AWD tire replacement

[eliminator]

The front tires on my 98' 5.0 AWD are worn more than the rears. I would like to replace only the two front tires with new Michelin LTXs which match the tires currently on the truck. Is it ok to leave the used tires on the rear until they need replacement?

 

[Dan Whitaker]

I would advise replacing all four. After replacing them make sure you rotate them every 5000 miles and you won't have the same problem again.

 

[eliminator]

I should have been more specific. Is it ok to run tires that are different sizes (due to wear) on the front and rear on my 98 AWD 5.0? Will this harm the AWD coupling?

 

[chriswells78]

It might, it might not. I dont think anyone here has admitted or realized that to be a problem but there are an awful lot of transfer cases going bad around here lately.

I agree with dan, tires are best replaced in fours. Maybe sell the two rears to someone with a 2wd vehicle or have one mounted to your spare.

 

[Anime]

Obviously it's ok since you're running with differently worn tires right now. With any AWD setup, it's definitely preferable to have all tires the same diameter, though. If the rear tires are relatively new, it would probably be ok to just replace the fronts. My suggestion would be to just replace all four, use the best one of the old tires to replace the spare (if the spare isn't a Michelin LTX already), but keep the old tires and sell them. A set of 4 Michelin LTX's sells for $100 pretty easily, as they make fantastic trailer tires.

 

[97xlt302]

my tires wore badly on the front too, so i replaced them. about two weeks later, transfer case went out. the different treads/tire sizes destroy the transfer coupling over time, sometimes it takes a while, other times it doesn't? i would replace all four to be on the safe side. 'cause my AWD is currently a 2x4. haha