crxaddikt

three of my tires were 195/60-R14 size and i had one tire that was a 185/60-R14 size and
i went to get an alignment at NTB, and the guy said i needed to replace that 185 size tire to a 195, otherwise they could'nt "align it properly".

so i bought a 195 so i could have all 4 tires the same matching size, and helping them do a better alignment.

i kept the 185 size tire since it was in good condition, and just put in my closet to use as a spare tire later on when needed.

so, recently i had a flat tire, and instead of buying a new one, i could just use that 185 size tire i put aside, it would work but people say you should'nt mix and match sizes.

my question is, whats bad about having 3 tires 195 size and 1 tire 185 size ???

is it just bad cause it makes it harder for the techs to do a proper alignment?, or bad cause tire wear patterns? or mpg? or will it not drive as stable on highway?

i have had a bent steering knuckle from hitting a curb a while ago, and i was told until i replace that knuckle, the car is'nt going to be aligned correctly, and it also wears tires at a faster rate, so thats why i just stick to buying used tires for $25, and when you are buying used tires, you just usually take whatever they have available, like they might not have a 195 size, but they have a 185, and usually i just take it, otherwise i would be waiting around for them to get certain sizes in stock, which is a waste of time.

is it safe to say i can just mix 195 or 185 size tires whenever i want without worrying about anything??? cause those used tire places might have one or the other available in stock at that moment and i would just like to get it and have it done with, so if i was open to taking either a 185 or 195 size then the used tire place would have more of a chance to have one or the other.


any explanation about 195 versus 185, or having a mix of some 195 and others 185 on your car, any feedback would be helpfull


- Jon

Jockone

Instead of buying tires all the time why don't you replace the steering knuckle?

In many states you will not pass inspection with odd sized tires on the same axel.

Spug

185-60-14 will have a smaller overall diameter and height than a 195-60-14.

Get a used knuckle and replace it, get 4 tires of the same size, then get it aligned.

gnxpro24

iTrader: (1)

it would be like wearing one shoe that is taller than the other. it would be goofy to walk. its not good imo for the car

~sp33~

As long as the driven wheels are the same rolling diameter, so put the 185 on the back, it'll be fine. It's never ideal to have different tyres on your car but it wont make much difference if you just daily drive the thing.

Winlight

This is your answer.

crxaddikt

i wrote a detailed reply 2 paragraphs long, and submitted and for some reason it did'nt add it and i pressed the back button and it was lost and cleared already, ......................so i'll just make it brief.

i said something like:................thanks for the opinions,

i realise the real solution would be to get the bent steering knuckle replaced, but it drives fine except for pulling slightly to the right, and it wears tires faster but still takes a while to do and they still last a while.

i could tell that the bent steering knuckle makes it hard for them to align it good, cause when they were done and i drove it, it barely even felt like they even did an alignment, cause usually after an alignment your car drives a lot more straight feeling, but it was almost the same as it was when i took it in, where it pulls to the right.

i was just waiting until i had some extra money so i could pay my mechanic friend to replace the knuckle, or learn and do it myself, i saw the steps on doing it in my HELMS and it looked kind of complex compared to the stuff i've done, hardest thing ive done was probably replaced my steering rack and subframe along with lower balljoints, and doing shock & spring install, but i can almost do anything as long as i have some time and using peoples help and advice from the internet along with the HELMs manual.

but that was'nt the question really,

remember, i got an alignment recently and they told me to get my one tire that was 185 replaced with 195 so it matched all the others, and after they took the 185 tire off i just kept it since its in good condition, and its in my closet.

and i just had a flat on one of my rear tires, well its really a slow leak, and i am able to fill it with air and it holds it for 3 days about and can still drive on highway and stuff, but i wanted to use that spare 185 tire i kept to switch with the one with the slow leak, and just wondered how it would affect anything,

i understand more what it affects, but it does'nt seem drastic, cause i heard the 185 versus the 195 is only 10mm in difference in width or something? and i doubt thats going to do much and i probly would'nt feel any difference.

dpetro1

i disagree, the two tire sizes he gave are not the same overall diameter so he should not drive with one smaller tire.

crxaddikt

why don't you think i should drive with one tire slightly smaller? i mean whats going to happen? am i going to burst into flames? lol, i don't mean i want to put it on forever but i just wanted to for now so i could avoid having to spend any money buying a new one.

but i'm just curious why is everyone saying its so wrong to have one tire 10mm in difference? whats the reason that you should'nt? just wearing tires faster or something? or bad for the car somehow? i just never got that answer really,

EL Vap133

Replace the knuckle, you can get them really cheap from a place like: www.car-part.com

dpetro1

you are thinking about it incorrectly. 195 vs 185 is a 10mm difference but this is the section width of the tire only. that is not the only measurement in a tire. more concerning is the overall diameter of the tire. 195/60/14 vs 185/60/14 is a .47" difference in overall size. if you need help understanding tire sizes look here. http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...ngSidewall.jsp

and there is a tire size calculator here (to compare sizes)
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...foTireMath.jsp

if you had a matching pair i dont think it would be as big of an issue. but with just one tire that is .5" smaller than the rest it would basically have to spin faster to keep with the rest of the tires. i think this can cause faster wear as well as unpredictable handling. will the car burst into flames...no. but there could be handling issues or maybe loss of control in certain situations. also if the mis-match is on the front, i could see possible tranny issue since the tires are moving in unison.

also a side note, 195/60/14 is too big for a crx or ef civic. you should stick with 185/60/14 or 195/55/14.

radicalshift

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
this is a great place to get an understanding of what's happening with tire sizes.
It matters for handling mostly unless it's on the drive wheels in which case it's making your transmission try to compensate for it mechanically.
If it's a trasher and you don't care then you don't care. Having the right size it what's right for the car.
Also imo it is important to have your speedo read fairly accurately.
In an emergency getting off the road and home is obviously what's important. I just don't think putting it off is a good plan.

crxaddikt

i lost what i wrote (again!), after writing a good section of a reply, i press submit reply and even know i'm logged in it goes to page saying "your not logged in, and need to log in", and then i press back button and stuff or try log in, but all the stuff i wrote is gone? just frustrating!


anyway,........................ thanks for the reply, and the info and links, i mean to read up on the articles in the links to understand how size affects the cars ride more cause i am curious to know about it more.

also i did get the 185 spare tire i had put on to replace the flat i had in the rear, and my car has riden fine without anything noticeable so far.....

but bad thing happened last thursday, it snowed bad and ontop of icey roads in dallas, and i was coming out of a u-turn on service road, going pretty slow but hit slick spot, and my car slid diagonally towards the curb, and my pass. side tire hit the sewer hole part of the curb, but luckily i don't think anything was damaged, thank god!

cause in 2007 i hit curb going faster at same side at an angle, but i had to replace subframe, control arm, radius rod, rim and still had bent steering knuckle to replace, so i did'nt want to damage any of those parts that i did all that work to replace back then, especially right before i was going to get it completely fixed when i replace the bent knuckle, so its good i only hit it at a slow speed and not on as much of an angle as last time.

this time i copied what i wrote in case i lose it again.........