Shaving Tires?
 

So, I was looking at my tires the other day and fell into deep :confused: thought about my spare.... it looks like it's never met asphalt, while all the other tires are at about 50% worn. I was thinking :rolleyes: of adding it to the tire rotation but, I had two questions I could not answer from the manual or any other specifications for the vehicle that I could find.

:confused:
1. Do all tires need to match including tire thread?
2. Do I need to shave my spare tire to match my other 4?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.
:cool:
07 H3 base

Found this on the Tire Rack site... which raised my questions above...

Matching Tires By Shaving Them to Maintain Equivalent Tire Tread Depths

What does a driver do if one tire has to be removed from service when it and the other three tires have already worn to two-thirds to one-half of their original tread depth? Simply installing one new tire runs the risk of drivability problems or expensive driveline damage. Replacing the other three partially worn tires along with the damaged tire significantly increases the cost.
The Tire Rack can provide a solution by matching the tread depth of the replacement tire to the tread depth of the partially worn tires that will remain on the vehicle by removing tread rubber from a new tire on a specialized machine that operates as a tire lathe. While this may seem counterintuitive, the value of the mileage sacrificed by the one replacement tire is considerably less than the cost of rebuilding worn driveline components.
The Tire Rack has offered a tire shaving service that has been primarily used for preparing competition tires for racetrack use. This same service can also be used to remove tread rubber from new pairs or individual street tires used on four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles to allow them to match the remaining tread depth of the other partially worn tires that will remain on the vehicle. In addition to providing equivalent tread depth to eliminate driveline stress, shaved tires will also better match the traction and handling qualities of the remaining worn tires.
While the cost of our street tire shaving service will range from $25 to $35 for each tire, it is significantly less than the cost of unnecessarily replacing the remaining two or three good tires with lots of mileage still available from them.
Here are recommendations from some of the manufactures that the Tire Rack currently serves for matching the tires used on their four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles. Additional recommendations from other Original Equipment Vehicle Manufacturers is pending.
AudiAs published in their vehicle owner's manual, "rolling radius of all 4 tires must remain the same" or within 4/32-inch of each other in remaining tread depth.PorscheCayenne within 30% of the other tire on the same axle's remaining treadwear.SubaruWithin 1/4-inch of tire circumference or about 2/32-inch of each other in remaining tread depth.

Well, that is interesting. I haven't had very many flat tires over the last 30 years, but when I have had one, I put on the spare, which was like new, had the flat fixed and put the flat back on. I replaced the four on the ground when I thought they needed to be replaced.

My spare stayed like new, but I would replace it every 7 or 8 years, to make sure it didn't have any old age issues.

If the flat tire was beyond repair, I would buy 1 new tire, mount the existing spare tire and the new tire on the same axle and take the remaining good tire and make it the new spare.

This is pretty much what I have done since before I was old enough to own a car... I've had my share of rear wheel drive and front wheel drive but this is my first all wheel drive.... While driving Euro cars, which are picky at best, on everything (IMHO), American cars to my knowledge have, to me, always had an "I don't care! Bring it on!" kind of attitude.

My dad had a 4x4 jeep and after reading this from Tire Rack, I do remember him putting odd sized tires on it hoping to get it, eventually, to all the same size. In his process of "up-sizing" his tires he kept having transmission and transfer case problems. He finally got sick of fixing his transfer case and sold it... I am thinking if maybe his problem may have been the odd sized tires....

.....Just putting lessons learned into practice.... any thoughts?

I thought I read about using the spare and having different overall tire diameters about a month ago and that it wasn't a problem. That the H3 has open differentials in Hi and if offroad in Hi/Lo Lock there should be enough slip in the terrain that it doesn't matter.

As a general statement, this would be entirely incorrect. Try running one 32/33, with three 33s/35s and kiss your diff and/or T case goodbye.

If you are referring to worn tires all of the same size and make, and then having to use a new same size and make tire to replace a flat, that crap from tire rack is BS. It is a pitch, "come buy tires from us, or let us service your crap needlesly, you moron foreign car divers". If your other three tires are friggin bald, why are you buiyng only one tire anyway?

If it were me I'd probably leave the spare as just a spare, then if you buy 4 more of the same tires (or 5 if you go with a different size) I'd start rotating all 5. If your next set of 4 is the same size but different type, then I'd just rotate the new 4 and still keep the spare as just a spare.

Right now I have 4 tires at about 50% and a spare that's about 75% gone. I was the one who found out after buying my H3 that the spare was a different size - I traded it straight across for a well worn but correct size tire. Since I plan to buy a set of 5 duratracs in the spring or summer it's a fair trade - I have a spare just in case, the shop has a tire they can actually sell, and it didn't cost me a penny for the mount/balance work they did.

So, what do suggest I do Doc?

Coming fresh off from a Nazi car, VW, and they put the fear on me, because... If you did not rotate your tires you got screwed. If you did not use said oil, you got screwed. If you did not use said filters, yeah you got screwed, and repairs were not cheap!

So back on tires... as I mentioned before, my tires on the truck are at about 45 to 50 % worn... would it be ok to start a 5 tire rotation or just leave if and see if I can trade that one virgin for some bucks off the 5th wheal of the new set when the need comes up?

Answers:
1. Yes, all 4 tires on the ground need to be the same size (easiest way to make that happen is all tires same make, model, and size), if your "spare" is a different size than the rest, it is not a spare because you can't use it without trashing something;
2. No.