Tire Questions

[1988 Cherokee]

I got some stupid questions to ask.

How can I tell how much tread is on each tire?

Is it ok to have 3 of the same brand of tire, with 1 different brand but same style (All Terrain). And 2 of the 3 same brand of tire are brand new?

What about same situation as above but instead of 2 brand new tires, I get another 2 used but same brand having 3 tires same brand and one not, then having all 4 tires different tread but all above a certain percentage, lets say 50 or 60%?

I have to lay off inhaling the paint fumes 

[yyc_tbird_sc]

The actual size of a given tire will differ between manufacturers. For this reason, I wouldn't suggest that you run a different tire on each side of the axle. Now....if you wanted to run two different sets of tires front/rear, then I don't see a problem so long as they're the same size (ie: 31x10.5x15).

Only lay off the paint fumes if you're starting to see gazoo!!

[FiEND]

1. there is a tool that measures the depth of tread and you compare that to the original depth of the tread to know what % you have left.  all tires have a wear inidicator in between the lugs somewhere that tells you when to change (approx 10%).

2. It's not ok to have different brands all over or on different axles at least.  different tracking or weight or whatever can cause problems... prob 100 reasons why not.

3 if you have new tires they should be on the same axle and i recommend them on the front for braking and steering purposes, others say back for unknown reasons.

[hps4evr]

highly recommend same tire size and brand all around on 4wd vehicles. if off road only then you could get away with one brand front and one brand rear. but on a street driven vehicle i can only suggest 4 of the same brand. rotating your tires will keep tread wear to a minimum. i prefer better tires at the back on rwd or 4wd for traction purposes. and it could be argued that if the rears have less tread then they could cause a vehicle to loose rear traction when brake lock-up occurs... sounds like it came right out of a text book.

[dac]

I'm with Eric on this one.  I've also heard some people recommend not doing the 5 tire rotation because the difference in height with the 5th.  I'd recommend all same tire and all same tread depth.  No mix-match.  Different brand tires and different wear bepths is how transfer cases blow up (just ask my boss).

[TJ54]

ideally all four tire should be the same,
don't mix tires on an axle,
new tires should always go on the back, all vehicle, 4wd rwd fwd, if you are not sure why, check all manufacturer's and gov't tire related web sites.

tire depth guages are cheap and are available at all auto parts store.

[Tagg]

if you are not sure why, check all manufacturer's and gov't tire related web sites.

I've always believed that anything less than 4 same tires is a compromise, but I'm not here to disagree.
My point is if you check history the "manufacturers" in North America insisted bias ply tires were as good as radial tires because they had too high a tooling cost investment in bias ply tires.  They stalled long enough to get their investment paid for. ( approx 10 years)
So much for the credibility of manufacturers.

[1988 Cherokee]

I asked this question because I bought one used BFG AT KO and one used Goodyear Wrangler AT with good tread depth, no knicks or scars.

[esi]

You have 2 good spare tires.

[Zombie]

doing so is not advised as different tires are not all created equal.
neither in size, traction or handling characteristics.

the best solution is to have all 5 tires the same and rotate the spare in at every rotation.
I would hope that the tires would not differ more than 2-3/32nds of an inch and there should not be too many problems.
on top of that, if you do happen to have a tire damaged, the spare will match and you will be able to continue to use the other tires and have a new(or used spare that would not be put into the rotation pattern (as the others will likely be too far worn to just have one new tire.

this is the ideal situation. many people will not have a matching spare, and that just means that if one tire is damaged and they are not almost new, the others could be to far worn and a whole new set may be required.

this may be a good debate as many old timers may say it does not make a difference, but I don't buy that.

try to find matching tires with similar tread depth

[1988 Cherokee]

That is exactly what I am going to do, just get them all the same size with similar tread depth.

[Zombie]

That is exactly what I am going to do, just get them all the same size with similar tread depth.

I hope this means all the same tire as well.

[1988 Cherokee]

same tire, yes

[hps4evr]

I asked this question because I bought one used BFG AT KO and one used Goodyear Wrangler AT with good tread depth, no knicks or scars.

these are 2 very different tires. and if it truly is a goodyear AT then i would say its at least 10-15 years old. the GY AT was discontinued in 1998-2000 ish. if its the GY at/s the nthats much newer, but still way different then the bfg. if you're trying to save a few bucks you're going to loose out in performance and long term drivetrain issues.

[1988 Cherokee]

are the retread tires anygood, those are like $75-$85 per tire for all terrain.

http://www.treadwright.com/shopnow/entity/tabid/60/entityname/category/categoryid/7/sename/31-10.5R15.aspx

I wouldnt mind buying all 4 retreads for around $300, but to drop $200 to $250 a hit at these tire stores is steep. I guess I will go around to the used tire stores tomorrow around chinook there and see whats available.