Mix and Match tires

I had an opportunity to buy 4 OEM steel Jeep rims off a junkyard truck. The street tires that were on it were all 80-90% tread and all hold air. Obviously I grabbed them, since they were only asking $100 for the set!

Now, I am running these on the street and am storing my 31" MTs for trail use only. We all know what pavement does to MTs!

Of the 5 MTs I have, only 2 are good. I need to replace 3. The two good ones are Bridgestone Duelers.

Now here is my question...since the MTs are for trail use only, do you see any reason why I shouldn't get another brand if they are cheaper, or is there an advantage to having a matched set of 5?

Thanks!

Cottontail said:

Now here is my question...since the MTs are for trail use only, do you see any reason why I shouldn't get another brand if they are cheaper, or is there an advantage to having a matched set of 5?

Click to expand...

You're saying that they are cheaper, but are they better? If it's your trail tire that will not see much of pavement I say that you should put as much $$ as you can and get the best tire that you can (for your trail needs).

I don't have any tires in mind yet, but I sure as shootin' won't be buying some goofy off-brand just becuase they are $50 a tire!

What I am trying to establish is this (for example):

If I find the Bridgestone Duelers (which I have 2 of already) for $165 a tire and then can find a Goodyear MT for $115 on sale, what would be the advantage of spending an extra $50 a tire to have matching tread?

I want to know if there is a disadvantage to running mismatched tires/treads.

I am not asking for tire recommendations or anything, I just want to know about running mismatched tires.

Thanks

Generally at low speeds it won't hurt anything but at higher road speeds it could have a big effect on vehicle handling and response, especially in a panic situation. If you change them prior to heading out on a 200mi trip to say paragon and run into a situation that requires you to do some fancy maneuvering to avoid an accident, squirrel in the road, snag a set of pink panties that just blew off someones snorkel, etc. you could have some bad results. At a minimum I would not mix them on the same axle, keep the dunlops on one and the GY's on another. I've run different models of tires, normal radials on the front and studded radial snows on the rear but was aware that the studded snows would not grip as well on dry pavement and would grip better on ice than the non studded front tires [this on a dodge maxi-van]. With matching tires you have less guess work as to whats going to do what in a given situation. Just my .02

Do you have a front or rear locker? Is so run exactly the same brand and size tire on each axle. As close as you can get to the same air pressure would be helpful also. Off road is no big deal; on the pavement is where it will start getting squirrelly.