Matching Tires?

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I have a 2006 Toyota Highlander and I got four new tires within a month. Last week, I hit a curb and blew out the right front tire sidewall. I currently have the full size spare in its place. I’m wondering if I can/should leave it, or buy a new tire matching the other three. A few points:

The spare, like the car, is six years old.
The car has 230,000 miles on it and this could be the last set of tires, although I hope not.
The tires on the car are fairly new, as is the spare, so tread life shouldn’t be an issue.
The tire in question is not covered by any warranty etc., so I’ll have to pay about $200 to replace it.

Any advice??

Thanks

2

Is it FWD or AWD?

3

“The spare, like the car, is six years old.
The tires on the car are fairly new, as is the spare…”

Huh?
With confusing/contradictory information like this, it is going to be very hard to get answers with much value.

4

It is AWD

5

The spare is 6 years old, but it’s been sitting under the car, so it has no tread wear. I don’t know if age affects the tires, and if so, how/when.

6

You are going to have to buy some kind of tire to replace the spare…If you rotate your tires and the former spare goes on the front axle, steering and emergency braking might be compromised by the mis-matched tires…if the vehicle is never or seldom driven at interstate speeds, you might be okay. With AWD, make sure the spares circumference exactly matches the other 3 tires (within an inch)…

7

Buy a new tire and put the spare into being your spare tire. The tires are a month old so all 4 tires should match to avoid damage to the AWD system. The new tire will match the other 3 better than the spare on there now.

8

A tire that is 6 years old is really too old for regular usage. It’s almost too old for temporary usage - as in less than 100 miles.

Sorry, but a new tire is what you need.

9

If I understand the post correctly, all four tires are less than one month old. That being the case, simply match the new tire to the others.

10

“same”…sounds good to me. A second.

11

It’s best for safety reasons to have matching tires all around. In low-traction situations or emergency maneuvers, cars can do unexpected things if different tires have different amounts of traction.

12

the spare being six years old has dry rout I would replace the tire with a new matching the oither three.

13

If you look at “Tire Rack” guidelines, they indicate that differences within 1 or 2 / 32 inch is acceptable differences between tires for awd and same differential use. Get a tread depth gauge and check your tires. If a new one is greater then this difference compared to what you have, options like shaving the new tire or buying 4 may have to be considered. If not, buy a new one that matches and move on. Just listening to we who say…" a month of use is ok" may not be accurate if you drove enough miles to wear the tires greater then acceptable differences.

Personally, I still lean to “same’s” advice but would check for piece of mind.