Feeler for my 1994 LSi AWD with 68k miles (current DD)

[Green1995SVX]

It's a really really really bad idea to have mismatched tires on an AWD Automatic Subaru. They say that you should not do it on any AWD car, but automatic Subarus are by far the most sensitive.

[intellibomb]

mismatched tires (or unbalanced anything for that matter) = bye bye transmisison

[Gr8Dane]

CRAAAAAAAAAAP!

ok thank you for saying something!

dammit...

Well, I guess I know what I'LL be doing today...

[Wikedjuggalo]

hope you didnt drive to far on it ; ;

[Gr8Dane]

Originally Posted by Wikedjuggalo

hope you didnt drive to far on it ; ;

Nope I actually didn't! haha thank you guys!

So now I have $500 worth of BRAND new rubber on the car, I'm gonna bump the price to $6000, for having saved the future owner from having to shell out for new tires for a very long time.

it's still somewhat negotiable though, tires ain't cheap!

[Wikedjuggalo]

Originally Posted by Gr8Dane

Nope I actually didn't! haha thank you guys!

So now I have $500 worth of BRAND new rubber on the car, I'm gonna bump the price to $6000, for having saved the future owner from having to shell out for new tires for a very long time.

it's still somewhat negotiable though, tires ain't cheap!

Good! Glad we saved you or someone some extreme money

[Gr8Dane]

Originally Posted by Wikedjuggalo

Good! Glad we saved you or someone some extreme money

Indeed. $500 now is easily worth the peace of mind to me and the future owner that there won't be a problematic center-diff in the future.

On the upside, I have an interested party coming to look at it from L.A. on tuesday. He's a member on the site here but says he's had trouble posting lately, so I'll see how that all goes.

[Wikedjuggalo]

Originally Posted by Gr8Dane

Indeed. $500 now is easily worth the peace of mind to me and the future owner that there won't be a problematic center-diff in the future.

On the upside, I have an interested party coming to look at it from L.A. on tuesday. He's a member on the site here but says he's had trouble posting lately, so I'll see how that all goes.

Good luck on the sale!!!!

[ensteele]

Originally Posted by Gr8Dane

I did...I know that doing so can occasionally affect the ride quality and handling characteristics, but from the feel of things, it would appear the new additions have only improved it. The dimensions are all Identical, the only difference between the new and the old is the tread pattern.

Oh Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooo!

The poor SVX! Rolling radius, and different tread patterns are your worse enemy when it comes to the tranny!

[Gr8Dane]

Originally Posted by ensteele

Oh Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooo!

The poor SVX! Rolling radius, and different tread patterns are your worse enemy when it comes to the tranny!

Thankfully it only drove 20 miles like that! I put the new rears on and now it drives smoother than ever, these new tires are definitely better than the old ones

And surprisingly the tranny has never once given me trouble in the car, even though I live in constant fear that it's going to act funny one day, just so it can live up to the 4EAT name...

[Ownbot]

Can someone please explain this mismatched tire thing to me. I understand the importance of uniform tires sizes but come on, the tread pattern??? Sounds like BS to me. It will kill your tranny, umm ok, so tell me why please.

Thanks
Ownbot

[ensteele]

If the tires don't have the same tread, they are not the same tire. If not the same tire, they have a different rolling radius which makes the tires turn at a different speed and that can be a big problem. It is a know fact that you don't just change 2 tires at once, but need to replace all 4 with the same tires at the same time. I have know members who have not and had some major problems after a period of time. It is surprising how many members don't know this and end up replacing only 2 at a time. This has been discussed many times here, so a search will bring up several threads about this. Good luck.

[Ownbot]

Thanks for the info Earl. So another question. What if you have the same exact tires with different wear, won't this change the rolling radius as well? I find it hard to believe that this is a big issue and all of the all wheel drive cars out there have the same exact tires or risk tranny failure. i have never heard of this before. Mine is FWD anyway so I don't have to worry about it

[intellibomb]

What if you have the same exact tires with different wear, won't this change the rolling radius as well? I find it hard to believe that this is a big issue and all of the all wheel drive cars out there have the same exact tires or risk tranny failure. i have never heard of this before.

well, it is a big deal, and it makes it soooo important to rotate your tires on the intervals.... esp. on the stock svx tranny with its 90/10 torque split, the fronts wear out way faster! if you keep running the smaller diameter non-rotated fronts as such it will grenade the front diff in no time.

its pretty basic: lets just say:
the rears are 1000CM (1M) of rotatational diameter.
the fronts (same tires) have worn to 950CM rotational diameter.
after 10KM (or ~ 5 miles)
the rears have rotated 10,000 times
the fronts have rotated 10,526 times.
those 526 rotations are absorbed by the tranny. that = grenade.
naturally, the numbers will never be exactly the same, but the closer to zero the better, hands down. this is just a simplified example but you get the picture


that means keep the tires constant! that means suspension too!

my 1st svx had a bad front swaybar bushing... not that big of a deal.
well..... it caused my right front tire to wear unevenly.... which in turn caused the front diff to grenade.

so. keep it all the same or ask for trouble on AWD cars. ESPESCIALLY the autos... the manual transmissions are so much tougher

/end experience anecdote