A friend remarked that at a recent oil change the mechanic found a nail in one tire of his all-wheel drive Honda CR-V and that if the tire had to be replaced, because on the CR-V all tires must be identical or the differential(s) will be damaged. As it turned out the puncture was in the tread and not the sidewall, hence a new tire - and thus four new tires - would not be required.
Any truth to the “replace one? No. replace all” assertion?
This is true with many AWD vehicles, but the manufacturer’s stated policy does differ from brand of car to another. As with most other important issues regarding a car, all your friend has to do is to open his glove compartment, take out the Owner’s Manual, and read exactly what Honda says about the issue of “matched tires” on the CR-V.
Well meaning folks on this board will give their personal opinions, but to rely on the advice of anyone other than the vehicle’s manufacturer is not wise. Tell your friend that this is an excellent reason for him to begin reading that Owner’s Manual.
Thanks, will do.
Contary to you conclusion, if the puncture is in the tread it is often repairable. If it is in the SIDEWALL, it is seldom repairable.
Your friend should try if the punture is easy to repair first. Today’s plugs work great!
As for the 4 new tires, this is very true of Subarus, not sure about CRVs. However depending on the amount of wear, you can shave down the new tire to the same diameter of the other 3 to achieve the same results. If the other 3 are substantially worn, I would replace them all.
Yes…in the tread is repairable. I had one on my '07 Prius today. $13 plug repair by my local Citgo guy.
Any truth to the “replace one? No. replace all” assertion?
The idea is that you don’t want to run with noticeably different tire diameters (due to tread wear) left-to-right or front-to-rear. This causes the differential(s) to do extra work and can wear them out quickly. If the tires were fairly new, it might be possible to buff down the replacement tire until its diameter matches the others. Otherwise, for many AWDs it’s 4 new pieces of rubber.
Any truth to the “replace one? No. replace all” assertion?
The idea is that you don’t want to run with noticeably different tire diameters (due to tread wear) left-to-right or front-to-rear. This causes the differential(s) to do extra work and can wear them out quickly. If the tires were fairly new, it might be possible to buff down the replacement tire until its diameter matches the others. Otherwise, for many AWDs it’s 4 new pieces of rubber.
Definitely look at your owner’s manual. I think most CR-V’s come with a “real-time 4wd” system that isn’t too sensitive to small tire circumferance differences. The Subaru AWD system is the one that’s most sensitive as are some on higher-end vehicles like Audis and BMW’s, but tire companies don’t want to get sued because of a service writer guessing wrong and they do want to sell 4 times as many tires so they tend to recommend all four on any AWD or even 4wd vehicle.