Our rear tires are hitting the end of life. They are Hankook Vensa Eco. They are the first generation, so I planned on getting the newer model. We love the ride & low sound from these, so two questions...

1) Should I opt for a summer & winter solution? We got the car in late February, so we haven’t experienced any real winter weather with them in East Tennessee.
2) Is there another option that might be better? I really don’t want to go with all seasons, unless one really stands out on performance, noise, etc., (the best bang for the buck).

Thanks,
- Brian

 

The rubber compound in "summer" tires will not withstand your winters in Knoxville. They simple are not designed to take temperatures in the 30s F.
You need two sets of tires if you must run "summer" tires. and the summer tires must be stored over the winter in a heated space. A cold garage just won't cut it.
Try reading this; SRT tires

 

And don't store any tires near an electric motor (pump/HVAC). The ozone from the motor rots/degrades rubber tires.

.

 

I appreciate the information. Are you suggesting that there is an all season that we should consider or do most people in this climate have summer and winter tires? I’ll check out the article that you linked, too.

thanks!

 

I use all seasons, I live in southern IL, and drive to ky, tn or in every week.
There are some good all season tires, I have used several different ones, I like the
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus ZP 285/35R19 ZRF 99Y AS All Season Tire
What I have on the rear atm, I like them better than the gmax, dws, dws 06, and acouple others i have had before.
I usually have some extra weight in the hatch which helps, but these directional tires ha e surprised me.
Strict winter tires would be better, but if you try and run them in warm temps, they will not last very long.

 

Speedy, you rock! I’ll look into these tires for the rear. Do you run the same brand (but 18’s) on the front?

I’m learning so much by having this cool little car! My wife even calls it hers now, hehe.

Thanks,
- Brian

 

No, I run Yokohama avid ENVIGOR 235 's on front, they are all season and made in the usa.
My micheline in the rear are 285's and will "not" work on oe wheels.

The michelins are a zp or zero pressure tire or run flat, just means they have much stiffer sidewalls, if ran on the front, they would increase the handling on the front and not try to roll on hard cornering.
But with my wheels being much wider on front and rear, it also helps get ride on the tire rolling.

Say a normal 285 tire that if it had a manufacturer wheel reccomend width of 9" - 11", if you put it on a 9" rim it curls the sidewalls and can add as more cushion, on some tires depending on tire pressure you can notice the tread curve out more.
If put on a 11" rim the sidewalls are more flat and might be pushed out alittle, eleviating tire roll and making the sidewalls alot stiffer, and it can flatten out the tread, but makes for a stiffer ride.

Think of a stick, when the stick is straight and standing up if you push down on it, it takes more pressure to bend, but if you put a curve in the stick then push down on it, it does not take much pressure to bend.

My wheels are 18x8.5 and 19x11, rear also has adjustable camber arms which I kicked the tires out alot and more flat, with all my driving, they wear alot better, and after I kicked the tires out I rolled the fenders.

 

I’m not sure that I understand all of what you posted, yeah, I’m 50 & a car newb... I had family that helped, but, they aren’t with us now.

1) So, those rear tires that you suggested do or don’t require changes to the car?
2) I guess that I have the same question for the front tires. I don’t think that the couple in TX that I bought this from made any changes to the frame to accommodate the tires.

I really do appreciate all that you’ve shared with me.

Thanks,
- Brian

 

Brian P, Do you like the way the car looks now? I happen to love it. I have not changed rims or lowered the car. If you love or just like it go with the OE size tires in an all season brand you like. I have ran all season tires in the winter on several rear wheel drive cars. You live in Knoxville I live on Lake Michigan on the Illinois/Wisconsin border. We get a little more snow than you. I have an SRT6 I believe the other models have the same size tires. I personally would go with the Michelins Speedy 4x4 mentioned. Front Size 225/40R18 Rear Size 255/35R19. Check your owners manual under tires.

I do not believe Speedy 4x4 has made any modifications to frame or wheel wells. I do believe he is running different rims which require spacers. There is some wiggle room for tire size on OE rims. If this what you are looking for there are many threads on this just do a search.

 

forgot to mention if you have a working TPMS system consider having the sensors cloned and replaced. Lots of info on this if you do a search.

 

I was just mentioning the the 285 zp will not fit on factory rims, the stiffer sidewalls in these 285's will have problems on a 9" wheel.
Indo nit use any spacers but I also have 19x11 rear wheels, I ran on stock arms for awhile, when I put on the adjustable camber arma that kicked the toe out, is when I rolled my fenders .

If you pick between a 255/35 - 275/35 there would not be any thing needed to change or adjust.

I was talking about some of the things I have done, for various reasons.

I like my wider tires, on packed snow and ice, there is nothing to cut down to, and have liked wider for more contact, more biting edges.
Changed rims, wanted wider and lighter, and between previous owner and bad tire installers they have seen better days, so new wheels
Adjustable camber arma to kick the tire out, flatten out the tread so they do wear the insides out.
With the new wheels and wider tires and kicking the top of the tire out is why unrolled the fenders.

Ask any ? You may have or if I cause any confusion.

 

It makes much more sense now & I might want to try that next time. For now, I appreciate the suggestion of the Michelin 255... we found tonight that treads are starting to show, so, I’ll be looking to get them ASAP. Thanks, guys!

- Brian

 

I just wanted to post this in case it helps anyone else. After spending an afternoon looking at tire specs and talking with installers, I decided to go with the following for the rear of my 2005 Limited (note that run flats cost about $100 more per tire & there’s a 45K mile warranty, which is halved if you run a mixed setup). I really appreciate the help! Now, to find an installer for my convertible top.

PILOT® SPORT A/S 3+

 

Yes zp or runflat tires cost more, I got mine on clearance for $200 a tire, I have 2 more in my shop
I have 30k miles on my rears atm.
Enough tread that I might run this winter, or change out to the new set and swap back in the spring.


Since you are buying from the installer, do they offer free tire rotations ?

To rotate these, take both rears, unmount, flip and remount, then will be put on opposite side of the car
So what was on the inside on the drivers side is now on the outside off the passenger side.
Makes a big difference on the life of tires with the high camber

 

Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

Run flat tires cannot be mounted on standard rims.

Run Flat rims can have standard tires or run flat tires mounted to them.

 

Run flats can be mounted on standard rims, as long as the rim is within the manufacturer's recommended range.
Example, 285 run flats will not fit on oe rims, the rims are not wide enough, but a 255 runflat will fit fine.

 

That’s my understanding on that run flat tire sizes...

Okay, now I have one more. I bought my tires & replacement TPMS sensors for the rear from Discount Tires in the Knoxville area and that caused two more questions:

1) We’ve driven and enjoyed the tires for a couple of weeks; however, the TPMS sensor light is still on. I know that it’s normally supposed to reset when it detects the new sensors. I stopped by the tire place and they told me they I had to go to the dealer to get the sensors to initialize. Is that true?

2) If it is true, should I pay for them to do it or wait until I get new tires (and sensors) for the front? I had a mechanic friend tell me that they should all be replaced at once. Note that the TPMS was working fine before I had the rear tires replaced.

Thanks!

 

Refer to post #10. The system does not reset. Tons of info if you search. Far more information explained much better than I can do.

 

Thank you, I asked about this at the tire store and they just kinda glazed over. I’ll do some research and see if I can get out of spending the money of going to the dealer (that sounded like he didn’t have a clue about Crossfires & wouldn’t quote me a price to reset the system).

 

In order to learn the unique IDs of the new TPMS sensors you need to interface with the vehicle using a Chrysler diagnostic readout box (DRB) III scan tool and a Crossfire/Sprinter multiplexer cable or have a DRB III emulator and multiplexer cable. The tool itself was quite expensive; an emulator (connected to a PC) is less expensive but still quite pricey for something you may only use a few times. If you want to continue with a working TPMS system, you either need to find an individual with this tool (there are a few), or find a dealer with access to the tool and Sprinter/Crossfire cable. Many Chrysler dealerships got rid of their Crossfire-specific tools years ago so they may not be able to do the work. For dealerships that do have the multiplexer cable laying around, they will typically want to charge you an hour's labor for a job that takes less than 10 minutes. All they will do is place a magnet on each valve stem, one at a time as requested by the tool, to activate the sensor which will transmit its ID. The ID is then memorized by the Crossfire's computer. I had this done a few years ago when getting new tires and replacing sensors (they batteries last around ten years or so). I made an appointment and showed up at dealership, then had to wait a couple hours while they sent a courier out to borrow the multiplexer cable from another Chrysler dealership. Even with just a half hour labor plus a few ridiculous add on costs for things like "digital storage" I was around $90 IIRC.