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I've got a faint noise when driving my 01 Forester. I drove around with my mechanic so he could hear the noise, and he told me it is the beginning of a tire separating and that I should get it warratied for a new tire. They are goodyear Aquatreds and are around 1.5 years old. I'd guess they have around 20,000 miles on them (I drive alot).

 

My question is, will running one new tire with three old ones on my car mess with the AWD system?

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My question is, will running one new tire with three old ones on my car mess with the AWD system?

 

The new one should be shaved to the same diameter as the existing tire when it is replaced under goodyear's warantee. This cost should be covered under the warantee, because the OEM Subaru, requires that tire sizes be maintained within a certain specification on all four corners. Keeping them all wearing evenly (sized evenly too) is why subie tires should be rotated at no more than 7,500 mile intervals.

 

Jack

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Oh lovely. (warning - rant following).

 

Well, I bought these tires, Goodyear Aquatreds, from Walmart. It was the most incompetent bunch of idiots I have ever had to deal with. I ordered the tires via the Walmart website. After an email notice that my tires were in, I called the local store and they didn't know anything about them... this went on for days and calling and finally someone said, "oh *those* tires" - someone had put them in the back of their tire area with no name or anything associated with them; the person I talked to was about to send them back. So I went in and they put the tires on my car and apparently whoever 'balanced' them didn't know what he or she was doing, because I went from there to get a front end alignment and the guys at the alignment shop showed me where the balancing was all wrong - including putting a weight at four corners of the circle like '12,3,6,9' o'clock. Also even though I told them I wanted to keep the spare tire they threw it away so I had to go with another guy into the storage bin they put my tire in and find it to get it back. Also the lady I dealt with was extremely rude.

 

Going back to wrangle about a warranty with them is not something I want to do. But I will.

Going back to wrangle about a warranty AND bring up this tire shaving business is... well, I just don't want to do that.

 

SO can I get my tire shaved somewhere else? Would a dealer have the facilities to do this? I don't mind paying.

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Most places that put on truck tires for semi's and other large trucks have shaving equipment. Also, if you have a shop in your area that deals with performance/racing type stuff they usually have tire shaving equipment to shave competition tires.

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i wouldn't think more than a 1/4" would do much.... 20,000 miles isn't going to wear that much tread.. unless of course you said they were completely out of balance, this could lead to you having tread on one half of the tire, and not the other! (ewww....)

mm... yet another reason i don't buy car parts at walmart :rolleyes:

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Bummer...

 

If it were me, I'd just get a whole new set of tires with goodyear hopefully giving me some form of credit on that one failed tire and go on. Better yet, goodyear might credit you a prorated warranty amount on the entire set of old tires to go toward the new set of tires because you drive an AWD car and it was their tire that failed requiring you to buy an entire new set of tires prematurely to avoid damaging the AWD system. If they don't believe you, just open up your owner's manual and show them the spec for the tolerance between the tires on your Subaru. I have a friend that was able to get another tire company to credit (prorated) 4 tires toward the purchase of a new set because the old tires went bald sooner than the warranty stated they should.

 

However, if your budget doesn't allow for that kind of purchase, I'd would get a tire from goodyear with as close to the treadwear & speed rating and get that one shaved and put on.

 

That's just my opinion. Good luck. Hope things work out for you.

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A new wrinkle in this - Goodyear no longer makes the Aquatred. Can I use a different tred tire that is shaved and still keep the other three Aquatreds?

 

Goodyear may give you credit towards an equivalent tire, but you mentioned that the tire has 32k miles on it. I don't know how many miles an aquatred gets, but that sounds like at least half, so you'd still have to cough up some money to get a new tire (assuming there's a pro-rated tire warrenty, assuming goodyear agrees, blah blah blah...) And good luck finding a place that will shave a tire, and if you do, it's not that cheap. For all that work and expense, you may as well buy 4 new tires. you'll spend $100 on one tire + shaving that will last you another 20k miles maybe (assuming nothing happens to the other tires), when you could have spent $300 on 4 new tires that will last you 50k miles.

 

why not go to a local tire store, and just get a used tire like someone else suggested? some stores may have a few to choose from, just get one that similar type (all season touring tire) and tread depth. it'll cost you $20-30. I did that, and even though the measured circumference was off, I have had no problems so far.

 

Most places wont replace all 4 tires because one went bad just because you drive a subaru. I have heard of a couple of cases where this happened (probably to maintain good customer relations), but I really doubt Walmart will "go to bat" for you on this issue.

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