prettytall

I DESPERATELY NEED HELP. I HAVE A 2002 CLK 430. I REPLACED ALL 4 TIRES A YEAR AGO AT COSTCO, HAD ONE OF THOSE 4 REPLACED 6 MONTHS AGO AS FAULTY, AND SPUN OUT ON THE FREEWAY 2 WEEKS AGO DUE TO BALD BACK TIRES. HAVING ONLY REPLCED THE TIRES A YEAR PRIOR, I HAD NO IDEA MY TIRES WERE BALD. I REPLACED THE REAR TWO TIRES WITH MICHELIN TIRES FROM COSTCO. I HAD THE TECH CHECK THE FRONT TWO AND HE TOLD ME THERE WAS STILL TREAD LEFT AND THAT I SHOULD BE GOOD FOR A WHILE. 2 DAYS AGO, I GOT A FLAT ON ONE OF THE FRONT TIRES. I LEARNED THAT THE (PREVIOUSLY REPAIRED/WELDED) FRONT WHEEL IS CRACKED (AGAIN) AND THAT IT IS PROBABLY BEST FOR ME TO REPLACE IT.

AS MY 4 YEAR OLD IS ALWAYS IN THE CAR WITH ME, I AM LESS CONCERNED WITH AESTHETICS AND MORE CONCERNED WITH SAFETY UNTIL I CAN SELL THIS CAR AND GET INTO SOMETHING MORE FAMILY ORIENTED.

THAT SAID, I WAS ADVISED TO REPLACE ALL 17" STOCK AMG WHEELS WITH EQUAL SIZED 16" WHEELS/TIRES (AS OPPOSED TO STAGGERED) SO THAT I CAN GET TIRES WITH MORE TREAD, WHICH WILL BE SAFER AND MORE ECONOMIC THAN REPLACING LOW TREAD TIRES ANNUALLY.

ANY ADVICE YOU COULD GIVE ME IN THIS REGARD WOULD BE MOST HELPFUL. RIGHT NOW, I AM DRIVING WITH THE SPARE ON THE FRONT UNTIL I FIGURE OUT WHAT MY NEXT STEP IS.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

-DEE

mint

Pretty sure MBZ engineers thought everything out better than some tire tech at Costco or wherever you got your car checked.

Stick with the 17s, buy better quality tires.

insame1

another option is to try and find 2 more front rims on CL or ebay. they you will have all rims the same size. this is only going to help you in rotation. other wise the tread wear raiting is wha tyuo need to look at. you can get a crappy wear rating on a 16 too.

OGCLK320

Buy better tires, I understand your safety concern, but you also get what you pay for, buy a tire that is good for what ever conditions you are normally driving on, and do research on what lasts the longest. Your 17 inch wheeels are fine, just find one to replace the cracked wheel, much cheaper.

prettytall

Thanks everyone for your responses. I truly appreciate it. Have a Merry Christmas and wonderful holiday.

Latin Racer

prettytall, if your running stock 17' AMG rims you should be fine. Like OGCLK320 says, you get what you pay for, I ran my car before with BF Goodwrench g-Force KWD ,when the car had 20' rims when I bought it, I never had a problem with those tires. They are safe , family thing I am with my baby sisters all the time so I understand you, lasted me till I switch to 17' AMG rims.

SerbNerd

I recommend you get the Contental DWS tires, I have them on all three cars and they're doing great. Had snow fall today and my CLK with 17's and DWS was gripping suprisingly well considering my aggressive style...ESP helped. DWS's in rain are amazing as well!

I got DWS's with install, alignment and Nitrogen for around $600.
2 225's and 2 245's both 17 inches