Buying old tires

[Oz Dodge 4]

I am 70, and the year I was born my dad bought an International AR 160 truck ! It is still up at the farm and although not licenced since the 1980s still gets used on an occasional job around the farm. "I" put the spare tyre on the front left hand wheel back about 2005, and that is the original tyre that came with the truck in 1955, and the four rear tyres are the originals that the old man had re-treaded back in the 60s, all these "original" from new seventy year old tyres are still holding air and haven't blown out "yet". Like I say it's not done much work in decades, has only done about fifty thousand miles from new and is rarely started, but it makes me wonder how much of all these warnings about tyre age are just trying to sell you more tyres. I wouldn't drive the old truck on the road as it is either, but I have seen a lot of failed tyres over the years and I don't think I have ever seen one that was from "old age only".  

Edited May 23 by Oz Dodge 4 (see edit history)

[Dr B]

10 hours ago, Grimy said:

With respect, that's easy to say when you're replacing "modern" tires, but there's a huge amount of labor in changing tires on demountable rims (at least an hour per), a bit less on lock ring wheels--none of which are amenable to a tire machine.  Not to mention, Coker now wants over $500 each for blackwall BFG Silvertowns that last 8,000 miles--when you can get them, as Coker apparently does a run only about every third year.

Completely agree.  The "price of admission" or in this case retention in the collector car hobby continues to go up. In addition, the quality and availability of collector car tires continues to go down.  Not sure which is worse a cheap low quality new tire (and tube) or a high quality old tire.  It seems to be a risky proposition either way.

 

Robert

[Mark Gregush]

12 hours ago, Grimy said:

Who remembers GEHRIG high-pressure tires?  I understand they went out of business about 1969 due to the death of the founder.  We still see Gehrig high-pressure tires occasionally on well-driven pre-1924 cars!  I suspect the chemical formulation is the reason.  Can anyone speak knowledgeably on this issue?

Think, would have to check, that is the maker of the tires I have on the back of my Dodge. 

[Dr B]

10 hours ago, 7th Son said:

Unless there is information to dissuade me, I think I'll try a set again for the next one of my cars that need "new" tires. 

To each their own.  Good luck and tell us which tires you buy and how it works out.  

 

I have been looking for information on retreaded tires.  Now a day, retreaded tires are not backyard mom & pop operations. They are major manufacturers with large commercial plants.  

 

This seems to be a reasonably objective article on the industry: https://www.tirereview.com/revisiting-consumer-retreads/

 

One interesting point about passenger car retreads, they are no longer significantly cheaper than new tires.

 

"However, in the passenger car and light truck car market, the presence of inexpensive radials (primarily imported from low cost production countries) has reduced this cost advantage to around 10%. The result over the last three decades has been a continual downward trend in the use, both domestically and internationally, of passenger and light truck retread tires."

 

For commercial trucks and aviation, retreaded tires plays a very significant role in cost control.

 

Robert

[Frank DuVal]

1. When I was driving my '84 F-150 and it wore out front tires I bought used tires from the local store. I did check for recent dates/no cracks/etc. $25 installed and on my path to work. I ran the Snow tires on the rear for over 15 years. Even the manager at the new tire store looked at them and said run them. I finally (about 2018) treated the truck to a whole set of new tires. 

 

2. I have not seen a passenger car recapped tire for sale in over 35 years around here. All the local retread shops were gone over 40 years ago. Tractor Trailer tires, yes, (Like Bandag) just not for front wheel use.

 

3. Just last year I bought the wife a new set of tires for her 2015 Encore. About 32K miles and they looked new.  8 years, actually 9 from mfg. date.    But... It does get Interstate use from time to time.

 

4. I had a new set of Michelin on my Nova (maybe three years old, this was in the late 90s) and one tire lost the cap while I was driving down I-95. Black marks on front fender, not dented enough to see (beige car 20 years old 😉), but I went back to buying the cheapest new tires after that! No more "expensive good" tires for me!🤣

Edited May 23 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[28 Chrysler]

A six year old tire now is different that a six year old tire was in 1960.

The compounds in the tires have changed along with the percentage of recycled rubber.  Imagine adding 10% old hamburger to the new and expecting it to last very long.

I have some 20 year old rollers that the side walls are crumbling, also a set of  (almost) rollers from well before WWII that look good but have a fixed position flat tire spot.

The 1954 Bonneville Special made by Pontiac has the original tires and the owner claims most of the original air.

[ABear]

4 hours ago, Oz Dodge 4 said:

I am 70, and the year I was born my dad bought an International AR 160 truck ! It is still up at the farm and although not licenced since the 1980s still gets used on an occasional job around the farm.

The is a huge difference between a "occasional FARM use vehicle" with 70+ yr old tires that is not or never will be driven "at highway speed" ever again and driving that farm use truck at todays modern high way speeds which even though may be posted at 70MPH, it isn't unusual for that speed to be more in line with 80+ MPH.

 

As a "farm use" truck, I highly doubt that it sees more than 40 MPH going downhill with a 70 MPH wind behind it.

 

The lack of high speed driving is in your favor, but all bets are off on how long they stay together once you add a lot of speed into the mix.

 

I have watched more than once what happens to tires when they disintegrate at highway speeds.. Spent a good portion of work life commuting and nearly 20 miles on a major Interstate with posted speeds of 70MPH.. Had more than one semi truck multiple car lengths in front of me blow a tire.. Mind bending just how big and how high and far those "gators" can reach in seconds.

 

 

[ABear]

53 minutes ago, Dr B said:

I have been looking for information on retreaded tires.  Now a day, retreaded tires are not backyard mom & pop operations. They are major manufacturers with large commercial plants.

There ARE still "Mom and Pop" tire shops that still do retreads, while they may not be as prevalent as they once used to be, they are still out there.

 

I have one shop near me that does recaps in house, they have all of the recapping equipment to handle LT and semi tires as they are more of a commercial tire shop that started back in 1959. My Dad used to have his LTs recapped all the time even up to the 1980s at that shop. Recapping is still commonly used for trucking fleets where tread is worn down at a faster rate than a typical personal use vehicle would.

 

I believe that recaps now days are restricted from use as "steer" tires on semis, but are allowed in non steer applications.

 

Bandag is a recapper with 1,700 dealers across the US..

 

HERE

[TTR]

12 hours ago, Grimy said:

With respect, that's easy to say when you're replacing "modern" tires, but there's a huge amount of labor in changing tires on demountable rims (at least an hour per), a bit less on lock ring wheels--none of which are amenable to a tire machine.  Not to mention, Coker now wants over $500 each for blackwall BFG Silvertowns that last 8,000 miles--when you can get them, as Coker apparently does a run only about every third year.

Also with respect, but IMO, these ^^ are quite lame excuses and if for nothing else than indicating the person making them is probably not the right one to own & maintain the vehicle subjected to these excuses. 

For example, the cost of "$500 each" for some tire only produced every three years would comfortably fit within 6 year replacement interval making the annual cost of each less than $85.-, even if the tires don't get worn out in that time or sooner (I wear out my Roadster tires usually in 3-4 years).

Is that too much to maintain the enjoyment of driving said car ? 

Or is spending an hour (or even two, if needed) to replace a tire every 6 years too much to bear ?

 

I just ordered a set of 4 tires (for a clients car) at a cost about $500 each, even though the existing ones have less than 1000 miles on them and look like "new", but are almost 7 years old.

And while these are "modern" type (radial) tires, the actual replacement procedure will likely require far more than one hour each, i.e. place the car on (my) lift, remove wheel/tires from the car, load & take them to my trusted tire shop, which will likely spend 1-2 hours to dismount/re-mount/balance all, pick-up, re-install and torque all, remove the car from (my) lift, etc.

Obviously all this is expected to get done without chipping or scratching the paint on the wheels or any other damage to the car itself. So yeah, easily a several hour endeavor, even with just one "lug nut" on each wheel.

Edited May 23 by TTR (see edit history)

[Grimy]

7 minutes ago, TTR said:

Also with respect, but IMO, these ^^ are quite lame excuses and if for nothing else than indicating the person making them is probably not the right one to own & maintain the vehicle subjected to these excuses. 

For example, the cost of "$500 each" for some tire only produced every three years would comfortably fit within 6 year replacement interval making the annual cost of each less than $85.-, even if the tires don't get worn out in that time or sooner (I wear out my Roadster tires usually in 3-4 years).

Is that too much to maintain the enjoyment of driving said car ? 

Or is spending an hour (or even two, if needed) to replace a tire every 6 years too much to bear ?

 

I just ordered a set of 4 tires (for a clients car) at a cost about $500 each, even though the existing ones have less than 1000 miles on them and look like "new", but are almost 7 years old.

And while these are "modern" type (radial) tires, the actual replacement procedure will likely require far more than one hour each, i.e. place the car on (my) lift, remove wheel/tires from the car, load & take them to my trusted tire shop, which will likely spend 1-2 hours to dismount/re-mount/balance all, pick-up, re-install and torque all, remove the car from (my) lift, etc.

Obviously all this is expected to get done without chipping or scratching the paint on the wheels or any other damage to the car itself. So yeah, easily a several hour endeavor, even with just one "lug nut" on each wheel.

My estimate of tire change time is with rim or wheel dismounted, and did not include dismount/remount.  And balancing the front wheels--have you seen my process for spinning each wheel ten times and recording "clock time" where the stem stops, to determine heavy spot, then applying a guesstimated weight, then spinning for five more times, adding or subtracting weight?  If you have not had the experience, you might wish to undertake it some time just as an educational process to gain a newfound appreciation for the advances in tire and wheel technology.   I don't know, at this time, of any "trusted tire shops" in my area who can change these tires for me--but I shall have to search for one, as at 81 I'm too old to fight the damned things.  And we're talking about four tires at a time, right?

 

"Every third year":  A friend went to order high-pressure tires for his Stutz, had missed the triennial run, and had to wait two years until his order was delivered.

 

Now if you confine your remarks to radial tires on modern wheels, I'll completely agree with you.

[Jeff Deringer]

15 hours ago, Andy J said:

I bought a set of tires from a man once and he told me that he personally wouldn't run tires over 4 years old,regardless of how much tread was on them.Of course,he sells tires for a living.I believe if a car is kept in a building,out of direct sunlight,they will be safe 6-8 years at least.

No doubt related to the people that got it mandated so you had to buy 4 snow tires even if you have a 2wd automobile!  Remember the tens of thousands of horrific crashes that used to happen before that was mandated?

 

Me neither.

[Jack Bennett]

Let’s see here…………..

My new tires are road hazard policy for repair or replacement for 40,000 miles.

They also have a pro-rated tread wear warranty of 40,000 miles.

They cost $400.00 apiece ($1600.00) plus our 9% Washington state sales tax ($158.40) and 1.1% excise tax (18.84).

And it will take another $115.00 shipping charges to get them here after a two or three week wait.

And then I install them on my newly purchased antique (since this site caters to antique car fans) truck only to find out, after moving it from the trailer, that the engine is shot, the clutch is missing, the transmission is wrong for the truck, the body is rusted and the wood is rotted beyond recognition, the steering is shot, the wooden spokes are cracked or termite eaten beyond repair, the windshield, another $400.00 is cracked, both bumpers are rusted and their mounts are broken/missing, and the truck is 8” too long to fit in my garage.

Or, I am given four 18” motorcycle tires which will allow me to remove the truck from the trailer and discover all the above before I find myself advertising four new 18” antique truck tires on Craigslist for a few penny’s on the dollar.

 

[Grimy]

3 minutes ago, Jack Bennett said:

Let’s see here…………..

My new tires are road hazard policy for repair or replacement for 40,000 miles.

They also have a pro-rated tread wear warranty of 40,000 miles.

They cost $400.00 apiece ($1600.00) plus our 9% Washington state sales tax ($158.40) and 1.1% excise tax (18.84).

And it will take another $115.00 shipping charges to get them here after a two or three week wait.

And then I install them on my newly purchased antique (since this site caters to antique car fans) truck only to find out, after moving it from the trailer, that the engine is shot, the clutch is missing, the transmission is wrong for the truck, the body is rusted and the wood is rotted beyond recognition, the steering is shot, the wooden spokes are cracked or termite eaten beyond repair, the windshield, another $400.00 is cracked, both bumpers are rusted and their mounts are broken/missing, and the truck is 8” too long to fit in my garage.

Or, I am given four 18” motorcycle tires which will allow me to remove the truck from the trailer and discover all the above before I find myself advertising four new 18” antique truck tires on Craigslist for a few penny’s on the dollar.

 

Jack, that's why almost everyone on this site advocates putting "rollers" (old takeoff tires which will hold air and are still reasonably round) on a new vintage acquisition until you are just a couple of months away from having the vehicle operable/tourable.

[Wade S]

My best tire story:  Years ago I needed new tires installed on my 1913 auto.  I had an old time tire store owner as a patient.  He said there would be no problem.  He put one of the younger employees on the task with the following instructions:  Be SURE to use the cage.  Twenty minutes later he came out to evaluate progress.  The guy was in the cage and the wheel and tire was outside!!

[ABear]

2 hours ago, Grimy said:

Jack, that's why almost everyone on this site advocates putting "rollers" (old takeoff tires which will hold air and are still reasonably round) on a new vintage acquisition until you are just a couple of months away from having the vehicle operable/tourable.

EXACTLY!

 

I realize that is "Common Sense", which today, many people do not know Common Sense because he is dead..

 

That is one of a couple reasons why someone would be looking for a few old dried up used tires that no one needs or will want to run on the road.

 

Case in point, I have a 70's car that I have been working on, needed new floor boards, new quarter panels both sides, half of the rear wheel wells rebuilt, new trunk floor.. Will need motor and transmission removed and replaced from a donor car, wiring harness from donor car, new paint, reinstall glass and interior from donor car.. So far, floor pans done, trunk panel done, passenger rear quarter panel and wheel well done, now working on drivers side quarter panel and rear wheel well..

 

Something like 6yrs-8yrs on/off working on this project.. It has 25+ yr old tires on it just to roll it about the garage floor.. I had to remove one of the tires from the rim because it was a leaker, dug through a stash of old tires I had and found one that was same size.. Took my log splitter to break the bead, that rubber was almost as hard as steel. Tire no longer leaks and it didn't cost me $200 for a new tire.

 

Brand new tires will not happen until it is fully finished and drivable on the road. That would be totally stupid on my part to spend money on new tires just to roll it around the garage floor.

[TTR]

3 hours ago, Grimy said:

My estimate of tire change time is with rim or wheel dismounted, and did not include dismount/remount.  And balancing the front wheels--have you seen my process for spinning each wheel ten times and recording "clock time" where the stem stops, to determine heavy spot, then applying a guesstimated weight, then spinning for five more times, adding or subtracting weight?  If you have not had the experience, you might wish to undertake it some time just as an educational process to gain a newfound appreciation for the advances in tire and wheel technology.   I don't know, at this time, of any "trusted tire shops" in my area who can change these tires for me--but I shall have to search for one, as at 81 I'm too old to fight the damned things.  And we're talking about four tires at a time, right?

 

"Every third year":  A friend went to order high-pressure tires for his Stutz, had missed the triennial run, and had to wait two years until his order was delivered.

 

Now if you confine your remarks to radial tires on modern wheels, I'll completely agree with you.

I have some, albeit limited, experience balancing tires with an old-school "bubble balancer" & by "clocking", if you will, but that was several decades ago when I was occasionally helping (working part-time) at a friends tire shop in Europe.

Sorry to hear/ read about your lack of access to a "trusted tire shop" which along with countless other service providers* to this hobby (& also in my case, "industry"), as you probably know, are getting very difficult, if not impossible to find anywhere.

Actually, my long established tire shop closed down over a year ago due to retirement of the owner, but I kept track of his only full-time employee, whom I always preferred/wanted to do any & all of my jobs and once he settled into his new employment, that shop became my go-to.

 

* I recently found out my go-to wheel alignment guy had retired about a year ago and initially meeting his successor I admittedly was little nervous, but was assured he had been well tutored by his predecessor and would be able/willing to accommodate any of my "idiosyncrasies", like actually me doing all the wrenching on cars with fully restored undercarriage, etc while the alignment guy watches the results on the computer and instructs me which adjustment to do next, etc.

I've probably mentioned it before, but oddly enough I haven't been able to find a truly competent upholstery shop among tens of millions of people in all of Southern California and mind you there are probably tens of thousands of such shops in here.

And while there are countless (engine) machine or radiator shops here in SoCal also and probably dozens within 15 minute drive from my shop, I have to travel +/-40 miles for each service and they always have long lead time (machine shop is currently running 6+ month waiting list and radiator 1-2 months)

 

 

 

[ABear]

3 hours ago, Jeff Deringer said:

No doubt related to the people that got it mandated so you had to buy 4 snow tires even if you have a 2wd automobile!  Remember the tens of thousands of horrific crashes that used to happen before that was mandated?

 

Me neither.

There is no "mandate" to require one to run snow tires on all axles on a 2wd vehicle. You most likely ran into local tire shops "policies" while stretching the truth.

 

There is however a "recommendation" to run snow tires in all positions on 2wd vehicle as that will offer maximum benefit of not only enhanced traction on the rear plus more traction on the front for better steering and braking action.

 

I have for many, many yrs since the 1980s owned only rear wheel drive (2wd) vehicles, not once have I had an issue with a shop refusing to put snow tires on the rear position only for me. I do however ensure the front tires are rated all weather and they have lots of tread life on them.

[Grimy]

24 minutes ago, TTR said:

Sorry to hear/ read about your lack of access to a "trusted tire shop" which along with countless other service providers* to this hobby (& also in my case, "industry"), as you probably know, are getting very difficult, if not impossible to find anywhere.

I had (past tense) a Big O franchise whose managing partner was a friend, now retired and the franchise sold, who allowed one of his best guys to mount and repair and balance "collector car" tires on demountable wheels for me and I would pay the guy directly in green money because under Big O's rules they could not do that work with outside product.  That worked very well for me for almost 20 years.  The good news is that the guy who did the work, and whose face lit up when I came in, now has his own shop but does mostly mechanical work and only some tire work--but does not have sophisticated alignment equipment, so that aspect has to be farmed out to a place that does tires for medium-duty trucks.  But because the demountable rims require patience, skill from repeated work, and a variety of spoons, for decades I've been doing it myself or in concert with a similarly knowledgeable and skilled friend.  Even on my infrequent performance of these tasks in my comparative youth, the first one took about 3x as long as subsequent ones until the muscle and brain memory came back.  I really don't want to pay for a shop's learning curve.

[Larry Schramm]

1 hour ago, Wade S said:

My best tire story:  Years ago I needed new tires installed on my 1913 auto.  I had an old time tire store owner as a patient.  He said there would be no problem.  He put one of the younger employees on the task with the following instructions:  Be SURE to use the cage.  Twenty minutes later he came out to evaluate progress.  The guy was in the cage and the wheel and tire was outside!!

 

Now that is funny in a way and also sad at the same time.  I see two issues.  One is common sense of the younger person which would be lacking and secondly that the youngster had not been mentored on the aspects of the particular tire installation.  

 

If we as the older car knowledgeable car hobby do not involve and mentor the younger generation, shame on us.  We will never see the happiness of the younger generation to be able to accomplish something by themselves. 

[TTR]

2 hours ago, Wade S said:

My best tire story:  Years ago I needed new tires installed on my 1913 auto.  I had an old time tire store owner as a patient.  He said there would be no problem.  He put one of the younger employees on the task with the following instructions:  Be SURE to use the cage.  Twenty minutes later he came out to evaluate progress.  The guy was in the cage and the wheel and tire was outside!!

While perhaps funny, I see that as the store owner-proprietors fault for not providing adequate hands-on training to his younger (& inexperienced ?) employee.

 

[TTR]

1 hour ago, ABear said:

There is no "mandate" to require one to run snow tires on all axles on a 2wd vehicle. 

Incorrect assumption/claim, as it obviously depends on jurisdiction.

[Soupiov]

I have Allstate Safety Tread tires on my 1930 Plymouth that I put on the car in 1963 and they are still pliable, no side wall cracks and they lose about a pound of air every year.  Admittedly the car is garaged, see less than 2,000 miles a year on the road and rarely goes over 35 mph but there's no way I'm replacing them!

[Frank DuVal]

11 hours ago, Jeff Deringer said:

No doubt related to the people that got it mandated so you had to buy 4 snow tires even if you have a 2wd automobile! 

Never heard that around here! Always used snows on just the driving wheels. Never heard the shop complain. And this is within the last 5 years.

 

Now, some tire shops do insist on putting the NEW tires (if I just by a pair) on the rear axle....

[ABear]

17 hours ago, TTR said:

Incorrect assumption/claim, as it obviously depends on jurisdiction.

No, not incorrect assumption or claim.

 

Tire manufacturers RECOMMEND using snow tires in all positions on 2wd vehicles, but that does not mean it is "mandated"..

 

"mandated" means required by LAW, unless it is specifically called for by your States DMV rules and regs it means your local tire shops have taken a RECOMMENDATION by tire manufactures and applied it as if it was LAW.

 

There are tire shops that even do this with replacing tires, often telling folks that all four tires must be replaced at the same time.. That is the TIRE SHOPS "rules"..

 

Have even heard of tire shops claiming that 4x4s MUST replace all tires at the same time with the same brand which also applies to snow tires.. Yeah, there is no rule, perhaps a RECOMMENDATION, but no rule.

 

Heck, I ran into an issue with my 2020 F250 at a Sam's club, Sams club REFUSED to order or install the tires I wanted because the tires I wanted were at the next lower speed rating than OEM??? The tires I wanted were rated 105 MPH which is STILL higher rated than what the truck will go because it has a 92 MPH limiter on it..

 

Went to my normal tire shop and they fell on the floor laughing and said there is no rule, no recommendation, no law requirements on that and Sam's Club made that up.. They had no issue installing a lower speed rated tire on my truck..

 

Many times there are recommendations made and some shops will make it a rule to keep lawyers at bay..

[76 Caddy]

I bought my '76 Brougham in 2001 and it needed new tires.  I went to my uncle (who owned and operated a tire store) but he couldn't get any with the correct white wall size I wanted.  He recommended Coker Tire.  I called and ordered a set.  I received a set of Dimension IV All Season tires.  Fast forward to 2022 and 16,000 miles later I decided to replace them.  Called Coker again to get a set, can't get Dimension IV's anymore, got American Classic instead.  My uncle is now retired so I had to go to another tire shop.  The shop owner wanted to know why I was replacing "new" tires.  I told him they were put on 21 years ago, he didn't believe me, checked mfg date and they were made in 2001.  When he removed them from the rim, he inspected them and couldn't believe how "new" they still looked and wanted to keep them and resale them, but I kept them, and they are in my garage and will be used as rollers for the '69 pickup.  From the time they were mounted until they were replaced, they were never removed from the car, never once rotated them and they looked just as good as the day they were put on.  I always do a visual inspection of the tires before I drive anywhere and if it's been a while since I drove it, I'll check the air pressure and really do a thorough inspection for any signs of damage.  My '76 Seville has 10 year old Cooper Trend Setters with 7,000 miles and they show no signs of aging, but I will probably replace them later this year. 

 

Tim    

[TTR]

3 hours ago, ABear said:

No, not incorrect assumption or claim.

 

Tire manufacturers RECOMMEND using snow tires in all positions on 2wd vehicles, but that does not mean it is "mandated"..

 

"mandated" means required by LAW, unless it is specifically called for by your States DMV rules and regs it means your local tire shops have taken a RECOMMENDATION by tire manufactures and applied it as if it was LAW.

 

You might try and read my previous comment, especially the part after the comma, along with the third sentence in your own, especially were you state “unless ….”, both proving your earlier statement being “incorrect assumption or claim”.

[Jeff Deringer]

On 5/23/2024 at 1:27 PM, ABear said:

There is no "mandate" to require one to run snow tires on all axles on a 2wd vehicle. You most likely ran into local tire shops "policies" while stretching the truth.

 

There is however a "recommendation" to run snow tires in all positions on 2wd vehicle as that will offer maximum benefit of not only enhanced traction on the rear plus more traction on the front for better steering and braking action.

 

I have for many, many yrs since the 1980s owned only rear wheel drive (2wd) vehicles, not once have I had an issue with a shop refusing to put snow tires on the rear position only for me. I do however ensure the front tires are rated all weather and they have lots of tread life on them.

I probably could have used a different word there, but I'm sure you understood what I meant.  Mandate does not mean law.  In the PNW the major tire shops absolutely will not only install 2 snow tires.  Perhaps it's different where you live. 

 

My point was of course that the cynical view of things is that businesses would have a point of view or policy if you will that would favor their bottom line.     

[Jeff Deringer]

On 5/23/2024 at 9:14 PM, Frank DuVal said:

Never heard that around here! Always used snows on just the driving wheels. Never heard the shop complain. And this is within the last 5 years.

 

Now, some tire shops do insist on putting the NEW tires (if I just by a pair) on the rear axle....

In the PNW the major tire shops absolutely will not only install 2 snow tires.  Perhaps it's different where you live. 

[Jeff Deringer]

On 5/24/2024 at 8:39 AM, ABear said:

No, not incorrect assumption or claim.

 

Tire manufacturers RECOMMEND using snow tires in all positions on 2wd vehicles, but that does not mean it is "mandated"..

 

"mandated" means required by LAW, unless it is specifically called for by your States DMV rules and regs it means your local tire shops have taken a RECOMMENDATION by tire manufactures and applied it as if it was LAW.

 

There are tire shops that even do this with replacing tires, often telling folks that all four tires must be replaced at the same time.. That is the TIRE SHOPS "rules"..

 

Have even heard of tire shops claiming that 4x4s MUST replace all tires at the same time with the same brand which also applies to snow tires.. Yeah, there is no rule, perhaps a RECOMMENDATION, but no rule.

 

Heck, I ran into an issue with my 2020 F250 at a Sam's club, Sams club REFUSED to order or install the tires I wanted because the tires I wanted were at the next lower speed rating than OEM??? The tires I wanted were rated 105 MPH which is STILL higher rated than what the truck will go because it has a 92 MPH limiter on it..

 

Went to my normal tire shop and they fell on the floor laughing and said there is no rule, no recommendation, no law requirements on that and Sam's Club made that up.. They had no issue installing a lower speed rated tire on my truck..

 

Many times there are recommendations made and some shops will make it a rule to keep lawyers at bay..

Mandate - An authoritative command or instruction

 

Perhaps like an expert in the tire field (the tire company) tells you that they will not do something.