tires again - pick between two BAD choices - things change

[CDW6212R]

This is advice only!! Your BEST option is to find another way to get those tires, borrow somebody else's vehicle, whatever. What I put below is a last resort of the damned:

Remove the front drive shaft and run any size tire you want. That saves the transfer case. Put a good used tire on the spare rim and use it to replace the bad leaking tire. Air your tires up, keep your speed low, avoid sharp maneuvers, and stop frequently to check the tires and let them cool down. Remember to set your parking brake when leaving the vehicle without a front driveshaft, it will drift even in park.

Ditto. The four current tires might not be the same diameter either, given the age and seemingly neglect of the tires(what are the chances they have been rotated properly).

If you remove the front drive shaft, then the tires can be mismatched and not hurt anything. If you can get four better tires for that trip, than the four best which match, spending the 30 minutes to yank the drive shaft would help.

What shape are the tires you have? It is possible to mix two pairs which together match each other. The AWD is actually comparing the total diameter of the two in front, to the two in back.

 

[J_C]

I'd do option 1 but only if taking along a tire inflator and a bottle of slime tire sealant, which I wouldn't use unless the leak is too fast to reasonably keep topping off the tire.

I'd also try to avoid the highway if there are lower speed side roads you can take, both for the lower speed, and for the closer distance to areas you can pull off and check and inflate the tire.

However, I would still try to find some way to scrounge up another $130 to get new tires locally. $30 of that would be offset by not needing the ($10) slime sealant or $20 gas to drive 200 mi.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Oh, and don’t spray anything on the tire. Nothing you could possible spray on the outside could possibly help, and might damage your fragile rubber.

For the 45 you are willing to spend for the mismatched tire you could easily rent a tiny car. Your gas savings of 30+ (Closer to 40 if you kept it under 75) mpg vs your 18 would make up half the difference. Plus you’d be way less likely to be stranded.

 

[koda2000]

OP - Do you just want us to tell you everything will be fine, or do you want good advice?

As far as removing the front DS... Yes, if you do this you can run any size tire you want on each corner and it will not hurt anything. However w/out a front DS you truck may creep away in PARK so bring and use a wheel chock.

 

[CDW6212R]

It takes a good T25 torx bit to remove the front u-joint, and a long 8mm socket/extension for the CV joint bolts, and some patience under the truck.

But you can drive the truck with little trouble without the front driveshaft. Mine has been out for 5-6 months now, a good 20k miles, parking on tons of slanted or steep driveways. The truck does creep in park without the shaft, you must be aware of that and not leave it parked for long without a parking brake. Use the parking brake, and be sure that it works too. I only park for a minute or so at a time, so my truck doesn't move noticeably. I do hear it creek/groan when parked on any incline, the noise is from the viscous clutch and drive line(shafts etc). If you leave it unattended, the AWD trucks will move a varying amount, a few feet an hour, up to car lengths in 20 minutes or so. So get in the habit of using the parking brake.

 

[ELeBlanc]

SUCH A COMMON OCCURRENCE IN LIFE... YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE (ASSUME) FACTS CHANGES SO YOUR CONCLUSIONS CHANGE...

SO THE LAST 12 HOURS... I WENT BACK TO SMALL TIRE REPAIR GUY TO BUY A TIRE. HE POINTED ME TO A LARGE 24 HOUR TIRE REPAIR SHOP WITH A LARGE INVENTORY THAT HE THOUGHT MIGHT HAVE A FIRESTONE DESTINATION LE (MINE ARE DATED 2007).

I ARRIVE AND THE BIG TIRE SHOP DOES NOT HAVE A DESTINATION LE. SO NEXT STRATEGY. HE LISTENS TO THE "LEAKING THROUGH THE CRACKS" EXPLANATION AND CALLS "BS" ON THAT EXPLANATION AND SAYS "LETS TEST IT". SO AFTER AN EXTENDED TIME IN THE TUB THEY FIND (AND SHOW ME) A VERY SLOW LEAK BETWEEN THE TIRE AND THE RIM IN ONE PARTICULAR AREA. THEY REMOVE AND REMOUNT THE TIRE AND I'M GOOD TO GO.... I START OUT INTO A SNOWY MORNING IN 30 MINS. DROVE TO GET COFFEE 5 MINS AND ALL FEELS FINE.

SO I'M ACTUALLY CONSIDERING PICKING UP THE USED TIRES AND CONTINUING ON THE LAST 100 MILES WITH THE SET THAT IS ON THE CAR NOW AND HAVING THE NEWLY PURCHASED TIRES MOUNTED AT MY FINAL DESTINATION...

I STRUGGLED WITH THIS DECISION. ONLY BAD OPTIONS (RISK TIRE ISSUES ON THE ROAD VS RISK AWD ISSUES). COULDN'T AFFORD NEW. ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEM WAS WRONG....

SO MY NEXT UPDATE WILL BE TO RECOUNT WHAT HAPPENS ON THIS SNOWY DAY... THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE FOR YOUR OPINIONS THAT HELPED ME SHAPE MINE.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Good luck, and drive it easy.

 

[ELeBlanc]

Love on Gen 2 AWD Explorers. Couple of years ago soon after I bought the first 97 5L AWD I was in Boston for Thanksgiving. There was a major storm on the day I drove home. I'm seeing cars and trucks on the side of I84. I'm seeing vehicles skidding... It was a mess... Never once did I feel the Explorer loose traction. My worries weren't the roadway - they were all the other cars on the roadway (that were slipping and sliding)

 

[CDW6212R]

Tires are the key to all of that. I have real snow tires I try to put on before every predicted snow we get. It's far far better to drive with snow tires, than anything else. No new tire, all season or whatever, can grip like snow tires. People up north know this for the most part.

Go easy up there and hopefully you get home safe before any more bad weather hits.

 

[ELeBlanc]

Drove full 250 miles on 2007 tires. Bought at Junkyard set of early 2016 Hankook DynaPro ATMs for $200. Get them installed today.
Thanks again to all for participating...

 

[Mbrooks420]

Glad you made it without issue.

 

[GLOCKer]

Glad you made it and I hope those new tires work out in the best way for you.

I had been lamenting that my Explorer isn't AWD or 4WD. I think I'm glad it's not AWD. They sound to be super capable but super finicky with wear and tire issues. I've experienced problems with the 4WD systems in the Rangers and Explorers I've had for work so I'm kinda glad I'm not dealing with that either; damn electronic controlled transfer cases have gone out. I even had one go out after being replaced.

I bet I'll change my tune and end up begging for AWD or 4WD if I ever get that boat I'm hunting for and have to deal with boat ramps and RWD.

 

[Mbrooks420]

The AWD isn’t THAT finicky. The way some posts on here look is that if you don’t rotate your tires constantly it’ll burn right out. This isn’t really the case. I am terrible with tire rotations. I put 6-7 sets of tires on my last Mounty and almost always had worn out fronts and decent tread on the back.

Often they were good enough to to sell the rear pair, or if I was buying the same type, mounting as a spare. I do think it is better to have the worn tires on the front axle.

Is it harder on the transfer case? Probably. but I got 220k out of the first one, with rough service, tons of snow, and lots of plowing. It’s still parked out back, and if my t case burnt out, I’d yank the case out of that truck and put it in this one.

 

[koda2000]

I didn't find our AWD to be finicky. I didn't care for it though and found AWD unnecessary for living in GA. I bought it believing it was RWD (that's the way it was advertised and there was no reason for me to think that it might have been AWD). I just found that the added weight and complexity of the AWD was not worth the reduced fuel economy, having to worry about tire wear, having to purchase tires in sets of 4 (or 5), The extra maintenance and repairs (though fairly minor) and lastly I didn't like the way it drove. It wasn't that it drove badly it just had a different feel from our RWD V8 Explorers and Mountaineers. It just felt heavier and slower (which it was).

When I lived in the Northeast I owned many 4WD vehicles and won't have owned driven anything else, but I never off-road intentionally and when we get our 1 snow storm a year in GA I can just stay home until it melts. And don't think that 4WD/AWD helps you for driving on ice. It does not.

Repairs made to our '00 AWD during the 4 years we owned it...
- Front axle seals and axle bearings
- T-case output seal
- 8 new tires
- Front drive shaft CV joint replacement
Also, the front diff cover was leaking, but that was a big job to fix, as the entire diff needs to be removed to reseal the cover, so it was easier to just refill the diff once a year.

Non AWD related repairs, some of them made more difficult because AWD components were in the way...
- Upper/lower ball joints
- Outer tie rod ends
- Front sway bar end-links (of course)
- Front and rear brake pads and parking brake shoes
- Front shock absorbers
- Fuel pump
- Exterior front door handles
- Driver's window regulator
- Yellow clip for lift-gate handle
- Water pump
- Tension and idler pulleys
- A/C clutch assembly
- Thermostat

 

[XLTrunner]

All I know is my local transmission shop owner says repairing/replacing AWD transfer cases due to common neglect and/or every day wear is a significant percentage of his business. I would much rather have a 2WD with the option of switching to 4WD if desired. That's why the "brown wire" mod has been so popular on Control Trac Explorers.

 

[koda2000]

All I know is my local transmission shop owner says repairing/replacing AWD transfer cases due to common neglect and/or every day wear is a significant percentage of his business. I would much rather have a 2WD with the option of switching to 4WD if desired. That's why the "brown wire" mod has been so popular on Control Trac Explorers.

Agreed. If I had a Control Trac Expl the first thing I'd do to it is the "brown wire mod".

 

[corkey]

i can't believe this actually ended up being a multi page thread,, feel so sad for that,,,

 

[ELeBlanc]

i can't believe this actually ended up being a multi page thread,, feel so sad for that,,,

Corkey - you remember when we were kids we used to talk about the "old game of telephone". These threads weave all over to different topics than the original subject line...

But all are filled with tremendous amounts of information. On this board I am only a "consumer" and not a "provider" but, even doing zero things mechanically, this board is a treasure trove of information. And there is so much (good) activity that I know I can count on quick feedback.

Love the board.

 

[koda2000]

Yeah, we tend to easily get off topic.

 

[corkey]

i never had internet as a kid,, we never had computers till i was in my 30's,, at least,,
we used to just handle problems ourselves ,, go get it done stuff,,
it's what made life an adventure,,
in the week spent on the thread, you went nowhere and still are faced with the same problem,,
sure a lot of info changed brains, but all that info is already all over this forum,, it's why it's here,,
thanks @Rick