If the wheels are different - when you can, and when not

1. Pipeline exceptions
2. Four-wheel drive - full antipode
3. Modern systems against
4. From despair
5. When winter meets summer

Your car for one reason or another turned out to be with different wheels. How will this affect the actual behavior of the car? And what about this said in the SDA?

The tale of different wheels is familiar to many of us since childhood. Remember, there a cart with different wheels turned out to be an unsuitable vehicle, and therefore was thrown into the woods? It is understandable: almost always, different wheels are set from despair.

Disapproved of a vehicle with different wheels, even in children's literature.

First, we recall how the law relates to different wheels. To the booklet with the Rules of the road behind it is always subject to "The list of faults and conditions under which the use of vehicles is prohibited." It shows those shortcomings of cars with which their long-term operation is prohibited. With them you will not be able to get the diagnostic map required for registration of the CTP policy. But to get to the parking lot or repair with all the disadvantages listed below is possible. Is there any mention of wheels?

We read. Operation is prohibited if:

“Tires of various sizes, designs (radial, diagonal, chamber, tubeless), models with different tread patterns, frost-resistant and non-frost-resistant, new and restored, new and with in-depth tread pattern, are installed on one vehicle axle. Dipped and non-studded tires are installed on the vehicle. ”

So far, everything is clear. Both by the rules and by common sense, it is quite obvious that on the same axle the wheels and tires should be the same. But this idyll often breaks ... installation of the reserve. Of course, if there is a full-sized wheel in the trunk, then nothing will change, but, unfortunately, there are other options. Namely:

• you have a summer reserve, and it happens in winter and you have winter wheels installed
• your car has a smaller spare wheel than the other wheels
• applied dokatka with a narrow tire of small size.

More about dokatka we already told earlier. By law, you can only drive them to the parking lot or repair. It goes without saying that at the same time it is necessary to keep the speed not higher than 80 km / h and to take special care.

After installing dokatki wheels definitely turn out to be different. Only caution will save you from trouble.

Pipeline exceptions

Different wheels on the front and rear axles are often put on conveyors that produce rear-wheel drive cars, from the smallest type of smart fortwo to such as the sports Mercedes-Benz, BMW and some others.

There are different wheels "in law".

It is believed that to transfer high torque from the engine is better if the rear wheels will have a greater width. The experience of sports cars was adopted and quite civilian cars. For example, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class of the previous generation, even with the simplest engine of 156 hp could be equipped with tires 225/45 R17 front and wide 245/40 R17 rear. Well, such a decision has the right to exist, but just do not forget that even a full-size spare tire on a light-alloy disk in the said "cheshki" in the trunk dimension, as on the front axle. In which case the incident goes!

Four-wheel drive - full antipode

All-wheel drive cars always roll out of the conveyor on exactly the same wheels. Features of the all-wheel drive transmission require symmetry of all four wheels.

The reserve may be required in the desert, and God forbid that it be the desired dimension.

With a scheme with a symmetrical center differential (for example, a Chevrolet Niva), different-sized wheels will cause its constant cranking and, therefore, wear. The “brains” of modern complex and sophisticated crossovers will also not be happy with wheels rotating at different speeds. And cars with a rigidly connected front axle will completely break the transmission by spinning stray power, and also wear tires.

The richer the country, the less likely the "different wheels". And winters are rare here ...

Modern systems against

On a relatively inexpensive crossover Hyundai Creta in monoprivodnom version of the tire pressure monitoring system is very sensitive to the movement of the car with frequent slip. Even with absolutely equal pressure in four identical tires, it periodically starts to sound a false alarm.

On such roads, even with identical wheels, the car constantly asks to check tire pressure.

You understand what will happen if you put at least some different wheels on the front and rear axles. The same can be said about other systems that compare wheel speeds. On any modern cars, ESP will simply “go crazy” if you put wheels of a different size on the car.

From despair

Wheels that differ slightly in size can only be put on simple front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive cars that have ABS as a maximum or have no such systems at all. Moreover, this can only be done if necessary until the end of the season. For example, you have stolen two wheels, and managed to get only the adjacent dimension. But constantly in this mode should not operate any car.

It also happens that in case of fatal damage to one of the four tires, it is not possible to acquire the same one. For example, because of the withdrawal of this model from production or because stores most often import and sell tires in the best case in pairs. Here you can advise to look for the same used tire, or buy two new tires of the same dimension. The board is suitable only for monoprivodnom cars. It is best to purchase a pair of the same manufacturer as it was before, and as close as possible in the tread pattern. In this new pair should be put on the front axle, regardless of the type of drive.

A simple vehicle with a not very powerful engine - and the wheels are acceptable different.

When winter meets summer

The rules do not prohibit the installation of winter studless wheels on one axle and summer wheels on another during the whole year, except for three winter months. Sometimes they do this if you need to slightly increase the car’s permeability (winter tires have, as a rule, more pronounced lugs), and there is no money, no desire to spend money on special off-road tires. Put more passable rubber on the drive axle, clearly realizing that the car will be prone to disrupting this axle, which is especially dangerous on the rear wheel drive, but can cost gray hair and on the front.

A source