Tires at 50% at 12000 miles?

[Sparkherd]

Thank you. If I have to replace one tire does that mean I have to replace all? That is the other reason they recommended four new tires. One has a nail puncture and since others are “50%” and 4WD I need to replace all.

I smell bullshit; 4WD is NO reason to replace all tires.
If the nail is in the tread, it can be patched.
If the nail is in the sidewall, the tire should probably be replaced.
Take the vehicle to a good mechanic and get their opinion.

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[MFP2241]

"50%" is pretty vague... especially as a measurement of 3 tires.

Early in my career I worked as a tire tech and then a tire salesman (at what used to be NTW) for several years. It was at the Prosperity Rd location in Fairfax coincidentally.

The way you measure trend depth is, you take the average of several measurements across the tire and compare that to the original tread depth. It's pretty simple. Ask them what the measurements were for each tire and do the calculation yourself, don't trust what they say. You may find that bubba's 50% estimation may not be accurate.

I'll also say that no tire shop will repair a tire with a hole in the sidewall, however, that doesn't mean it can't be done. If it's just a nail and the cords aren't damaged you can (in certain circumstances) do it with a plug patch. Tire shops don't like to do sidewall repairs because regular patches don't work very well with how much a sidewall will flex. Because shops generally guarantee their patches from leaks, people will come back time and time again with sidewall patches, which takes up labor and costs the shop money. It's just easier to say they can't patch the sidewall and sell you to tire.

Also, remember that the guys at the dealerships are not experts with tires. They absolutely get a lot of vehicle diagnostic training, but not so much with tires. All that said, I won't go to NTB anymore either.

Walmart has the best price on tires, buy the tire from them but take it to one of the more reputable installers listed on Tire Racks site. Tire Rack used to be the cheapest, and you can still find good deals there, but generally their prices have been a bit higher recently.

Lastly, yes absolutely one hundred percent, do a five tire rotation!

 

[Butzy]

I measured the depth of my tread on all 5 tires today. The spare has 14mm, the rears have about 8mm measured at the center of the tread. A bit concerned at 15,000 miles. I do run @ 40psi to keep the mpgs up.

 

[Butzy]

"50%" is pretty vague... especially as a measurement of 3 tires.

Early in my career I worked as a tire tech and then a tire salesman (at what used to be NTW) for several years. It was at the Prosperity Rd location in Fairfax coincidentally.

The way you measure trend depth is, you take the average of several measurements across the tire and compare that to the original tread depth. It's pretty simple. Ask them what the measurements were for each tire and do the calculation yourself, don't trust what they say. You may find that bubba's 50% estimation may not be accurate.

I'll also say that no tire shop will repair a tire with a hole in the sidewall, however, that doesn't mean it can't be done. If it's just a nail and the cords aren't damaged you can (in certain circumstances) do it with a plug patch. Tire shops don't like to do sidewall repairs because regular patches don't work very well with how much a sidewall will flex. Because shops generally guarantee their patches from leaks, people will come back time and time again with sidewall patches, which takes up labor and costs the shop money. It's just easier to say they can't patch the sidewall and sell you to tire.

Also, remember that the guys at the dealerships are not experts with tires. They absolutely get a lot of vehicle diagnostic training, but not so much with tires. All that said, I won't go to NTB anymore either.

Walmart has the best price on tires, buy the tire from them but take it to one of the more reputable installers listed on Tire Racks site. Tire Rack used to be the cheapest, and you can still find good deals there, but generally their prices have been a bit higher recently.

Lastly, yes absolutely one hundred percent, do a five tire rotation!

What is also noteworthy is some techs work flat rate and the service manager probably gets a percentage of sales. It's a quick, easy job for the tech and a nice incentive for the manager. Look around.

 

[Eyates]

I smell bullshit; 4WD is NO reason to replace all tires.
If the nail is in the tread, it can be patched.
If the nail is in the sidewall, the tire should probably be replaced.
Take the vehicle to a good mechanic and get their opinion.

Thank you! Will do!

 

[Eyates]

What is also noteworthy is some techs work flat rate and the service manager probably gets a percentage of sales. It's a quick, easy job for the tech and a nice incentive for the manager. Look around.

Thank you so much! Appreciate your insight and knowledge. I will follow and lear

Have you been rotating all 5? This is why I went with the 5 tire rotation. And no way I'm buying new tires with 50% left...

I have not rotated all 5 tires but now I will. Will look it up! Thank you!

 

[Eyates]

What is also noteworthy is some techs work flat rate and the service manager probably gets a percentage of sales. It's a quick, easy job for the tech and a nice incentive for the manager. Look around.

Thank you!

 

[Eyates]

I measured the depth of my tread on all 5 tires today. The spare has 14mm, the rears have about 8mm measured at the center of the tread. A bit concerned at 15,000 miles. I do run @ 40psi to keep the mpgs up.

I keep it at 40 too. Thanks for all the info! Much appreciated!

 

[Butzy]

I keep it at 40 too. Thanks for all the info! Much appreciated!

Absolutely my pleasure. I used to wrench on vehicles and got out of it because of the typical dishonest shops selling things that people don't need at inflated prices.

 

[vzqhsg]

One man’s 50% is another man’s 5%. I’ve also learned that one’s perception of tire wear is directly proportional to the amount of money one makes selling tires.

Get a 2nd opinion on the tire wear.

I agree. Why would you replace tires at 50%, you still have 50%. Folks listen to others too much. Let's see a dealer is trying to sell something, and he just hooked you for a bunch!!

 

[RELEGATION BATTLE]

Here’s my experience with mud tires: You want 60-80k miles out of tires? Better go with an E-load, hard-compound tire like a KM2, but the trade-off is a rough ride—a REALLY rough ride.

Soft compound = smoother ride, but shorter life. It’s all in what you want.

 

[Eyates]

I agree. Why would you replace tires at 50%, you still have 50%. Folks listen to others too much. Let's see a dealer is trying to sell something, and he just hooked you for a bunch!!

I didn’t buy thank goodness. I told him I would let him know. Thanks to all of you educating me too I will be going down a different path!

 

[DavidL]

These specialty tires don’t have a mileage rating. If you could get 24000 miles out of them, that might be good.

I can only get 12000 miles out of the rear tires on my 911.

if you want to focus on highway use, there are tires that will provide longer tread life.

 

[BadlandsCable]

I took my Badlands Bronco in for 12000 mile service. I had one tire that I needed to put air in a lot so asked them to check that. I had previously aired it up at a gas station and the mechanic told me that the tire was not sealed around the rim correctly. I looked at my other tires and thought I saw similar. The dealer called me a week later (still have my car as it has been bucking - in another thread) and told me I had a nail in the right front passenger side. I needed a new tire but I also should replace the other three too because they are 50 percent. How could that be? It has 12000 miles. That means I need four new tires on a car that is not even a year old. I see other posts where Ford replaced the tires due to sidewall damage and bulges. I don’t know the terms but for sure should not have to purchase tires already for a new car. This is so suspect as I have not done any four wheeling, and mostly highway mileage. The uneven acceleration could that cause more tire damage? If the car was vibrating too much to begin with? Not aligned? I bought a new car as I didn’t want to spend money on maintenance and needed a reliable car. At $40000 this is costing me a mint.. It is still at Ted Britt dealership in Fairfax, VA as I have insisted there has to be something wrong with this car from the get go.

I am at 25k and tire wear is good. My only issue is somehow i ran over a drill bit and the hole is too big for repair. Discount Tire ordered in a new one with ford part number. Will compare this week how the wear compares.

 

[Grumpy]

Better go with an E-load, hard-compound tire like a KM2, but the trade-off is a rough ride—a REALLY rough ride.

This is not entirely true, yes E rated tires have a psi rating of 65-80. But you only need to go that high based off of payload. You can run them at 38-40psi and have a much smoother ride. I run my 37's at 38psi. And my ride quality is almost as good as my oem 32's. Yes you do tend to get more mileage out of E rated due to stiffer compounds and stiffer sidewalls. But then again it all depends on your driving habits and driving environment.

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