Solara Tires

[Patty]

I have a 2004 Solara with 27,000 miles. This week I had a flat tire and was driving on the interstate and didn't realize it. When I got off of the interstate someone put his window down and told me. Why didn't the sensor in the car indicate there was a problem? I was able to get the tire patched for the short term. However, I was told I need 4 new tires. By the way, my tires have always been rotated on schedule. I have been researching tires for a few days and cannot determine what would be the best for my car. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[eyeball96]

TireRack.com.....all the information u need can be found there! Great prices, excellent customer service, super fast shipping.

[lostru]

I went back to a Bridgestone tire and so far I havent regreted it. I did not put the stock tire back on though. This is the tire and the reviews. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ranza+Serenity

[Gadgetjq]

Hi Patty,

You have several issues here and we'll just ignore the fact that you couldn't tell you had a flat tire .

1. Why didn't the sensor work?

That's a weird one. Mine flashes if there's as little as a 2 pound difference side to side (discovered after a tire store rotated my tires and messed with pressures), yours certainly should have come on with a flat. That may be something for your Toyota dealer to check out 'or' when you're rolling again try an experiment because I'm thinking maybe the sensor wasn't properly calibrated to begin with (should have been done after each tire rotation)

Make sure all your tires are inflated to their proper pressure, re-calibrate the system by holding the button in for several seconds (until the tire light flashes) then, after you've driven awhile, let a few pounds of air out of one tire. By the time you've driven a mile or so the light 'should' come on. If it does air the tire back up and consider the earlier failure a fluke. If it doesn't it's dealer time. Don't forget to air the tire back up.

2. Need new tires

27,000 miles seems mighty early to need 4 new tires. Check them yourself. All tires have 'wear bars' built into the tread. When the tires are worn to a point where only 3/32" of tread is left the wear bars are even with the tire tread and it's replacement time. Another way to check (this is pre wear bar so I'm dating myself) is to use a penny. Stick the penny into the tread all across the tire. If you can still see Abe's hair anyplace on the tire it's replacement time.

Note, if your tires need replacement because they're worn in the center but not the outside of the tread it's because you've been running with the tires over inflated. If the outsides of the tires are worn more than the center your tires have been underinflated.

If you don't see any wear bars on your 3 remaining tires then maybe the tire store is suggesting replacement because they're now five years old (replacement is highly recommended between 5 and 8 years no matter how much tread is left), just trying to inflate profits 'or' they like all vehicles to have four matched tires.

3. What to buy

It's research time for you. The proper tire for your vehicle will usually come down to two things. Your budget and the type of driving you do. Obviously you don't drive a lot and may not need a performance tire. If that's the case you can probably get away with the cheapest (buy 3 get one free) tires sold at Pep Boys.

If I've guessed wrong and you really enjoy pretending you're at Sebring as you rip around the cloverleaf then by all means ask the dealer to show you a performance tire. The tread doesn't last as long but based on your current mileage and the cars age that isn't a big worry for you. The tire will grow old before the tread is gone.

And finally, I'm running Michelin's MXV4 on my '04 Solara Convertible. It's not the stickiest tire made but the performance is in line with my driving style/conditions, it 'is' a very quiet tire and seems to be wearing well. You'll find info here: http://www.michelinman.com/tires/lux...rgy-mxv4-plus/

Cheers,
Gadgetjq
Host, Gadget's Solara Page
www.gadgetjq.com/solara

[littlebookworm]

Patty: The tires on my 05 Solara wore out at 34k miles. I was able to get Toyota to split the cost of replacing all 4 of them with Michelins. I've now got 72k on the car and the tires are going strong. Since I have 17" wheels on the car, I was limited in which brands were available in the size I needed. The original tires were Bridgestones, but not the best ones. As to the sensor not registering: it's not a very reliable method because it doesn't rely on a sensor in each wheel; it measure ride height differences. Try re-calibrating the system as Gadgetjq suggested. Then try to become more aware of how the car feels when everything is working correctly. That way, you'll become more aware of when something isn't working as it's supposed to work. Good luck. Hy

[riceqx2]

I have a 99 Solara with 16" rims and the OEM Bridgestones wore out at 33k miles. I tried the Michelin MXV4 and found that after 20k miles they hydroplaned easy and were downright scary to drive in the rain. The best tires I found for this car are Michelin MXV4- S8 tires. They are great in the rain, last a long time, and are quiet and smooth. Make sure they are the S8 ones, because the MXV4's that are not the S8's are an entirely (no pun...) different animal.

[bdellert3]

Hi Patty,

I have an 01 Solara and the original Bridgestone tires only lasted about 25000 miles. I replaced them with Dunlap SP's and they were about the same. Now I have BF Goodrich TA Radials and with over 30000 miles they have lots of life left in them. Bought the tires at Sam's Club.

I went to Tire Rack and researched this first and am glad I found a tire that gives decent wear.

Good Luck,

Bill D.
St. Petersburg, FL

[elraido]

Had these on my SVT Contour
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....odel=Ecsta+ASX

A good all around tire that won't kill your budget. I live in MN and they were just fine for snow and ice.