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change tires, rotate early, or leave em be?

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  #1  
Old 11-06-2011, 07:24 PM
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change tires, rotate early, or leave em be?

So I did my tire rotation not too long ago (during my last oil change @35k miles, now @36, or a bit over). All four seemed to be pretty evenly worn, none seemed more worn than another.

But last week I noticed the S in DWS, was starting to look a little shallow on the front tires. I -think- the rears should be in slightly better condition.

So, I'm left wondering what to do.

1) Leave em and rotate em on my next oil change, basically, not worry about it.

2) Rotate the tires early so that on my next rotation, one end won't be much more worn than the other... keeping the wear much closer across the four tires.

3) replace the four tires,. I have my OE wheels, so I could do the whole winter/summer tire bit.

Of course, those that know about Conti DWS tires, know that even if the S starts to get shallow, it still has penty of general tread life for most dry conditions. I've only had them for 22k miles (almost 8 months), but of course some of those miles were a bit rougher than typical.

Then again, I really shouldn't be spending money. Hum...
 
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Old 11-06-2011, 08:06 PM
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I would rotate them any time I had to have the car up on jack stands... I didn't do that with the original tires and the front tires were worn out while the ones on the rear still had a lot of wear left on them...
 
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Old 11-06-2011, 08:17 PM
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I did not rotate my tires on the Fit on one oil change and wrecked them at 18000 miles. They were cupped and sounded like I was running on flats. Because they had records no warranty I tried. I even went to the tire place and tried to get pro rated tires put on, but it was not worth it. I also put in 40 psi and sometimes a few more pounds, so that probably helped in the cupping.
 
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Old 11-06-2011, 08:26 PM
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I was at 18000 miles on the stock tires also... It was like driving on square tires but the rear tires looked much better than the front.
 
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Old 11-06-2011, 08:40 PM
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I just put the correct pressure 35/32 psi and drove it for another 18000. My new car the tires are different and so far at 22,000 the tires are wearing evenly. I rotated them at every oil change which is 7000 miles.
 
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Old 11-06-2011, 09:15 PM
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i'm not really worried about the wear. Just that the S is starting to get shallow, and I'm gonna need it for a Chicago winter. In previous cars, I just used the tire till its quite worn (to the bars or worse). But I had hoped to have more tread before winter came, so could get a feel for the tire in snow... not have my first winter experience with these tires in its "no longer recommended for snow use" stage of its tread life.

I'm half expecting it to perform just as badly as the Dunlops it replaced.

Btw, when I rotated my tires, I pumped all four to about 38 PS I (no load, so assume the front would be slightly higher under load). I haven't checked since, so I'm betting its close to 35 (time + temp drop).
 
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Old 11-06-2011, 09:36 PM
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You should be OK this year but need new tires in the spring. I drove my Fit in 3 winters and only had 1 problem. A S curve that was ice but I still controlled it and if it was not for a car that slide into the wall I would have been fine.

At 22000 miles on the Civic, the tire thread is 7/8. We run our tires at work to 4. Use a quarter and that is 3 from the edge to the top of the head.
 
  #8  
Old 11-08-2011, 03:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Texas Coyote
I would rotate them any time I had to have the car up on jack stands... I didn't do that with the original tires and the front tires were worn out while the ones on the rear still had a lot of wear left on them...
Goobz - rotate them. Can't hurt and will even out the wear. Many see little value in tire rotation. It's run it's course on the forum before.

I do it every oil change [8K miles] and every time I have all four off the ground. Fronts will take more wear so getting them on the rears is good.

Measure the tread depth 3 places across each tire and compare to see the wear.

DIY is free and good exercise. Front to back is a good/easy pattern.
 
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Old 11-08-2011, 03:58 PM
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I try to rotate mine regularly on all my cars. Yeah about every oil change would be a good gauge - 5k to 7.5k mi. FWD's are known to wear the fronts more if not faster than RWD.
 

Last edited by Subie; 11-08-2011 at 06:15 PM.
  #10  
Old 11-08-2011, 05:16 PM
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oh yeah, after missing one tire rotation, i definitely saw how much more the fronts can wear (front left being worn the most and the right rear being the least).

After driving in last night's light rain, where i was sliding a bit much on the on-ramps... i decided to rotate them asap. hopefully, i'll wake up early tomorrow (unlike today). otherwise it might have to wait till Monday.
 
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Old 11-12-2011, 09:14 PM
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I think I'm gonna cry.

Got a freaking inch and half long bolt puncture my front left tire. The tire didn't deflate with the bolt there, but I didn't want to risk it happening on the highway. After swapping to my spare, pulled the bolt out... and my tire slowly deflated itself.

I think I can get it patched... or rather I hope I can.

If not, I will pull a pair of OE Dunlops that i kept, and ride with the car being half and half. Ironically, or hypocritically, I was just bitching about people using mismatches the other week. I guess its karma.
 
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Old 11-12-2011, 11:25 PM
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Sorry to hear that, A bolt is bigger than a nail so I think you will need a new tire but its worth a try to patch it.
 
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Old 11-13-2011, 01:30 AM
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That sucks Goobers. After I had my new tires/wheels on, the mechanic told me I had a nail on the rear right tire. I dismissed it thinking it was from the screw that punctured it last year. It turns out that the nail and the screw were separate incidents but both punctured that same rear right tire. I have terrible luck on that tire. =/

Oh yeah, I think you're from the Chicago area, if so I know this Lincoln Square garage that fixes tire flats for $10. The work held up on my rear tire so I would recommend them. PM if this interests you.
 
  #14  
Old 11-13-2011, 01:57 AM
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Originally Posted by SilverBullet
Sorry to hear that, A bolt is bigger than a nail so I think you will need a new tire but its worth a try to patch it.
It's a fairly small bolt... uses a 10 mm head. But yeah, could still be too big to patch. just gonna have to find out.

Originally Posted by blassty
That sucks Goobers. After I had my new tires/wheels on, the mechanic told me I had a nail on the rear right tire. I dismissed it thinking it was from the screw that punctured it last year. It turns out that the nail and the screw were separate incidents but both punctured that same rear right tire. I have terrible luck on that tire. =/

Oh yeah, I think you're from the Chicago area, if so I know this Lincoln Square garage that fixes tire flats for $10. The work held up on my rear tire so I would recommend them. PM if this interests you.

Lincoln Square? :| I'm hesitant on driving into Chicago. Everything takes longer than it needs to everytime I head into Chicago... especially near Lawrence. Maybe I can get by, by sticking to Western Av.
 
  #15  
Old 11-13-2011, 02:10 AM
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Originally Posted by Goobers
Ironically, or hypocritically, I was just bitching about people using mismatches the other week. I guess its karma.
Your DWS? Ouch! At least you were "screwed"... Mine hit a pothole a while back (for large cars... manhole for the Fit) and bubbled my right front sidewall. So I'm on mismatches too as much as I hate it. Will ride it out a few more miles then match them back up.
 
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Old 11-13-2011, 03:27 AM
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Cool

Originally Posted by Goobers
It's a fairly small bolt... uses a 10 mm head. But yeah, could still be too big to patch. just gonna have to find out.

Lincoln Square? :| I'm hesitant on driving into Chicago. Everything takes longer than it needs to everytime I head into Chicago... especially near Lawrence. Maybe I can get by, by sticking to Western Av.
Ah ha ha, well it's just a hundred feet from Lawrence / Western.


I PM'd you the crazy directions.

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  #17  
Old 11-13-2011, 11:16 AM
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I grew up around Lincoln square. There used to be good German bars around there. Have not been there in over 20 years.
 
  #18  
Old 11-13-2011, 02:47 PM
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Time for some schnitzel, beer and schnapps, eh?
 
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Old 11-13-2011, 02:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Krimson_Cardnal
Time for some schnitzel, beer and schnapps, eh?
I liked the Oktoberfest, and it was interesting talking to WW2 Germans.
 
  #20  
Old 11-13-2011, 04:36 PM
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Question: I recently put on some falken ziex 912's and noticed the drivers side said "inside" on the sidewall and outside on the passenger side tires. The treads are hybrid assymetic (whatever that means) should I have them flipped or leave them be?
 


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