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Tire troubles

Sherlock77

Sherlock77

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
My day so far:

My car is only a 2009 model (Hyundai Accent), and my tires are bald (I knew that), just called one tire dealer who told me that the 14 inch tires I need (rather badly, winter is coming) are in short supply, apparently mostly because few companies make tires in that size... I want all weather tires for year round use which they didn't have at all in 14 inch size, I may have to shell out the extra money for a combination of winter/summer which means more money for my meager budget...

But... Since when did a 12 year old car almost become obsolete simply because the tires are hard to purchase, or maybe I'm a victim of how everyone in North America these days buys trucks and hardly anyone buys cars...

I'm slightly frustrated to say the least, and I have no plans to buy an SUV or pickup in case you might ask, and I do like my 2009 car because I don't feel the urge to buy anything newer anyway...
 
Au Naturel said:
14 inch rims are very common. He might simply not have had them in stock. Call different dealers.

All-Season Tires | Tires | Discount Tire
Click to expand...

I've heard otherwise from where I posted somewhere else

Small cars made today typically start with a 15 inch tire size, perhaps for a few years now... And all those people still driving cars with smaller 14 inch tires (that would be me) are finding them harder to source

Are they trying to make even non-classic older cars obsolete simply by removing options? *sigh* I plan to drive my 2009 car for many years...
 
Click on the link and it will direct you to 14-inch tires for your car, the 2009 Hyundai Accent. I count a lot of manufacturers. 2009 is not an old car by California standards at least. Until my wife bought a new Subaru, our youngest car was 20 years old. The 4-door Accent comes in 14 and 15 inch wheel sizes so if that is your car you may be able to fix the issue simply by buying larger rims.

I still suspect the dealer just doesn't have them in stock and can't be bothered to order them. A lot of companies make 14-inch tires.
 
Smaller rim diameters are actually being phased out. 15 years ago when I owned my geo metro its tiny 12 inch tires were already limited to only a couple options. When I went to get some 14 inch tires for one of my trailers last year no one had them on stock, I could of ordered them but they were very much more pricey than they should of been. I ended up just up sizing the wheels to 15s so I could just use take offs of my jeep. Although even 15 inch tires are becoming more rare by the day. There are tire speciality stores such as Coker that deal in obsolete tire styles for restorations so I don't believe that any tire size will ever be unobtainable, just get more expensive and harder to get. You can probably make things a little easier on yourself by scanning the local ads and buying a set of 15 inch wheels and tires that fit your car that someone took off when up- sizing their wheels to something fancier. Sometimes you can get a really good deal that way. Just don't put on super larger ones because they ride like crap. My wife's escalade came with factory 22s and even with its fancy, extremely expensive suspension it does not ride very nice at all.
 
The perils of choosing to own a small car, until yesterday afternoon I had no idea about tire availability issues, and I prefer a small car... I shall figure this one out somehow... ;)
 
Sherlock77 said:
The perils of choosing to own a small car, until yesterday afternoon I had no idea about tire availability issues, and I prefer a small car... I shall figure this one out somehow... ;)
Click to expand...
I prefer a small car too. I am pretty small and I like to be able to see around the car, over the hood and smaller cars have less trouble with blind spots.

A few years ago I was traveling on the local highway during morning rush. Traffic was going about 80. The car behind me was tailgating and there was too much traffic to move over. All at once the traffic ahead came to a sudden stop. I could stop ok but the car behind me was going to run into me. Because my car was small I was able to pull along side the car in front of me next to the center barrier. The car behind me barely managed to not hit the car in front of me. The look on that drivers face was priceless! I think he found God and diapers on the same day. o_O
 
Last edited:
I drive a 1996 car with old 14" tires. Go buy tires--they still make them. Kenda makes some fine all-season ones at a budget price; I like driving on Kenda tires.
 
My 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder takes 15 inch tires and they are plentiful. The problem I have with larger sizes comes from winter handling. I have a Dodge Durango for hauling our recreational equipment that has 20" tires and they have a tendency to float on deep snow and just to get predictable handling I need to turn off the traction control, whereas my spouse has a small SUV with 18" tires that cuts through snow nicely.
 
Update:

I made one phone call on lunch break today at work, a local shop I've dealt with before and been happy with... The tires have to be ordered in but hopefully (cross my fingers) they will be installed on Saturday morning...

I just might call out Kal Tires right now for what appears to be essentially crappy service, especially if other shops seem to have no real trouble finding the right tire... Not sure if I will ever deal with them again to be honest, as I have recently had some poor customer service anyway...
 
I think current manufacturers are being driven to larger rims by fuel economy standards. Typically you have a large diameter rim with a low profile tire at much higher pressure which minimizes rolling resistance. The lack of flex in the tire's sidewall is worth a mile or two a gallon of gas consumption. Because they are inflated to much higher pressures with no "give," overall wheel size has to be larger to make sure enough rubber contacts the road for traction. Also the bumps that were smoothed out by the "softness" of the tire now have to be handled entirely by the suspension.

Every off-roader knows that if you need more traction on a messy roadbed - or no roadbed - you deflate the tire so that more rubber contacts the surface. On something like sand I'll run half the pressure that I run on streets. You can do that on an old-fashioned high-profile tire. Do that on a newer low profile, high-pressure tire and you can destroy both the tire and the rim without gaining anything. They are much less effective on rough terrain.
 
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