Can you mix tire brands?

[irvineboy]

I have the 275/55 R21 116H Perelli Scorpion all season. I unfortunately got one flat tire and the tire needs to be replaced. I have 6/32” on the other tires but the tire store is saying I need to buy a pair. Has anyone tried using 275/55 R21 Defender LTX2 116H? The Perelli OE tires cost $464/tire before tax and installation and the Michelin cost $364/tire. I am thinking of buying a pair of Michelin to match with the Perelli but am not sure if mixing brands is safe since the Michelin seem like a harder material. Anyone have experience with them?

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[sub]

Plenty of vehicles have staggered tires from the factory including the upcoming Quad R1S/R1T. The difference in the dynamics of drastically different sizes is surely much more significant than the difference between 2 different brands of all seasons tires.

That said I am sure there are reasons you never see a staggered setup with bigger tires in the front so you might need to be strategic about which set you put in the front vs the back.

 

[NY_Rob]

Have you inquired with any tire shops in your area if they'd actually mount tires on your Rivian they way you're considering? No chain shops (America's Tire, Costco, etc..) will do something like that just because of liability.

When I needed a spare tire for my R1T Rivian was sold out. I was able to get a Dodge wheel off Ebay and I purchased the correct tire that matched the diameter of the OEM 20" AT's on my R1T. When I went to Pep Boys to get the tire I purchased from Tire Rack on that Dodge wheel, they gave me a hard time about it. They refused to do it. I finally lied and told them it was for a RAM truck at which point they had the tire mounted and balanced in 15 min. My point is... they gave me a terrible time for a spare tire that would most likely never get used, I couldn't imagine asking them to put a different brand on one axle mixed with the OEM Pirelli's on the other axle.

 

[irvineboy]

Plenty of vehicles have staggered tires from the factory including the upcoming Quad R1S/R1T. The difference in the dynamics of drastically different sizes is surely much more significant than the difference between 2 different brands of all seasons tires.

That said I am sure there are reasons you never see a staggered setup with bigger tires in the front so you might need to be strategic about which set you put in the front vs the back.

They aren’t staggered. They are the exact same size tires. One is Michelin and one is the Perelli that came with the vehicle. The question is if you can mix brands and also if any owners have had experience with the Michelin Defenders?

 

[Zoidz]

Rivian specifically calls out a max spec in the manual regarding different tire diameters on the same axle. I forget the amount but they must be within 3/32 or something like that - on the same axle. So it's best to replace the pair. Nothing in the manual about difference front to rear regarding diameter.

However, regarding treadwear per Popular Mechanics and many others:

2. MYTH: When replacing only two tires, the new ones go on the front.

The truth: Rear tires provide stability, and without stability, steering or braking on a wet or even damp surface might cause a spin. If you have new tires up front, they will easily disperse water while the half-worn rears will go surfing: The water will literally lift the worn rear tires off the road. If you're in a slight corner or on a crowned road, the car will spin out so fast you won't be able to say, "Oh, fudge!"

There is no "even if" to this one. Whether you own a front-, rear- or all-wheel-drive car, truck, or SUV, the tires with the most tread go on the rear. Don't believe it? Watch this.

Regarding brands/specs, if they have greatly different treadwear ratings, be careful. That means they are different compounds and therefore traction is very different.

 

[sub]

They aren’t staggered. They are the exact same size tires. One is Michelin and one is the Perelli that came with the vehicle. The question is if you can mix brands and also if any owners have had experience with the Michelin Defenders?

My point is that your proposed plan of putting a different brand in the front than back is way less dramatic than a staggered setup. So if a staggered setup is ok then you plan is obviously ok too. But it might matter which set you put in the back.

 

[irvineboy]

@Zoidz thanks for explanation. The video isn’t working.

@sub here is the link for the Michelin
https://www.americastire.com/buy-tires/michelin-defender-ltx-m-s2/p/169929

 

[Riv303]

I have the 275/55 R21 116H Perelli Scorpion all season. I unfortunately got one flat tire and the tire needs to be replaced. I have 6/32” on the other tires but the tire store is saying I need to buy a pair. Has anyone tried using 275/55 R21 Defender LTX2 116H? The Perelli OE tires cost $464/tire before tax and installation and the Michelin cost $364/tire. I am thinking of buying a pair of Michelin to match with the Perelli but am not sure if mixing brands is safe since the Michelin seem like a harder material. Anyone have experience with them?

I’ve been running this exact setup on our R1SQM for a couple months now ever since the 21’s from Michelin became available. New Michelins on the back, stock Pirellis on the front practically down to wear bars. The DT in my area had no hesitations w doing the mixed set. No issues w the handling or dynamics w the mixed set, but will definitely be switching to the Michelins at all corners from now on

 

[irvineboy]

@Riv303 America Tire says the Defenders are backordered for a month. I can’t wait that long so might just bite the bullet with a pair of Perelli OE again. Then when all four tires need to change, which I don’t know how that’ll happen at one time, since the other tires are at 6-7/32” and I’ll essentially have two new ones at 10/32”, math wise, I’ll always be replacing two at a time.

How do you like them? Are they quieter or harder on the road? Comfortwise, how do they compare?

 

[snowboarder777]

No please don't. Its not advisable to mix tires from different brands. The ride will be off and the handling will be weird.

 

[Treebeard]

I have the 275/55 R21 116H Perelli Scorpion all season. I unfortunately got one flat tire and the tire needs to be replaced. I have 6/32” on the other tires but the tire store is saying I need to buy a pair. Has anyone tried using 275/55 R21 Defender LTX2 116H? The Perelli OE tires cost $464/tire before tax and installation and the Michelin cost $364/tire. I am thinking of buying a pair of Michelin to match with the Perelli but am not sure if mixing brands is safe since the Michelin seem like a harder material. Anyone have experience with them?

I just put the Michelins on and they are a great tire. On a 2WD vehicle running different tires front and back does not matter. On 4WD vehicles you want to run four of the same tires. I don't know this changes on a vehicle with four motors or even two motors. As you mentioned the tires are different compounds so your traction will be different. I’d go with four new Michelins and have a perelli as a spare.

 

[irvineboy]

I just discovered that Americas Tire doesn’t offer road hazard warranty but Costco does for five years? I was not aware of this. So if you buy tires and get a flat in 4.5 years, they will give you a new tire for free?

https://tires.costco.com/RoadHazardWarrantyTermsandConditions?lang=en-US

 

[ksurfier]

I just discovered that Americas Tire doesn’t offer road hazard warranty but Costco does for five years? I was not aware of this. So if you buy tires and get a flat in 4.5 years, they will give you a new tire for free?

https://tires.costco.com/RoadHazardWarrantyTermsandConditions?lang=en-US

They willprorate it based on tread life, if tire is deemed unrepairable, they calculate the credit as a proportion of the tire’s remaining mileage warranty.

But this would be tricky as you would likely need two new tires.

 

[irvineboy]

They willprorate it based on tread life, if tire is deemed unrepairable, they calculate the credit as a proportion of the tire’s remaining mileage warranty.

But this would be tricky as you would likely need two new tires.

So road hazard is prorated and not entirely free at Costco? I misunderstood that, since I thought you get a flat within 5 years, you get a free tire. Then Americas Tire does the same thing. They just don’t call it Road Hazard Warranty. They prorate the remaining tread life on the tire and apply that toward the new tire. Except they don’t have a 2 year limitation like Tire Rack imposes or a 5 year limitation like Costco imposes.

I believe Tire Rack’s road hazard warranty, they try to repair it and if they cannot, they give you a brand new tire. No proration involved.

 

[Lsthrz]

I’ve gone through too many of the OEM Pirellis on my R1T in only 30k miles. Right now the fronts are worn badly but the rears are ok (yes I have rotated and has the alignment adjusted many times).

I’d like to move the rear OEMs to the front and put two t/a KO2s on the back and then move to all KO2s in the future.

The general rule is don’t mix tire brands, even if the same size and dimensions, but I’m going to for a little while.

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