problem after use of spare tire

[cyan328]

last sunday one of my front tire got slashed up pretty bad, so I had to use the spare tire.

I called every number in NYC's yellow page but couldn't find one in stock, so I had to wait til wednesday. those 4 days was like hell, I know I shouldn't use the spare for long time but I needed for work. I think I drove around about 150Miles.
the steering, TOD, engine everything was going bad.

finally yesterday I got the tires, I even got 2 so it would balence out. but the TOD is still jumpy, I hear grinding noice from where I had the spare, and engine seems little heavy.

can anyone help me, anybody with similar case?

one suggestion for everybody,

1-don't use the spare
2-get a same size wheel from junk yard
3-get a yakima loadwarrior/rooftop basket, and mount your tire init.

I think it will cost about $400 but is geat investment. Plus it will look awesome.

thanks

[MrCrowley]

Yeah a full size spare is better, but I hope you wont have any problems. My first question is how many miles did the tires have on them? if you have 2 new and 2 old, the TOD is probably acting up because of the different diameters and how they affect the TOD sensors associated with wheel speed. Depending on that, it may be wise to replace the other two as well. You cant go wrong with doing all four if possible although the cost is hell. For a quick test, slightly air down the new ones and measure the height of all the tires until they are the same height. Dont worry about what pressure they are- just the height. Make sure you drive in a controlled area. If the TOD system seems to run smoother, them it is the tire diameter and you will need all four the same height. Hard handling, acceleration, and braking wont tell you too much because the lower aired down tires will flex more and the diameters will vary with the less pressure. Dont forget to air them up properly!!! Second question is are the new on the front or rear?

[cyan328]

thank you sir for your advice.

old ones are running 57K miles.
I got the two new ones at the front side.

I will try anything, I hate taking VX to the dealers.
I had too many bad experience with them.

thanks again

[Tone]

Taller tires should be on the back to avoid TOD fluctuation but if you have noise or grinding then something more severe has happened. Good thing you did not have a flat on the rear as you would have had to move the front tire to the rear and put the spare on the front - according the manual AND printed on the spare.

BTW, if you haven't checked the air in the spare, you ought to at least every other month. And you have to remove it to check it easily but I could see bigger problems if you tried to use it and it was shorter than it is.

[cyan328]

wow what an improvement.

I put 29psi on back and 22psi on front.

this sunday I'm gonna move the rear tires up front .

do you think I should keep the 29/22 tire pressure?

thank you everyone.

later when I have time I'm gonna install a manual switch for the TOD.

[Tone]

22 is way too low to run on the front and will cause the outside to wear quickly and could even cause a blow out. Don't drive it like that for long or on the highway.

[MrCrowley]

Does anybody remember at what percentage of height difference would not be recommended? I think his tires at 57,000 miles vs new may fit in that category. Any other opinions on this? If it were mine, I would probably replace.

[SPAZZ]

the spare is suposed to be filled to like 70psi.....right???

[cyan328]

if I move the new tires on front to the rear do you think I could fill up normal 29PSI, and have no trouble?

thank you everyone

[MrCrowley]

Hard to say- but my money is on the fact that 57,000 mile worn tires vs. new tires are past the acceptable mark of the percentage of height difference. The only way to tell is to now fill them with equal psi and truly measure down to the tenths of an inch, then post on the website to get a better understanding. At the very least do as Tone stated if you dont want to replace. Maybe a slightly higher inflation on the old tires, and slightly lower inflation on the newer.

[FLAVIOVX]

Hi everyone ! Regarding the spare problem, someone mensioned a TOD switch. Can that be done? If yes, how? And could 'nt this be the remedy? FLAVIOVX

[Francesco Rizzo]

hey, I was thinking on doing the whole fullsize spare and load warrior. do you think that by through the new tire in everytime we do a rotation would work to eliminate the whole issue of being different thread use?

[dkmiller68]

I thought tire rotation was front to back and back to front making it a little harder to work the full time spare into service. i didn't know about that proper way to rotate them and did it wrong (a cris cross pattern) last (first and only) time with no ill effects.

[Tone]

Cross rotation is fine for our vehicle and the method is often chosen by wear or by laziness. I cross and believe I get better tire life.

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

I use method "C":

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=43

[a745035]

I've heard read that criss-cross rotation is okay for bias-ply/polyester types, but for steell-belted radials, it's said that the counter-roation (or reverse rotation) is a bad thing, which could cause the belts to shift or separate, causing "out-of-round" situations or worse. Additionally, doing this on a vehicle where the tires had been running on less than perfect alignment previously might compound those types of situations.

I'm not saying I know this for myself first-hand, but have read & heard this from a few tire experts in situations where they were not trying to sell me tires. Anyone else heard of this? I figure better more information is better than not enough.

"Roll well...."

Brian