Question about tires - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Chris Crash · 09-25-2008, 03:44 PM

I currently have 195/70R14 tires on my Camry.

I desperately need only three new tires. But I can't afford to get brand new ones right now.

I found on craigslist some 195/70R10 tires from the same car. And there's three of them for $50.

Is it possible to leave the R14 tire on and add three R10's?

Well...I'm sure it's possible but is it going to hurt anything? What is the difference? Does it even make a big difference?

islandboy57 · 09-25-2008, 05:46 PM

Because you mention the tires are coming from the same car, I assume the seller made a typo. That last number on the tire size is how many inches, so it has to also be 14" if it came from a Camry like yours as well. You really don't want one 14" tire and three 10" tires, heh.

Don't forget to see when the tires were manufactured (there's a four digit number on the sidewall somewhere, XXYY, where XX = week made and YY = year made) because if they're too old they might very well be more dangerous than your current tires.

Mike Gerber · 09-26-2008, 03:29 PM

I have to agree this is a typo. The 14 is the diameter of the wheel in inches. In this case 14 inches in diameter or the hole size of the wheel. These are probably the right size tires for your car but I would contact the poster and varify if there are indeed 14 inch diameter tires.

Mike

gladis · 09-26-2008, 03:42 PM

Yes, if not, you should note what tire sizes mean:

195/70R14, 195 is the width of the tire, while 70 is the percentage ratio of the height of the sidewall to the width of the tire, and 14 is the diameter.

If you're going to change 1, 2, or 3 tires, they all must be the same size, or you'll have a rough ride. If you change the tires only and not the wheels, then you must stick with the 14, and you can have a slight tolerance on the 195 and 70 (though that's going to give you a hell of a time as well, but they will "fit", if you're really on that much of a budget)

But then, I'd say unless all your tires blew, just runon your tires (even if they're bald) until you can get some cheap ones (the cheapest tires are about $30 each)

Venom_5 · 09-27-2008, 03:56 PM

replacing 3/4 tires isnt the smartest idea, i would just get 4 used tires from a shop for cheap that have enough tread to get you by

remember to put the best tires in the rear if possible

Chris Crash · 09-28-2008, 07:48 PM

Wouldn't I want the better tires in front for better traction and what not?

gladis · 09-28-2008, 10:01 PM

Getting 3 tires would potentially cause some ride problems, and uneven wear to some parts of your car.

Tires with less tread actually give better traction in the dry, and you want your newer tires in the back since if you aquaplane, losing front grip is much safer than losing rear grip.

Honestly, it'd be much easier for us to make a recommendation if you gave us a budget. There are some decent budget tires out there. You can't spare $100-$150 for some new budget tires or used tires of the right size?

ghettosled · 09-29-2008, 12:00 PM

i've done the used tire route for several years on previous cars and never had issues. its nice to get the tires in pairs or in sets of 4, but 3 matching is okay. i would find another used tire and put that on the rear so there are matching tires up front. what i did one times wasnt the greatest, but one time had four different tires on the four corners. they were all the same size, but different brands, patterns and anount of wear varied.

Venom_5 · 09-29-2008, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

Wouldn't I want the better tires in front for better traction and what not?

nope...
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=52