Range Rover with a Continental tyre size of 275/40/20 in EN1 Enfield

We went out to a customer in the Enfield area to replace a single Continental tyre to the OSF (off side front - which is the drivers side) of her Range Rover Sport. I arrived and examined her tyre, upon inspection I found a two inch slice in her tyre. I showed the customer and explained unfortunately it looked like her tyre may have been slashed.

So I proceeded to change the tyre and checked the tyre pressure and tread depth in the other 3. The NSF (near side front or passenger side) was at 3mm. This was considerably lower with a 5mm difference between that and the other 2 tyres which raised an immediate red flag! The customer mentioned to me she is forever changing 1 of the front tyres, seems to be every 6 months.

The car was only 2 years old so I knew it wouldn't be something underlining like ball/cv joint etc, after speaking to the customer she said she had 1 tyre replaced after 15,000 miles but left the other on the car. With the Range Rover being a 4x4 this can be a big no no. 4 wheel drive cars wheel/tyres work together so if one tyre it at a different tread depth the rolling radius is slightly different and this can cause problems with the drive train, this can be a lot more expensive to fix than just replacing a tyre, the guide is that the new tyre and the remaining old tyre must have a tread depth within 4mm of each other.

The only way to stop this is unfortunately change the lot or at least the 2 on the same axle so they match tread wise and tread depth wise, it might seem expensive but trust me it will save you a fortune in the long run.

We went back out to the customer a day later to change NSF so they all matched up, 3 hours later I received a review saying the car drives like a brand new car again and how happy she was even though she spent more money replacing a legal tyre most people wouldn't change .

Now there is no reason why you wouldn't get 15/25,000 miles out of your front tyres as long as tyre pressures are checked regularly and they match tread depth and tread pattern, rears tend to last a bit longer as they are static and not doing any turning etc you should get around 25/35,000 miles from a rear set of 4x4 tyres as long as they match and don't get changed at different times.

(This also depends on your driving styles and tyre of driving, hard acceleration and town driving are much harder on tyres than gentle acceleration and motorway driving)

So remember the 4mm rule and call Hometyre on 0333 444 5454 to come to you to change your tyres and keep you safe on the roads!