Replace single tire or pair (per axle)
10-19-2018, 08:06 PM
#1
Heel & Toe
Thread Starter
Replace single tire or pair (per axle)
C7 Z06, original Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires with 14K miles. One rear tire is damaged. Owners Manual (page 270) has a generic statement on replacing a tires (see attachment). Rotation? NOT on a Corvette!! What's the real story/recommendation?
10-24-2018, 09:49 AM
#2
Team Owner
I KNOW THIS FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE...….
Unless the tires have less than a few hundred miles, it's essential to replace tires on the same axle in pairs, ESPECIALLY on a car with a limited slip rear axle!! If you don't the difference in overall diameters will burn up the clutches in the posi unit, as it will act as if the car is constantly turning a corner, and the clutches will be slipping....CONSTANTLY.
My personal experience was that I had one rear tire get damaged by debris, on my '01 coupe. At the time, the car had about 2500 miles on it, and GY runflats are rather pricey, so I replaced only the bad one. After a couple thousand miles of driving, apparently the OE tires were wearing at a quicker rate than the replacement tire, and this difference became apparent one day when I pulled into the parking lot at work. I smelled hot gear oil, emanating from my car. Having previously heard of this situation, I replaced all the tires, and sure enough, the gear oil smell went away.
I also remember reading a note in an old issue of 'Car Craft' magazine, where they had a Mustang on loan from Ford, and had a rear tire go bad. They simply threw on the "donut spare" and off they went. They drove it that way for a couple of days, as that particular size tire was hard to find. In that time, they burned up the limited slip clutch pack.
I could also see where different sized tires on the front, could mess with the ABS or active handling....
Unless the tires have less than a few hundred miles, it's essential to replace tires on the same axle in pairs, ESPECIALLY on a car with a limited slip rear axle!! If you don't the difference in overall diameters will burn up the clutches in the posi unit, as it will act as if the car is constantly turning a corner, and the clutches will be slipping....CONSTANTLY.
My personal experience was that I had one rear tire get damaged by debris, on my '01 coupe. At the time, the car had about 2500 miles on it, and GY runflats are rather pricey, so I replaced only the bad one. After a couple thousand miles of driving, apparently the OE tires were wearing at a quicker rate than the replacement tire, and this difference became apparent one day when I pulled into the parking lot at work. I smelled hot gear oil, emanating from my car. Having previously heard of this situation, I replaced all the tires, and sure enough, the gear oil smell went away.
I also remember reading a note in an old issue of 'Car Craft' magazine, where they had a Mustang on loan from Ford, and had a rear tire go bad. They simply threw on the "donut spare" and off they went. They drove it that way for a couple of days, as that particular size tire was hard to find. In that time, they burned up the limited slip clutch pack.
I could also see where different sized tires on the front, could mess with the ABS or active handling....
10-25-2018, 07:48 AM
#4
Team Owner
10-25-2018, 10:21 AM
#5
Heel & Toe
Thread Starter
BTW, just got a response on replacing a single tire from The Corvette Mechanic, Paul Koerner, on Facebook:
"Due to the electronic limited slip differential in your vehicle, I do not recommend that course of action … (replacing one tire)... The cut off I use is the new tire and the old tire must be between 2/32 of each other in tread depth"