Long story short, a pothole bubbled a sidewall on one of my Blizzaks this weekend. They are a fairly new set with ~8-9/32 of tread remaining.

Specs: Blizzak WS60, 245/40R18
Front Passenger tire is the culprit

I'm unable to find a similarly tread used Blizzak and cannot afford another full set because of just buying the car and the 30K mile maintenance.

I'm new to AWD and what not so I'm not sure the answer on this. I found a Blizzak LM60 245/40R18 and it has the same tread remaining, but it has a very slightly different pattern being the LM and not the WS. Would it be ok to use that temporarily or would I be better off just holding out with the bubble until it's time to put the summer set back on? Either way, I'll be on the hunt for a WS60.

 

Tread pattern I think matters a little but I'd be more worried with the tread remaining. If I was in your situation I'd go with the tire with about the same tread remaining for the rest of the winter.

 

You could look for tire-shaving service via Tire Rack. I haven't done it myself, but I think you can buy a new one and have it lathed down to the equivalent of your remaining 3.

 

Unfortunately the WS60's are discontinued. This car is costing me too much, I'm pretty tempted to trade it.

 

Just do what you were thinking and get that one tire with equal tread remaining. Easy fix, wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

The issue is overall size of the tire, not tread pattern so much. You'll be ok.

 

Same size, same tread, and will only be used for maybe two more months until it warms up (~4000-5000 miles).

$100 for a similar tread LM60, or $240 for a brand new WS60 that will then need to be shaved.

LM60:


WS60:

 

Go for it. I'd run em to their bald. Practically identical.

 

the difference is so minuscule you should be fine.. no need to stress over small things like this

 

buy the $100 tire.

 

Ten second with this thing called "google" found me three pairs of slightly used 245/40/18 WS-60s. Or, as you said, you can sell the car. Or, to get a better price, you could replace the one bad tire and then sell the car. (But now I'm being confusing.)

 

Although they look similar, the WS and LM line of Blizzaks are different. WS are more aggressive and designed for the harsher driving conditions while their LM line is more sport based and less aggressive for plowed road driving. WS tires have the dual layer tube multi cell compound, the LM does not. Not the best idea to mix the two together.

 

Wow, Tire Rack for the well drawn out info! Already plan on calling you folks for a set of WS70's for next winter. I'll keep you in mind, Neal.

 

No problem!

 

Just thought of something.. Call the town or city where u hit the pot hole. Let them know what happened and the damages to your car. Usually they will refund you the money. They do this here in Edmonton. The stipulation is that the pot hole must have been reported previously, and that you provide them with the cost of repairs. It's worth a shot.