AWD and spare tire question

[POS Camaro]

The tires on my '99 XLT 5.0l with AWD have about 40% tread left. The spare is the same tire and hasn't been used. Would I damage anything by rotating it onto the truck? The passenger side front tire is showing excessive wear on the inside of the tire. Is that normal or can it be fixed with an alignment?
Thanks

 

[MountaineerGreen]

You probably need lower ball joints if your tires are wearing on the inside edge. Your alignment tech can tell you for certain.

I personally wouldn't rotate the spare into the rotation, tread differences that great can affect the transfer case. I'd suggest 4 new tires for safety, they are the only thing connecting you to the road.

 

[POS Camaro]

I was afraid that it would affect the transfer case. I'll rotate them since I only drive to and from work (no faster than 45 mph). I drive I-95 very rarely with this truck. Only the passenger side is wearing the inside edge. I'll look into lower ball joints.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

It can affect the transfer case, I personally wouldn't want to risk it. Other brands seem to be more susceptible to transfercase problems due to to tires, but its a bit of a gamble.

Thinking back to when I first bought my Mounty, I had an oddball tire, I bought a new tire to match the other 3. I ran it for a while with no problems, I didn't know there was a risk with the AWD, but my other three tires were fairly close to new.

If it turns out your LBJ is bad, I have a how-to on replacing them, shops tend to be proud of their services for replacing ball joints, even though its really no big deal.

 

[storlied]

Wasn't the biggest problems with AWD and differences in tire sizes with the Chrysler AWD T-Case? I'm not saying ours isn't affected, but wasn't it a big deal for those t-cases specifically?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Wasn't the biggest problems with AWD and differences in tire sizes with the Chrysler AWD T-Case? I'm not saying ours isn't affected, but wasn't it a big deal for those t-cases specifically?

Yes, it was specifically Chrysler and Dodge T-Cases in their MiniVans.