We appear to have a slow puncture from some visible sidewall damage on one of our front tyres. Mileage on existing tyres is 17000 - they're Continental EcoContact5 which appear to be hard to find in SUV sized. Anyway, I think I can find them by hunting around - what's the best plan here? Fit a "budget" (although not much in 235/60/R18 is truly "cheap") until the other one needs replacing and do both in a decent brand or replace the one that needs replacing now with identical make and model etc.
I would replace in a pair with ‘good’ tyres, but if I was short on funds I would get one now. Your other tyre will probably only have few thousand in it anyway.
budget tyres seem ok until you really really have to stop, then the difference shows up,
Stans? (I think I have it on some of my wheels for alloy corrosion)
As above - I'd try and replace both across the axle with some decent tyres if you can. I had to do a full blown emergency stop a couple of years ago (1 of only 2 in nearly 16 years of driving) and was glad of the premium Bridgestone Potenzas I had fitted when I stopped about 5mm shy of colliding with another car. 17,000 is a decent amount of wear so the other one probably hasn't got bags of life left in it anyway.
At 17,000 miles are they not worn enough to replace as a pair?
Do you have a full sized spare and is it a new tyre?
One new tyre + the spare. Use the part worn as a spare.
Ive had some success with Slime on slow puncture. WHilst it says its not really for sidewall, I reckon its worth a go for a £10.
https://www.slime.com/uk/products/auto/sealants/tire-sealant.php
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slime-SL-SDS500-Tubeless-Sealant-473ml/dp/B000C11PYW
Either replace the pair or, assuming the other tyre is still above 5mm, find a part worn on eBay which is a close match to the wear on the other tyre.
I wouldn't attempt a sidewall repair with sealant.
Classic "I wouldnt do that" without explanation.
I'd just bite the bullet and replace the pair if it's below 4mm or so. How long do they normally last?
If it was newer I'd stick the mismatched pair on the back, but then you end up in arguments about whether you should have better/newer tyres on the front or back.
I’d replace the pair with whatever tyres you actually want to run.
you are correct, even a budget tyre in that size isn’t really cheap, so just bite the bullet and do it right, you/your family are gonna be sat in the car, you want it to be safe.
Cheap tyres give less grip, more noise, and, because they don’t last long they don’t work out any cheaper in the long run.
^^^ wot he said
I’d have thought it was pretty obvious as to why, Al, but I’ll bite.
Sidewalks in a car tyre flex as much if not more than on a MTB tyre, but unlike a MTB tyre, car tyres are reinforced in the sidewall using steel bands. Any damage to the sidewall can result in catastrophic failure of the tyre due to displacement of the reinforcement strips. An exploding tyre at 70mph isn’t worth the risk.
What price do you really expect with such big tyres to get anything half decent?
17k that's not a bad innings at all, do it properly and just replace the pair..
At 17, 000 miles ..change both .
I've always been on a premium tyre ( Good Year Eagle F1's ) for the last five years ..but at £145.00 per tyre went down the intermediate route last week on Maxxis Victra's at £ 95.00 each ..they roll so much better and having used Maxxis in the past have no issues with longevity ..
That's on 245 45 R18's..
I guess I’ll bite the bullet and replace both as it feels better to do it that way. Just a bit of a shitter as around 13000 of those miles are M-way - mostly by Mrs dd who has probably never spun a wheel in her life and there’s loads left on the un-punctured tyre - tread is still 2-3mm above the wear indicators.
We have a 2k-ish trio to France coming up in July and I don’t fancy risking either a blow-out or having to replace a punctured tyre out there
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Cheers mattyfez - that looks like a good deal for a pair of those jobbies. Looks like we’ll be shelling out for a pair then ☹️
Cheers all for the advice and suggestions.
Disaimer, I'm not sure that's the best price for those, that's just a quick quote but black circles are usually fairly competitive.
And the premiums will wear a tad faster than the eco's, but they are a better performing tyre.
They seem well reviewed though
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2017-Auto-Bild-Summer-Tyre-Shootout.htm
Sorry for the extra post, the forum went whappy on me.
I guess I’ll bite the bullet and replace both
Good choice sir. I used to replace my tires at 3mm anyway as they struggle to cope with standing water beyond that. Most important aspect of a car. 🙂
Not trying to sway you in any direction ..but having given my endorsement to Maxxis tyres above I thought I would also add an official review if it helps ..apologies if it's not needed .
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Maxxis/S-Pro.htm
Have a look to see if there are any manufacturers offers. My last set of tyres were guaranteed to 50k miles and were only 20£ more than the budget set...
i used to mix and match when I was poor and that was never fun in the rain. now as I drive more I buy better tyres and make sure the car is in good shape. Got to give yourself the best chance of getting through the journey without incident. Mind you tore the sidewall out of a tyre 1 month ago at 1am on a Sunday on my way to work. Six hours late after having to sleep in the car due to only having a skinny spare and a 250 mile journey..
while you are at it check the spare before the trip to France I had a messed up one of those back in the day ironically just after it had been "checked" in the mot...
Our SUV has continentals via OEM. I discovered Pirelli Scorpion Verde’s were cheaper and also all season. Get the Verde’s not the standard Scorpions which are older and not as good. Got 22000 out of the last set.
Works well for anything we’ll experience / muddy fields for Sports parking.
Thanks for the reply Daffy, I wasn't trolling.
But I cut a tyre off lately and there was no steel in the sidewalls. The tyres on my cars don't feel like they have any either.
Its probably Kevlar or some kind of textile - so even more vulnerable to damage!
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Buy two new tyres and keep the good as a spare or sell on eBay.
Even if Slime worked it would probably fail the next MOT if it's old enough.
Just out of interest I used to buy from Black Circles but then I took their price to my main dealer who matched it - which I thought was pretty good.
But then last week I had to replace both nearside wheels (which had buckled) and one tyre due to pot hole damage. Dealer had quoted £3600 for the wheels alone so I bought a pair off ebay for £700 and the dealer took the old wheel/tyres off, fitted one new tyre and the other OK tyre onto the supplied rims, balanced everything up nicely and washed/vacc'd the car. They only charged me for the replacement tyre (at the Black Circles price) - proper customer service 🙂
The age of tyre isn't part of the MOT (yet!!). Any kind of sidewall damage is a fail though.
That's what I meant ........ if it's [the car] old enough....... no the tyre!
I'm just about to replace my potenza's at 42k miles, is that really a lot?
I'd try to keep them all identical if I were you, for predictable handling (not much of an issue with ESP, as you'll not be intending to breach grip levels at either end anyway, I assume). And a decent brand for decent wet weather grip (dry weather not so important as you can always stop *pretty quick* in the dry).
[i]Mind you tore the sidewall out of a tyre 1 month ago at 1am on a Sunday on my way to work. Six hours late after having to sleep in the car due to only having a skinny spare and a 250 mile journey..[/i]
Why didn't you just use the spacesaver?! There is just a speed restriction. I cut the sidewall and damaged an alloy on some debris as I was leaving a B&B in Wales. It was holding air but I felt it was safer to put the spacesaver on and drive 240 miles home with the trucks in lane 1 than drive on a cut tyre.
For the OP, as above I would keep at least a similar tyre by the same manufacturer, said car above came with a budget tyre on one front corner, and in the wet it used to always spin up as if it were greased in something very greasy, very noticeable when the mid range tyre on the other side made a good impression of velcro.