GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

So I bought some studded snow tires off of Craigslist to put on my tire and one of them is bad. I took it back and they put 6 patches on it even though they couldn't find the leak. I took it to another place and they said they basically just ruined my tire because if you have more then 3 patches on it then you can't have anymore work done to it. Anyway, I took back to the original place today and they told me I need to replace all 4 because it's AWD and that I can't use the same brand because they don't have the same wear. Now I'm not completely stupid when it comes to cars but they totally should have never patched my tires if they didn't know where the holes were and should have told me that the studs rub through and will probably need to be replaced. Long story short, NEVER go to Les Schwab because they are shady and expensive. Now I just have to figure out what to do. I have 3 tires that don't look bad and the 4 Bridgestone Insignia SE 200's that I took off a week ago. The Insignia's are probably the worst all-season tire I have ever used and would never recommend them to anybody(came with the car). I went to another dealer and was about to throw down 700 dollars on some Nokians but he told me to replace the tire. It's going to be a Cooper (the others are Dean, made my Cooper actually) but he claims it's not a problem if your changing just one tire. Should I do this?

AWD and cars with traction control can be sensitive to tires with different rolling diameters. Since the Vibe does not have LSD there is no danger of premature wear to the differential but front to rear difference in tire diameters could cause premature wear to the front to rear transfer gearing (but applys mostly to large SUV and truck. Many AWD car have a friction or viscosity coupling to drive the rear wheels if there is a rotational speed difference this could wear out this coupling. If you have traction control a difference in rolling diameters will cause the sensor to see the wheels turning at different speeds which the system will be constantly trying to correct by applying the brake to the smaller tire wearing out the brake on the one side and reducing fuel economy. The decision to replace 1 or all 4 depend greatly on the amount of tread wear of the three existing tire and the equipment on you car. However I would not recommend mixing tire brands or even models you could have a traction difference that could throw you a nasty suprise

at the very LEAST you should replace two tires that are on the same axle. Not just one tire.But, I would replace all four so you don't do what was said one post above me.You will end up burning up your awd system.

I thought the AWD had a viscous coupling transfer case ? If that's the case, then shouldn't tire sizes not make much difference ??

I think I'm just going to try fixing the bad tire myself and if it doesn't work I will just buy some new tires. I bought these and was hoping to use them only for 3 months. I think I can make them work until then. Thanks for the input.

Get 2 new tires and put them on the front. Take whatever 2 good tires with similar tread pattern/wear and put them on the back. You should be good then. And when shopping for tires. Get quotes and make the shops compete for business to get the best deal. Get a quote from one and write it on their business card. Go to another shop and have then beat that price, get a quote, write it down on their business card, and then go to a different place and have them beat that price.It works... Or Tirerack.comhttp://www.tirerack.com/tires/...ce=15Tires $76 a piece.

I'm getting a plug kit tomorrow and plan on doing that. If it doesn't work then I will buy some tires.

well first off, studded tires are illegal in Mi... Which sucks, cause i'd love to have them... Now, was there any sort of reason why they couldn't find the leak? A pitcher of warm water with a few drops of dish soap, poured over the tire will help find leaks... though I just did this the other day for someone and couldn't find a leak.. I think it was a valve stem valve that wasn't completely seat...I've plugged many tires and haven't once had a problem..

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »I've plugged many tires and haven't once had a problem..Issue at hand is how many plugs/patches a tire can take. More than 2-3 is asking for trouble. How many patches/plugs do you think is safe?

most tire places will NOT put in more than two plugs.and they can't be side by side punctures within two inches of each other.Trust me I ran in to this very issue last year with my wifes car, she ran over one of those wire staples that contruction people use to hold wire to the framing. Both ends of the staple went threw. Even though there were only two punctures they wouldn't patch it because they were half inch apart.

Patch Plugs work great and they are the only thing I used when doing tire repairs. I did PM SpecialBuddy about the amount of patches/plugs a tire can have, so the rest is up to him. The more repairs are done to the tire the harder it is to balance. Also, it becomes a safety issue not only for the tire tech, but the owner of the vehicle if the integrity of the tire is not what it should.

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »well first off, studded tires are illegal in Mi... Which sucks, cause i'd love to have them... I'm from Michigan but currently live in Oregon. Studded tires are allowed here.I had 2 other places check it out and they couldn't find anything so I gave up. It was fine for 2-3 weeks so I figured it was a bad seal on the bead. Today I drove it and had a weird feeling that I should check it. I did and sure enough it was flat again. It snowed today and hasn't snowed for about 2-3 weeks so I'm guessing that the cold might have something to do with it. It's crazy because it's either fine or flat within 24 hours. Luckily I have free air down the street.

Quote, originally posted by dragon64 » The decision to replace 1 or all 4 depend greatly on the amount of tread wear of the three existing tire and the equipment on you car. However I would not recommend mixing tire brands or even models you could have a traction difference that could throw you a nasty supriseAnyone know the "official Pontiac" allowable difference in tread depth, when replacing only one tire? Is it 2/32"? This for an AWD.

Ask about a "radial tube" I had that done on 1 of my old El Caminos to save a bad tire,it worked.