Fitting 2 new tyres on near side only?

[andymach23]

We've got a 2009 Touran on the Motability scheme. The wife got a puncture last night and called the RAC. They sent a recovery truck as the car is the 7 seater with no spare. Just the can of sealant.

A well known fast-fit tyre company, who have the contract for Motability, came out to the house and replaced the punctured Goodyear Eagle NCT on the nearside front with a new Conti Contact 2. They also replaced the rear near side with another new Conti as it 'had a bulge' . No kerbs were hit or anything.

So two new tyres on the near side only. The other orignal tyres on the off side have done 12 K miles. The tyre guy wouldn't swap the wheels or anything to keep the new ones on the same 'axle'.

I'll likely be doing that myself, but just wanted to get some PH feedback on what they did.

Cheers

[MX7]

You're right. They are wrong.

Edit: I'm quite surprised that there isn't enough space to carry a spare.

Edited by MX7 on Tuesday 25th January 17:26

[hornetrider]

As you say, not ideal. Maybe they saw the chance of a quick buck with the 'bulged' wheel as well.

[Dracoro]

Put the 2 new tyres on the back.

Put the 2 old ones on the front - how worn are they? 12k can be lightly worn or on their last legs depending on tyre/driver/car.

The 2 on the front will wear soon enough I guess so will need to replace soon anyway.

Poor show by the tyre fitter, esp for a Motability car knowing the owner will not easily be able to put the tyres on a single axle. Maybe contact cust services, they can deal with internally to educate the moron fitter.

[sherman]

I thought you were supposed to keep new tyre on the same axle. So you should change the new tyres to what ever the driven axle is and put the old ones on the other axle. Then go get the whole thing aligned properly at a friendly garage.

[pb1695]

The best solution (providing that the tyres are not directional or vary in size front and rear) is to replace across an axle with the newest tyres on the rear.

Regards the bulge - this is an indication of the tyre having been kerbed or possibly damaged by a pothole. Much more common than people realise and a good reason to have a visual check of your tyres before each drive! It only takes a couple of seconds, and a thorough check at least once a week.

[LMC]

Maybe he only had a van full of nearsiders Are said tyres directional ?

[pilchardthecat]

Clearly, due to the variation in tread depth (and hence overall diameter) this would mean you would just go round and round in circles.

[andymach23]

The replacement tyres are built into the lease so on additional cost to me.

I'm just thinking of the overall safety in this type of setup. I wonder what they would do if the tyres were down to 2mm. They'd likely just stick a couple of new ones on the same side anyway using the old must of hit a kerb and caused a bulge line.

Looks like Motability cars that get punctures are destined to have unmatched tyres with uneven wear.

[andymach23]

LMC said:

Maybe he only had a van full of nearsiders Are said tyres directional ?

Not sure. I'll have a look on the side wall when I get home later.

Here's the link to the tyre on the Conti site. Doesn't explicitly say.

http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/uk/en/co...

ETA: Unless that's a 'tartan paint' type question

Edited by andymach23 on Tuesday 25th January 17:49

[BlueMR2]

LMC said:

Maybe he only had a van full of nearsiders Are said tyres directional ?

.

[JR]

I'd write to the head office of the fast fit company. What the fitter has done is against the safety policy of almost every tyre place in the country in that new tyres should be fitted on the rear axle irrespective of driven wheels.

[HellDiver]

Bubbling sidewalls is VERY common on Continental tyres. So much they take factory fit Contis off the work cars at new and replace them with Goodyears.