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Car tire matched sets

Eleeski

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On a different thread, someone had to replace all four tires when one blew out. That's an interesting question.

My Ford Ranger is clunking horribly in 4wd. My tires are the same size but different manufacturers. I'm wondering if different circumfrence causes the clunking? It's fine in 2wd or in really soft roads (my lake is down a dirt road) and in low. Maybe there is something to this recommendation.

Or it might be an old truck falling apart.

I'd hate for our new Mazda to suffer the same fate. How careful should we be?

Eric
 

scott43

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Absolutely. If the fronts and rears are of a different circumference, whether they're worn or just diff models of tire, it can cause enough tension in the transfer case to cause some nastiness when switching between 2 and 4wd. Don't throw out the baby with the bath water just yet for the old truck..check with 4 of the same tire with the same wear.

As for your Mazda..may be a different case if it's not a manual transfer case..
 

crgildart

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I've always been told to go with the exact same tires all around with AWD or 4WD. Having two in the front/rear that are a couple thousand miles (20K?) older and more worn shouldn't be enough to wreck anything though.. If the tires are all the exact same size and the rims are the same the exterior dimensions should be pretty close though. I'd be leaning towards a transfer case or front differential issue as the cause in that situation.. i.e. if it only clunks in 4WD tires being just a hair different probably isn't causing it. Heck, even with the same brand and same size a tire or two with ten pounds less air might roll more different than a completely different size and I've never heard of that causing major transfer case or differential problems. I'd think mixing up rim sizes would cause trouble though..
 

graham418

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On a different thread, someone had to replace all four tires when one blew out. That's an interesting question.

My Ford Ranger is clunking horribly in 4wd. My tires are the same size but different manufacturers. I'm wondering if different circumfrence causes the clunking? It's fine in 2wd or in really soft roads (my lake is down a dirt road) and in low. Maybe there is something to this recommendation.

Or it might be an old truck falling apart.

I'd hate for our new Mazda to suffer the same fate. How careful should we be?

Eric

It sounds like front U-joints ., or at least something forward of the transfer case. U-joints are the first to fail and easiest to fix .

On another note , I had a Jeep Wagoneer many years ago, with automatic 4WD, and it wouldn't shift into or out of 4WD if the tire pressures weren't exactly the same.
 
Thread Starter
TS
Eleeski

Eleeski

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Thanks for the ideas. I did check ujoints - looked OK.

Could it be the wrong gear oil in the transfer case or differential? It did get serviced recently.

Maybe I'll get 4 new matching tires. Or a new truck.

Tonight's drive was so snowy that the clunking was minimal. Maybe I can keep it.

Eric
 

François Pugh

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I've seen numerous limits on the inter-webs from various manufactures. They usually post in terms of acceptable tread depth difference; lIRC 2/32 nds of an inch of an inch is the upper limit. You could translate that into a diameter difference easily enough (4/32 is diameter difference) and circumferencial percent difference and go from there.
Google acceptable tread depth difference
https://www.google.ca/search?q=acce...rome..69i57.9043j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Also consider the difference in handling that would result from having better traction at one end or on one side.
 

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