Got a puncture in the driver's rear tire Sunday evening (it was flat Monday morning). Since the rears were new in May I am thinking of only replacing the one tire. That would mean having one new rear tire and one that only has about 50% of the tread left.

I will not do a plug/patch because I do take my car to the track (hence the 50% wear in 2 months...) and do not want to take any risks with a tire.

Is there any safety or other reason I should be concerned with by having the two tires with uneven wear? I don't have an LSD, nor do my lap times actually matter for anything. I would put the new one on the side I wear down the fastest.

Thanks,
John

 

Although I know you should do both at the same time I am not 100% sure why. You could always have the new one shaved to match the old one.

 

I would think having it shaved would be required if not replacing both to avoid the car pulling to one side.

 

From what i remember you can mix threads if you are within 2/32th or so of thread depth. if you wear is beyond 2/32th then get both new tires.

 

I bought a set of used wheels/tires and noticed that one of the fronts has more tread than the other (probably about 2/32" difference). I'm driving on it without much trouble but I do notice a very slight vibration in the steering wheel. All four wheels were recently balanced, and I don't have any pulling to one side problems. I still wonder if both fronts were equal, if it would have any impact on the steering wheel vibration. I plan to replace both when the time comes for either front.

I would think this is less of an issue in the rear, but I'm no expert on this matter.

 

If you are tracking, I wouldn't think of running one with 50% and the other with 100%. Buy two new ones, and keep the good one for back up when/if you puncture another one.

 

Yah, that is what I am really thinking, but I'm just bitter about the puncture. I was hoping to get one or two more track days out of these ones. And I'm trying to clean the garage, not add more storage stuff to it...

I went over 20 years without a flat tire and this is my second one in 18 months. Dang.

 

If you are tracking a fair amount, you should consider getting some track wheels and have R Comps mounted on them.

Do you track at Race City? I hear that track is gone next year, any truth to that?

 

I recently punctured my front left while at the track. I just replaced the bad tire. I didn't notice any difference in how the car drove. If you have time to visit the shop twice, perhaps you should replace the bad tire and see if it has any affect on the car. If you track in the wet, I would change both.

 

That is where I get to run - our local PCA chapter booked a good amount of track time for us this year. It is nice having a real road course to drive on.

After much fighting with the local government, Race City did get city hall to honor this year and next year of the five year lease extension. After that it will be more fighting/lawyers or we will lose the facility, and city hall seems to have the upper hand. The SE dump/landfill is right next door and is running out of space.

Unfortunately with the uncertain future there is not much justification in spending money on the track surface so it has gotten pretty rough and bumpy in spots. Definitely adds to the wear on the tires.

But for now we will enjoy it while we can. My regret is that I only started going to the track last year - it so much fun.

Thanks,
John

 

A friend of mine was out there on the track a few weeks ago, and he told me that the surface was really bad. I guess you will have to start trailering your car to Oregon Raceway Park (oregonraceway.com), and drive that track. It is so much fun. Go to youtube and look for some track video's, simply amazing.

 

Is your car a C2 or C4?

 

Wow, that does look like a great track. Someone had fun designing that.
Google says it is 14 hours from my house (1200 km). I guess that depends on if I am trailering the car behind the motorhome or just driving the car...

2 wheel drive. I ended up getting 2 new rears.

 

It is about 8 hours from my home to the track, that is doing the speed limit and towing. It is better if you book back to back (to back) days. I will skip a day at the local track (less then an hour away) for track time at ORP. There are sections where I was pulling almost 1.9g's (banked corkscrew).

 

are you all divorced or still bachelors to run away from beloved family chores for several days in a row like this? i can hardly get out of this slavery for 1-2 weekends a month single day at a time... annd still getting all my brain eaten out over this.