jw1977

Hit something something yesterday that put a hole in my sidewall in my front drivers side tire. The tires had 10k miles on it, I decided to only replace the tire that was damaged as it looks like i'm only 1/3 of the way through the fronts. Did I make the right decision? I haven't noticed any difference in feel?

user 72902

I would have replaced both front tires - 10,000 miles is a lot of miles in my opinion. Another factor is how old were they? That will also cause the two fronts to have different grip characteristics.

Louis de Funes

I have to agree with this

I would make more sense to just get a new front set

Wayne Smith

Odd. I had the exact same thing on the same tire when I made a u turn at a stop light in the dark after a long day last Tuesday. I missed the fact that my sweep needed to account for a handicapped cross walk and I caught the outer edge of the small outer island.

My front tires were just over a third worn. I replaced them both without a thought.

These are high performance cars. I may push the car to where I feel the safe limit is for public roads. I don't want to think that I might be compromised.

I did keep the remaining good tire just in case I screw up again after wearing the tread an equivalent amount (or if I decide to make a raised bed planter for a tomato, or a sandbox for very small people).

Mine is a DD that I put 25K+ a year on. But for others, figure it isn't just the wear, but given the small amount many of these cars are driven, it is also the age. I don't want different tread depths, but I also don't want one tire that is three years older than the other.

A quick coastal run test today in a West Marin indicates I did the right thing!

BTW, if you hit the sidewall, you should check the alignment. To do this, the tires should be equal.

LexVan

10,000 miles on a front tire is nothing. These can easily go over 30,000. The only issue is age. Keep younger then 7 years. 5 is preferred and more prudent. You're fine.

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PVKPorsche

The difference between a Porsche owner/driver..... I was driving my car yesterday, hit something and the sidewall blew out. Everyone else, I was driving yesterday and out of nowhere, my sidewall just blew out, must be a defective tire. I say this because when I was younger I was in the tire business and the second statement was the typical one heard and when we would walk out to inspect the wheel/tire, you would see a bent rim and the tire blown right there, clearly showing an impact. They would swear up and down it was a defective rim and defective tire.

Wayne Smith

Agreed, but with a caveat.

In the late 70s I was with Firestone. That's steel belted radials and the 500 recall. Most of these tires separated gradually, creating major imbalance and bouncing before failure. Many tires that came in bad were not Firestone at all. Most problems occurred from significant under inflation.

But Joe Public did not realize any of this, including the forewarning signs. It is a mistake to under-estimate the mechanical ignorance of most (not all) USA drivers. Bouncing, pull to one side, noise, or a change in mpg is the road, not the car.

I also believe that for many, hitting something is hidden by the bang created by the tire failure ... the chicken or the egg, or only one of these. The customer sees the result (bad tire) and simply does not realize the reality (cause and affect).

On the other hand, people interested enough in cars to be on this Forum are an entirely different group.

johnireland

It is easy to have a sidewall failure or blowout with the extreme low profile tires on oversized rims. It is fashionable but not practicle. The 964 and 993 came stock with 16" rims. 17s were unnecessary except for track use. The 996 came with 17s. A 997 doesn't need anything larger. Nor really does a 991.

BBA

Agreed, but I am pretty OCD with tires. Nothing makes a bigger difference to the overall performance of your car.

mjsporsche

I am not as convinced as others on this thread that both tires needed replacements. Few of us drive at the limits of adhesion that would suggest that the tires on the front axle must be exactly the same with regard to tread depth and age. And if you drive at the upper limits, you should be replacing all 4 tires as the rear should follow the adhesion characteristics of the fronts.