I need to replace a rear tire (nail) - do I need to replace both rear tires to keep in balance/alignment?

Question

There is a nail in the tire and the repair shop said it can not be repaired, I need a new one. They also said I needed to buy a second tire to keep the wheels balanced or something. Just seems a waste to have to buy 2 tires when 1 is only what I really need

Answer 1

What carcomplaints wrote is true, but I'd like to give some hints in addition.



The answer depends on the age of the tyre and its mileage. If it is some years old the rubber may have lost its elasticity partly. And the profile may have got weared away. In this case it is not a good idea to combine it with a virgin tyre on the same axis.



On normal conditions you will not encounter any problems, but in critical situations as slippery leaves on the street, snow, ice or even water, you may get ernest problems if the two tyres on one axis of your car have different grip. This is a physical law...



Only if your leftover tyre is quite new and has lots of profile, you will not have to change it, as carcomplaints allready told you. If it is halfway good only, you could consider to buy a similar used one, so you will have not too mutch differences in the grip. But be careful about the DOT-Mark, avoiding to buy a too old one...



In any case you should buy a tyre of the same type and profile, not only of the size, if changing only one of an axis.

Answer 2

I agree with Ry - as long as the other 3 tires have decent tread left & the new tire is the same size, you should be fine.



Usually shops will tell you it's vitally important to keep all 4 tires the same age/wear especially if you have an All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) vehicle. This is true, but only for a few specific AWD vehicles. Volvo is one where you have to be careful.



I own a Subaru Outback & have replaced just 1 tire several times over the 150,000 miles I've put on it, & I've never had any problems.



I also run CarComplaints.com & so far we have zero complaints about drivetrain problems caused by replacing just 1 tire. You'd think if that issue was real, we would have heard something by now.



The first link below has some more information on different AWD systems & replacing tires.

Answer 3

nope!! Seems like they're trying to get a few bucks out of you. When a tire is balanced they put small lead weights onto each individual rim, tire has nothing to do with it.