When it comes to tires, people can get easily confused. Should I change one tire at a time or all at the same time? Should I wait before all the tires are worn out? Should I buy my tires from a cheap tire shop or an expensive one? All of these questions leads to another question, if you do want to change the tires, is mixing tires a bad idea or a good idea. One solution everyone would really like is to change all four tires at the same time, but that can turn out to be quite expensive and pointless if all the tires are not equally worn out.
So, most of the time it is recommended to replace the tire as you need to and as much you can afford to. You can either change one at a time or two at a time. This is when the mistake of mixing tires come into play. If you changing one or two tires it is important that you replace them with the exact same ones as the remaining tires.
The internal construction, design, size and tread design of the new tires, all should be exactly the same way as remaining tires. Also, you should not mix two different types of tires like winter tire and all-season tires. This is because every tire has a different set of design with a different traction and handling properties. When you start mismatching them with size, design or tread patterns, they tend to become unpredictable. It can become very dangerous as the car will now have jittery braking, handling and grip on the road. Many accidents tend to occur due to mixing tires.
If you do need to replace tires, buy from the same brand and model, but replace them with the rear tires. Otherwise, if you replace the front tires and you hit a wet road suddenly the front tires will disperse the water while the rear tires will easily hydroplane, resulting in your car to crash.
If you don’t find the exact ones, then at least try to buy the tire with equivalent tread characteristics, load ratings, handling, speed ratings, with the same performance as the existing tires.
In case, you don’t find the new tires matching with the remaining tires, then during an emergency, you can mix tires. But remember to swap out your tires with matching tires as soon as possible. If you don’t or ignore it, you will end up in an even bigger disaster. Find a cheap tire shop where you will get good quality matching tires within your budget.
