Inbd Wear on One Tire

Any sage advice on whether to replace the other tires or how
to rotate them at this point?

Background:
1991 Civic, 179k miles. One of my (then) front tires
displayed inboard wear about 7500 miles ago. Back then I
rotated it to the rear, did some suspension work, and think
I found the main cause of the wear (severely worn stabilizer
link and associated bushings). So the wear is not continuing
(knock on wood).

Yesterday I rotated the worn tire back, from rear to front.
Subsequently I noticed steering wander towards the wear side
of the tire. I switched my two front tires, and sure enough,
the wander switched.

Two of my other tires have 30k miles on them. The third has
5k miles on it (got a serious flat a few months ago). None
of these three tires are so showing irregular wear; just
what looks usual for 30k miles, and certainly not down to
the wear bars.

I am going to buy at least one new tire this week and change
out the badly worn one. The tires are Wal-Mart Viva 2, size
as recommended by Honda. Very inexpensive, consistent with
my expectation that the car may not last more than five
years more.

I certainly do not plan on losing any sleep over this. My
Civic drives great otherwise, averaging around 42 mpg for
the last five fillups. Little oily down below, but not
enough to cause garage floor spotting.

I have been holding off on the alignment (mentioned some
weeks ago) because of this, for good or bad.

 

I would only replace the badly worn tire and only then only when the
thread approached minimum specs. Of course, it's use would be limited
to the rear wheels. Ignore any noise etc by turning up the radio...

Your car should last another 100K with the care that you give it.

JT

 

I would only replace the badly worn tire and only then only when the
thread approached minimum specs. Of course, it's use would be limited
to the rear wheels. Ignore any noise etc by turning up the radio...

Your car should last another 100K with the care that you give it.

JT

 

Hi Elle: After seeing your post, I looked up the Viva 2 tires at
Walmart and they are listed as 175/70R13, not 165/70R13 as specified
for the 91 Civic. If you find the 165's at Walmart, please drop a line.
I am looking for a new set of tires for my own 91 Civic, but the 165's
are now very hard to come by (Yokohama still makes them, but every
service place I have checked lists them as on backorder).

By the way, as Grumpy notes, your Civic should last another 100K miles
easily. I am planning to get mine beyond 250K one-way-or-the-other.
Your infrequent oil leak may be from the breather chamber
grommets.....if so, replace the O ring and the grommet that connects it
to the PCV, and you should be good to go.
Regards.

 

Hi Elle: After seeing your post, I looked up the Viva 2 tires at
Walmart and they are listed as 175/70R13, not 165/70R13 as specified
for the 91 Civic. If you find the 165's at Walmart, please drop a line.
I am looking for a new set of tires for my own 91 Civic, but the 165's
are now very hard to come by (Yokohama still makes them, but every
service place I have checked lists them as on backorder).

By the way, as Grumpy notes, your Civic should last another 100K miles
easily. I am planning to get mine beyond 250K one-way-or-the-other.
Your infrequent oil leak may be from the breather chamber
grommets.....if so, replace the O ring and the grommet that connects it
to the PCV, and you should be good to go.
Regards.

 

AH,

The sticker inside my 91 Civic's glove compartment specifies
the 175's. What's your source for the 165's?

My doggone Civic better last another 100k miles after the
guzillion hours of labor I put into control arm bushings not
long ago.

I had the breather chamber off a few years ago and thought I
replaced the O-ring then, but maybe not. That's a good idea
for older cars. The slowness of the oil accumulating at the
bottom of my oil drain plug suggests a very slow leak. Could
be a poor fitting drain plug (it's metric but aftermarket)
or somewhat stripped oil pan threads. I also suspect the
distributor housing O-ring (or seal near it) is leaking a
wee bit, though it's only three years old.

JT (a.k.a Grumpy): Perfect. I wasn't sure about the rate of
wear of front vs. back. Earlier I returned my fairly new, 5k
mile old tire to the front and the worn one to the rear. No
significant steering wander now. I did not want to spend $50
on a new tire, anyway.

Thanks for the input, AH and JT.

 

AH,

The sticker inside my 91 Civic's glove compartment specifies
the 175's. What's your source for the 165's?

My doggone Civic better last another 100k miles after the
guzillion hours of labor I put into control arm bushings not
long ago.

I had the breather chamber off a few years ago and thought I
replaced the O-ring then, but maybe not. That's a good idea
for older cars. The slowness of the oil accumulating at the
bottom of my oil drain plug suggests a very slow leak. Could
be a poor fitting drain plug (it's metric but aftermarket)
or somewhat stripped oil pan threads. I also suspect the
distributor housing O-ring (or seal near it) is leaking a
wee bit, though it's only three years old.

JT (a.k.a Grumpy): Perfect. I wasn't sure about the rate of
wear of front vs. back. Earlier I returned my fairly new, 5k
mile old tire to the front and the worn one to the rear. No
significant steering wander now. I did not want to spend $50
on a new tire, anyway.

Thanks for the input, AH and JT.

 

Thanks Elle. Yours must be a DX or LX? Mine is a Std HB, and the glove
compartment label is for 165/70R13, and always have had 165's in mine.
Regards.

 

Thanks Elle. Yours must be a DX or LX? Mine is a Std HB, and the glove
compartment label is for 165/70R13, and always have had 165's in mine.
Regards.

 

Oh, and I always get the el cheapo tires (usually at Discount Tire) here
in Austin. They wear out in about 25K before they have a chance to
"cup" etc. Pep Boyz is another source of good cheap tires. Never had a
problem with either but stay away from Nation Tire 'n Battery. The
cheapo tires there were impossible to balance and drove me nutz until
they wore out, on two different cars before I learned my lesson..

JT

 

Oh, and I always get the el cheapo tires (usually at Discount Tire) here
in Austin. They wear out in about 25K before they have a chance to
"cup" etc. Pep Boyz is another source of good cheap tires. Never had a
problem with either but stay away from Nation Tire 'n Battery. The
cheapo tires there were impossible to balance and drove me nutz until
they wore out, on two different cars before I learned my lesson..

JT

 

Based on my experience with NTB in Dallas area, its not the tires that are
impossible to balance, its their balancing technique. Those guys can't
balance any tire. Seems to be consistent throughout the chain. Apparently
they don't calibrate the machines very often.

 

Based on my experience with NTB in Dallas area, its not the tires that are
impossible to balance, its their balancing technique. Those guys can't
balance any tire. Seems to be consistent throughout the chain. Apparently
they don't calibrate the machines very often.

 

Ah1244, my 91 Civic is an LX sedan. always had 175s on it.
Take care.

 

Ah1244, my 91 Civic is an LX sedan. always had 175s on it.
Take care.

 

It may be they are using "bubble-balance" machines. Apparently they worked
pretty well with unbelted bias ply tires, or maybe the profiles were higher
then or the front suspension less sensitive. Anyway, lateral imbalance makes
bubble balance useless these days, but the machines are probably a tiny
fraction of the price of spin balance machines.

If you've ever had a ceiling fan with flimsy blade mounts you've seen the
effects of lateral imbalance. If a blade is not rotating in the same plane
as the others no amount of diddling with weights will correct it.

Mike

 

It may be they are using "bubble-balance" machines. Apparently they worked
pretty well with unbelted bias ply tires, or maybe the profiles were higher
then or the front suspension less sensitive. Anyway, lateral imbalance makes
bubble balance useless these days, but the machines are probably a tiny
fraction of the price of spin balance machines.

If you've ever had a ceiling fan with flimsy blade mounts you've seen the
effects of lateral imbalance. If a blade is not rotating in the same plane
as the others no amount of diddling with weights will correct it.

Mike

 

IIRC, they only spun 'em once. At discount, they spin until they are
done. OTOH, I had to NTB tires that were so bad, no one could balance
'em. That's why I've never been back.

JT

 

IIRC, they only spun 'em once. At discount, they spin until they are
done. OTOH, I had to NTB tires that were so bad, no one could balance
'em. That's why I've never been back.

JT

 

In my case, they were spun on a machine at all locations.

I like the way tires were balanced at a shop back east... On the car!
That way, the entire spining assembly is treated.

JT