3 tires at 30% and one at 100% tread?

Recently got used ‘17 (new to me) Tacoma sr5 and within 2 weeks got a nail in back left tire in sidewall, so replace it with spare with 100% tread (same tread) The others are probably more like 40-50% actually.

My question is now my tires are uneven and don’t know how best to resolve this. Should I i one more new tire and put both on front or back for evenness? Or keep it on there till other three wear down, then buy 3 new ones, but then they still be uneven tread on the set. I don’t want to get 4 new ones so I’m perplexed on best way to go about it without getting 4 new tires?

Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

Just go to a tire shop and get a used tire to replace the flat so your spare can go back to being a spare. What happens if you get another nail before your tires wear out now?

Once they all get a bit more worn down, then swap them

 

Yeah, that’s sounds pretty reasonable actually. I’ve asked friends and I like your answer beat so far. Thanks!

 

With the odd number you’ll always be chasing one mismatch. Maybe buy one new tire to match the spare, and put both new tires on the rear. Leave two front tires as the worn ones. And then the 3rd worn tire you use as the “new spare”?

tbh I’d also just consider calling it and buying a set of 4, put the 100% spare back as the spare. You might find a deal on set of 4 and with all mounting / balancing done comes out near the same total cost...

 

Thanks, I’ll look into that option too.

 

Yeah you will atleast want to match side to side because having different tire OD's on a axle will put more wear on your differentials.

 

Sure haven’t thought of that but it makes sense. The difference is prob just over 1/4”. Could I over or u underinflate one of the tires to make up the difference?

 

I would not recomend doing that because now you are going to have differences in contact patch of the tire if you do that and that could affect your traction and handling. If you are not going to get a another tire i would just run on the same psi and realize that when your 3 tires wear out you should get a new set and use the 1 for an emergency spare.

 

Thanks for everyone’s help.

I decided to get one new tire to match the new one one the back left and just rotate when needed. The point about the difference in outer diameter placing stress on the differential was probably the deciding factor.

Thanks again for y’all’s help.