Dilemma

[PJR202]

I swear this is my last thread about buying tires. Just seems like the intricacies keep on coming.

I called a local place about the MPS and Continental all seasons yesterday and got a detailed quote. I ran into a few issues.

1. He says the tire warranty is cut in half if I stay with the 275/255 standard setup on the PP models. So the michelin would be 22.5k and the Cont 15k.

2. He said they think if I go squared, the 275's will rub up front. I told him my research says they should be fine. He didn't argue.

3. If I go squared so I can keep the full warranty, tire rotation will involve dismounting every tire so the 9.5 width wheels remain on the back. Their standard rotations are free for life, but this would actually be a new mount/balance charge for each wheel every time I rotate. AKA..probably 60 bucks each time.

The price they quoted for everything including tax is about 150 higher for each set of four vs if I buy them online and have them installed elsewhere. That's what I'll probably do but paying 60 bucks for a rotation every 3k miles (probably, considering how the rears wear unevenly due to the camber) just seems ridiculous, although I don't think it's unfair for them to charge for the additional work involved.

What would you do? Go staggered and maybe get them swapped side to side on the rears? If they aren't directional tread (if I recall correctly they aren't) then I suppose that would even out the wear that is generally worse on the inside of the tire surface.

Or go squared and eat the cost of rotations and keep the full warranty intact?

OR go squared and just get them rotated side to side on both front and back but not bother cross rotating them since it would involve the additional charge?

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[PJR202]

Plus I wonder if the rear tires are going to wear faster like they did with the P Zero's. The fronts were totally fine after 18k miles so I bought a set of used rears and am running them now. I didn't do a lot of burnout type stuff on the old ones though. I have no idea how the michelin and conti's will do as far as wear on rear vs front goes.

 

[plc268]

Just go staggered and replace the rears when they're toast. Or swap rims with another PP owner so you have a square set.

 

[smann]

I got 275s up front.. Don't have any issues lol. Just gotta get the offset right and you'll be good.

I would go staggered (which is what i am right now, 275s front, 305 at the back)

 

[PJR202]

I got 275s up front.. Don't have any issues lol. Just gotta get the offset right and you'll be good.

I would go staggered (which is what i am right now, 275s front, 305 at the back)

What do you mean by getting the offset right? Is there something specific a shop would need to do other than mounting the tire and putting it on?

Edit...I just read what offset is, and if I'm understanding it correctly I would need wheels spacers to adjust the offset at all. ? Sorry for the ignorance. I feel like that's probably not correct as well, but the explanations online aren't the best.

 

[VinnAY]

You sure are making it too hard on yourself with all that, why not replace in the OE sized and just drive away? It's a PP and those kind of tires, you're wrapped up in some warranty gibberish doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

 

[PJR202]

You sure are making it too hard on yourself with all that, why not replace in the OE sized and just drive away? It's a PP and those kind of tires, you're wrapped up in some warranty gibberish doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Warranty mileage cut in half doesn't make sense?

I'm probably just gonna go with the way it came and be done with it, but buying a set of tires every year is basically what it'll come down to I would imagine. Because of the summer compound I only put about 12k on the car the first year I owned it, but I need it to be my daily because my Tacoma has 150k on it and I need to have a truck. So the mustang will be getting 20k plus per year from here on out and that could mean new tires yearly. I know, I know...this is part of the deal when driving a performance car, but it was a bigger part of the deal than I expected.

Literally, the factory rears were balder than bald at 18k so I bought a pretty good set of two used for 300 bucks. They're still decent, but the original rears looked concave by probably 12k miles (first time I noticed at least) and now it's happening to the replacements. When I was looking for the replacements a lot of the used tires I looked at online had the same concave shape, which seems to me to be pretty unsafe. I attributed it to my not keeping the pressure high enough the first time around, but I've been diligent with it this time around. I don't know what to think about it all, but I'll probably just go with the OE configuration and hope for the best. Hopefully the PZ's are just a crappy tire and my new experience will be better.

 

[VinnAY]

Warranty mileage cut in half doesn't make sense?

I'm probably just gonna go with the way it came and be done with it, but buying a set of tires every year is basically what it'll come down to I would imagine. Because of the summer compound I only put about 12k on the car the first year I owned it, but I need it to be my daily because my Tacoma has 150k on it and I need to have a truck. So the mustang will be getting 20k plus per year from here on out and that could mean new tires yearly. I know, I know...this is part of the deal when driving a performance car, but it was a bigger part of the deal than I expected.

Literally, the factory rears were balder than bald at 18k so I bought a pretty good set of two used for 300 bucks. They're still decent, but the original rears looked concave by probably 12k miles (first time I noticed at least) and now it's happening to the replacements. When I was looking for the replacements a lot of the used tires I looked at online had the same concave shape, which seems to me to be pretty unsafe. I attributed it to my not keeping the pressure high enough the first time around, but I've been diligent with it this time around. I don't know what to think about it all, but I'll probably just go with the OE configuration and hope for the best. Hopefully the PZ's are just a crappy tire and my new experience will be better.

Sad to say though you bought the wrong car, a PP with staggered sizes, if tire wear is that much of a problem. You're in a hole as far what you want and what you've got.

 

[plc268]

Just about any AS tire will wear better than the stock pzeros. You won't have to worry about replacing them as often.

Or pick up a set of different oem mustang rims that are square fitment. You can pick up a set used for less than the cost of tires. Hell, I've got a set of square oem rims that I never use, that I'm tempted to sell.

 

[PJR202]

Sad to say though you bought the wrong car, a PP with staggered sizes, if tire wear is that much of a problem. You're in a hole as far what you want and what you've got.

That's a little extreme, don't you think? LOL

I'm OK with what I have, trust me. I just want to make the best decision I can on this purchase since I know now what I didn't know then. They don't exactly advertise the ridiculous tire life of the PZ'S.

 

[PJR202]

Just about any AS tire will wear better than the stock pzeros. You won't have to worry about replacing them as often.

Or pick up a set of different oem mustang rims that are square fitment. You can pick up a set used for less than the cost of tires. Hell, I've got a set of square oem rims that I never use, that I'm tempted to sell.

Not in the cards at the moment, but thanks!

 

[NightmareMoon]

Dismount/rotating a set of square 275 tires (front-back) on your PP wheels isn't that much trouble. You only need to dismount/remount once or twice in their long life to even out treadwear.

That bit about 'half the warranty' rings false. What warranty? The tire manufacturer warranty, or something the local tire place is offering? The tire manufacturer shouldn't care as long as the tires are mounted on wheels with compatible widths. I guess the local shop can do whatever they want with their own warranty, but you're also free to go do a different shop with less abstract restrictions.

Personally I'd consider going square and paying the extra $$ to dismount rotate once or twice to even out treadwear front to back. This way you'll end up replacing all 4 tires at the same time down the road, and you should get a little extra tread life out the set as a bonus.

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