In the process of my installing winter tires yesterday (Pirellis), the service tech at the dealership discovered that there was a screw embedded in the right rear tire. So I went to the local Discount Tire shop and asked them to do a quick patch - it was repairable fortunately. Unfortunately, the guy doing the work punctured the sidewall, thereby ruining the tire.

Discount tire wants to replace it with another Pirelli saying that they can shave it to match the wear on the other ones (approximately 70 - 80% tread is left on the others). Not knowing anything about this type of thing, I called the dealership and asked the service advisor if this is a good fix. He says he's never heard of that being done and doesn't recommend it.

What say you all? Is this a reasonable solution? Any info is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Interesting scenario. I don't think I would shave down a brand new tire. I've never heard of shaving tires other than for racing tires. I would just take the full tread.

 

Thanks BlackPearl. I agree with you - in my search on the topic before I posted, I found that shaving seems to be done for racing tires but not street ones.

As for taking the full tread, the service advisor at the dealer mentioned that since it's an all wheel drive car, it wouldn't be good to have a tread mismatch with the one tire. According to him that could potentially damage the awd system.

They gave me four new Michelin Pilot Sports - all seasons - to use in the interim. But they are not winter tires.

 

youd be better off with a shaved tire the same diameter as the others then 1 new tire 3 used

have them make sure the actual RO (roll out) of the tire is similar to the ones you currently have for instance

one brand of tire that says 235/40/18 might be 25 inches tall another might be 25.9inches tall have them do some checking on the tire.

shaving a tire isnt common cause theyd rather sell you new tires all the way around. but its better to have tire same diameter then mismatched with an awd car.

 

Thanks OS Inspector. I'm going to talk with them tomorrow and I'll ask them how accurately they can shave the tire so that it matches the others. But for a second opinion I'll also talk to an indy shop that I go to and ask them as well. If it's a situation with Discount Tire saying one thing and the dealer and the indy shop saying the opposite, I'll take the dealer/indy shop recommendation.

 

Discount tire is pretty good but you gotta raise a little hell with them. Tell them the dealer (Porsche) recommends against shaving tires due to safety and have DT give you two new tires on the same axle. Once you play the safety card it raises liability issues for them.....

 

Ask them to replace 2 new tires... tip them $20..

 

Shaving is a common practice and should be done on AWD cars to match OD's both side to side, but front to rear, too if not within spec.

I do it all the time for people (yes, we do it for $25) and it's a far cheaper alternative to buying two tires when you only need one. Some cars have more sensitive AWD systems than others and if you have different OD's left to right you are just asking for a cooked differential. Audi and Subaru come to mind. Porsche isn't all that bad, but you don't want the same axle spinning two different RPM's.

So if any of you guys ever have a road hazard, don't let a shop tell you you need two new tires to get yourself out of the bind. A new one shaved to the depth of the other three will fix you up.

Call me if I can help

 

there you have it from the horses mouth

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
...this would be the correct solution to this problem...

Tire shaving (not)...

 

Discount Tire has agreed to provide me with two new Pirelli snow tires for the rear. So it looks like they're going to take care of me. Fortunately it doesn't look like I'll have to twist their arm to get things right.

Thanks for all the insight everyone. I appreciate your help.