I am on the road moving from the east coast to the west coast with a CRV full of belongings.
Yesterday the tire tread came off my tire going 65mph on highway 70 west. The tire didn’t pop, but the tread came off and whipped around a bit. Tore up my bumper and shattered my front blinker light.
We put the 5th tire on and drove 120 miles to Denver with no problems.
In the morning I had a new tire put on at, unfortunately at walmart (closest thing). They said the tread wasn’t far off enough from the other four tires to warrant a new set of four tires. Immediately after putting the new tire on the car started acting funny. Felt like it was pulling a bit and a little bit bumpy.
So I took it to the closest shop which was a firestone, thinking I needed an alignment and balance. They quoted me about 1,200 worth of repairs. Said they couldn’t do the alignment because it needed new front tie rods, and rear bushing control arms. Also they said I needed a new set of belts - which to my uneducated eye looked fine.
I had the car inspected at the half way point in missouri, and back on the east coast before I left. No one said anything about tie rods or bushings. And the car drove fine after the blow out. My question is - do you think I could just put the 5th tire back on since the car was driving fine? I only have 1,000 more miles to go. I also called some local mechanics and one of the mechanics said that he has never heard of a crv, even at that age, having problems with bushings and tie rods after a blow out.
I would put the spare back on and see how it drives, I would have a good independent shop look at the crv, I would find it odd that the tie rod end would have gotten damaged in the blowout, unless it got bent, but if that were the case you think it would have been waumpus with the spare as well.
I would not trust firestone, im sure there are good ones, but they have corporate sales goals to meet everyday.
I sure hope the spare is a full size one and not one of those small temporary ones. If it is a full size spare, try it or find an independent shop which might be a bit difficult on the road.
I think you are experiencing the effects of one new tire. The rolling resistance of the new tire may not initially match the other front tire, placing the new tire in the rear will conceal this problem.
Check your tire pressure, the guys at Walmart may have inflated your tires to 41 PSI. You will notice a change in ride quality if your tire pressure was increased by 10 PSI. Adjust your tire pressure to the pressure listed on the label in the door jam, when your tires are cold (in the morning before driving).
When you ask for a wheel alignment they will look for anything worn on the vehicle that is marginal that may affect the wheel alignment. Ask them to show you the play or looseness in the tie rod ends, I think they are trying to add profit to their $29 wheel alignment.
@shorthand
Since you are headed west, you are drifting into Les Schwab territory. That’s a widespread tire and service chain operation similar to Firestone. I’ve had consistent good experiences with them, and buy tires there because they are the most common chain in the areas where I travel, thus free hazard repairs etc.
In particular, I don’t find them trying to upsell me, which seems clearly to be what you experienced at Firestone. For example, just a couple months ago I went in to the local Les Schwab for a front end check due to a noise I suspected was a strut. Safety checks like that are always free. Their response was that it might be a slightly worn strut mount, but not really a problem yet, and the rest of the front suspension was good. They fixed a slow leak without charge and I was gone without reaching in my pocket. That said, when I need an alignment, I prefer to go to a locally owned shop, not Les Schwab.
I agree with @Nevada_545 that your symptoms may relate to the mismatch in the tire due to newness, or higher pressure, or perhaps differences in rigidity or tread pattern of the one odd tire.
I would just add that the tire may have disintegrated due to underinflation and the vehicle having a load in it. If it has not been done it may be a good time to check tire pressure on the rest of them.
At 170k miles it’s quite possible to have tie rod or bushing wear but if so it’s not due to the tire failure. Those problem are also unlikely to fail completely and leave you stranded.