Asking for a friend since I’m on here all the time and work is slow..lol. He had to replace one tire last year due to An unrepairable puncture. They are Hankook Ventus and they have always seemed to perform well on our group drives. Lately he has noticed some sketchy handling traits. Namely a feeling that the car is about to lose grip when cornering hard to the right. I measured the depth and the left is 7/32”, right is 3/32”. He has a new tire now to put on the right which will make them 7/32 and 9 or 10/32. Not sure exact new specs.
Does the tread depth difference between sides present a problem now and explain the weird handling? Will the new tire vs the now slightly worn left tire be an issue?

Thanks

Jon

 

Always replace in pairs and keep the older tire as spare

 

I know rear tire pressure different side to side causes weird handling and expect this is the same thing. It appears the problem is about to change sides with a new replacement tire. 3/32" is darn near worn out. "More than 2/32"" is the legal limit in many (most?) places.

Please keep us informed.

-- Chuck

 

It would be nice to have the new tire shaved down a bit but I don’t think most shops do that.

 

These tires are what? $150-$170? Just have him buy a matching tire and move on with life.

-- Chuck

 

This car is uncommonly sensitive to differences in rear tire circumference. It causes odd handling. Specifically, power on steers one direction, power off steers the other. Its subtle, but you definitely feel something isn't right. If you experiment with abrupt (but not massive) power on and power off cycles whioe maintaining a constant turn, you can experience the effect quite specifically.

Most of the time such differences are due to tire pressure difference one side to the other. To reiterate, this phenomenon affects rear tires only.

Its happened where new tires tbat happened to come from different manufacturing batches caused this too. Another reason to buy from Tire Rack, as they'll swap one for this reason. Try explaining that to a generic tire store or other online tire site.

If tire pressures or manufacturing differences can make a real difference, certainly one worn and one new will make a tremendous difference.

 

Could be the tread difference.
I find that my passenger side rear tire wears a bit faster then my driver's side. The tires I use permit rotating left to right. I rotate the tires after 5K miles to get the most out of them and keep them as even as possible as far as wear. Seems it makes a difference.