Help! Can I get away with replacing only one?

[egnald]

Hi all,

Unfortunately, I ran over something and poked a huge (non repairable) hole in the sidewall of one of the tires on my pickup. I know the recommendation is to always replace tires in pairs, but my full sized spare is the same brand and model as the damaged one. The caveat is that the spare no tread wear but the other three have about 19,000 miles on them.

If I could buy the same tire as my spare I could use the spare and the new one as the pair and use one of the remaining 3 19,000 mile tires as the spare, but I don't think I can get that brand and model.

I'm really tempted to replace the damaged tire with the spare and only buy a replacement (will be the same size with a comparable tread, but a different brand) to put back under the box for a spare.

What do you think? Should I bite the bullet and buy a pair of new tires or do you think I can do the swap and get by with buying only one? (I would love to spend the extra $200 on something else if I can).

Regards,
Dave

 

[PatrickR]

I wouldn't have a problem with getting one tire even if its not the same brand/model, as long as it is the exact same size.
I've mixed and matched tires many times and never noticed it being a problem.

 

[jttheclockman]

Absolutely. One tire works fine. Done this a bunch of times. As long as you regularly rotate tires. Use spare and buy one new one.

 

[Alan Morrison]

I agree with the above answers.

 

[egnald]

Thanks everyone, it has really helped put my mind at ease. Heading to the tire shop in a few minutes. - Dave

 

[crokett]

I would put the spare on and replace it with the odd tire. Just rotate the other tires around it to even out the mileage and wear. You'll have to do that anyway with the new tire.

 

[egnald]

They were able to order an exact match, so I will wind up with two new (current spare and new match) and two with equal wear on the truck with the odd tire with wear hanging underneath as the spare. It worked out just great. - Dave

 

[KMCloonan]

I have had similar experience, and found that the same size tires are very important, especially for ABS and Traction sensors. In my experience, same size tires, but mismatched treads on the same axle created much louder road noise than matched treads.