GEN 2 Tire Question - Replacing 2 tires not 4

[2slo4u]

I did this on a Gladiator due to inability to get tires during the pandemic, For the first few tire rotations you don't want to use 4wd Auto, as stated above. After 3-4 tire rotations everything was pretty even. The Rubicon is a different animal though, it's all manual for the 4wd so the wheel speed sensors don't have as much to do with things.

However, you really should purchase 5 new ones and do a five tire rotation, you will eliminate any wheel speed sensor issues, ensure that you always have a good spare and extend the time between purchasing new tires by a few thousand miles by doing the rotation that way. If you have 5(or more) of the same tires on the same wheels, always rotate them all. A spare left under the truck or in the bed is just wasted money. The good tires that you have can always be sold on Craigs list or FB market place to recoup some of the expense.

this guy must work for Tire Rack. Instead of buying 4 new tires, he's advocating for the OP buy 5 new tires

 

[Zelrick]

this guy must work for Tire Rack. Instead of buying 4 new tires, he's advocating for the OP buy 5 new tires

Actually, I'm hoping he goes to my local Ford/Jeep dealer, I get a kick back there.

But seriously, the above is how I do tires, it hurts to buy them 5 at a time but, rotating them all, I go a long ways between purchases.

 

[JAndreF321]

This should depend on the tolerance of the transfer case and any "eLSD" or advanced stability control. I had a friend with a BMW X3 who bought only 2 new tires and his transfer case blew. BMWs specify a diameter difference of 1% between all four tires to meet their Xdrive requirements. I think the Ford awd is pretty dumb by comparison though, so should be good? I just had two tires replaced under the BFG tire warranty at 20k miles and it's running fine. I would also imagine that a truck tailor made for offroading wouldn't have those issues because you need to be able to air down.

 

[isis]

This should depend on the tolerance of the transfer case and any "eLSD" or advanced stability control. I had a friend with a BMW X3 who bought only 2 new tires and his transfer case blew. BMWs specify a diameter difference of 1% between all four tires to meet their Xdrive requirements. I think the Ford awd is pretty dumb by comparison though, so should be good? I just had two tires replaced under the BFG tire warranty at 20k miles and it's running fine. I would also imagine that a truck tailor made for offroading wouldn't have those issues because you need to be able to air down.

Most awd systems don’t use a transfer case. That’s usually the problem. Ours is a 4wd with a clutch activated transfer so all it would do is heat up the clutch More. It’s an on-demand thing. AWD is proportional, and constant.

 

[Reaper308]

Ok so I would buy 4 new if I was really worried about it or this is a much more fun route if you are worried about this and need 4 tires with the same tread amount, measure your tread depth on the fronts and go out in 2wd and roast them until the rear tread matches the front tread depth! Ye-haw!

 

[JAndreF321]

Most awd systems don’t use a transfer case. That’s usually the problem. Ours is a 4wd with a clutch activated transfer so all it would do is heat up the clutch More. It’s an on-demand thing. AWD is proportional, and constant.

I think most newer AWD systems have more than just a viscous center differential. BMWs have had wet clutch, electronically controlled transfer cases since 2003. The difference in tire diameter causes the computer to actuate the clutch repeatedly and cause them to wear/fail prematurely. In the case of BMWs, the wear must be within 1% to ensure the xDrive system is working appropriately. This is usually a stupid problem because of the all time all wheel drive with rear bias and staggered setups that ///M models run. You end up having to change tires early as preventative maintenance. For the Raptor, which also uses an electronically controlled wet clutch, this would only come into play if the tolerance for clutch actuation is low and the difference in tire wear is high...and you drive around in 4A all the time...and we assume the Raptor's transfer case clutches aren't Built Ford Tough. The clutch assembly in the transfer case would wear faster and fail earlier.

 

[Braaaaptor]

Might be a dumb suggestion but I'm on the toilet so...

OP, why don't you get 4 new tires and then sell the 2 that are at 80%? I see you're on the East Coast but there's still plenty of guys willing to buy 2 tires as spares for their bed racks. Obviously you won't be able to recover all of your money but it would certainly offset the cost of 4 new and then you'd gain peace of mind and not be worried about this diameter/transfer case question.

$.02

 

[Reaper308]

Might be a dumb suggestion but I'm on the toilet so...

OP, why don't you get 4 new tires and then sell the 2 that are at 80%? I see you're on the East Coast but there's still plenty of guys willing to buy 2 tires as spares for their bed racks. Obviously you won't be able to recover all of your money but it would certainly offset the cost of 4 new and then you'd gain peace of mind and not be worried about this diameter/transfer case question.

$.02

Damn there you going thinking again and using logic! Of course you were on your thinking throne as you were writing this so that’s why it sounds so smart!

 

[Braaaaptor]

Damn there you going thinking again and using logic! Of course you were on your thinking throne as you were writing this so that’s why it sounds so smart!

It's where all the good thinking happens! Plato, Devinci, Jefferson... were all on the toilet

 

[SK19]

So, I just tore one BFG up, in the desert last week, on the rear passenger side, put the spare on, new, with three 10000 mile tires. Drove out of the mojave just fine , freeway home in normal mode fine. Around town fine. Put in sport yesterday , NOT FINE, its like sport is more sensitive. Bought a new one today , so have 2 new tires on rear and 2 10000 miles tires on front. Still trying the modes to see if okay.........