently... the dealer said "thats what we have been told" and thought that was a sufficient answer.


Turks.

[535dboy]

Rightly or wrongly I have been told the same rule by so many different people and so many manufacturers that I have adhered to it

[Turks]

In the same position, I would probably stick to the rule too as much as it would loathe me to do so.

I would like to know the mechanical reson why this is the case and why it has never been a problem before...

Has this rule been applied for the E70/71? Was anyone ever told this on the E53? Has anyone ever heard of anything going wrong for not changing both tyres when the manufaturer recommended they did?


Turks.

[Nat]

Hi,

The Costco chap is partly right. If you have an extreme example, like say a tyre with 7 mm on one front tyre and the otherside is completely bald, then one wheel/tyre combo will have a larger rolling circumference. That means that if driven in a straight line for a long time, one side of the axle will travel further than the other side of the axle. This is calles axle wind and is more apparent in some vehicles than others. VW Touaregs for example are very sensitive to it . The solution is just to lift the wheel off the ground and the axle will unwind itself. You may have experienced something similar with tyre scrub when trying to turn tight cormers on a dry road with the diff/axle locked on a 4X4.
All that said, I dont know how sensitive to it the X5 is. My 4.8 has some 3 mm on the fronts , ( both the same ) and the rears have 5mm and 7 mm respectively and it doesnt seem to affected.
I dont think its a common issue, but guess the chap at Costco probably didnt want to be sued or was being overcautious...........

Regards

Nat.

[celica]

wow, that's interesting.

i wonder if it's for 4x4 only, but then what counts as 4x4 i.e. what about cars running awd like subaru imprezza say

[ayat]

went to new costco in coventry and went into the tyre shop, there prices are ok , seem to be better with michelins as thats there main brand, had 20% off set of 4 tyres which would have made them the cheapest ive seen for tyres for my alfa gta, but i only wanted some budgets for the rear till my fronts are gone , then i was gonna replace all 4 with ps3s

[Minda]

Nice to know the costco offers back on at the min, thanks

[Minda]

Costco tyre offer back on from 1/11/10 to 21/11/10
20% OFF Set of 4 fitted tyres

[Hits553]

Cool Thanks Minda, may pay a visit this week, offers just in time for winter

[Minda]

No probs! glad to be of help