if you had a 4wd truck with mismatched tire sizes (35s in rear, 32s in front) is it bad for the transfercase even if you only drive it in 2wd?
no big deal in 2wd mode…I wouldn’t want to find out in 4wd though. Don’t chance it, get some used tires
All signs point to that being a bad idea.
Unless your in some serious snow, stick it out in 2 wheel.
It’s like having 3.23s in the from and 3.73 out back. One pair of tires will be spinning faster than the others causing damage and tire chirping.
i know 4wd would be bad but if left in 2wd would that be ok?
yes, that would be fine
thats what i thought. but tonight i had somebody trying to convince me otherwise
depends on the 4x4.
its doable, but why not just throw a set of 31s on it til you can find another set of 35s?
Well people are always mystified on how 4wd works.
Depending on the type of truck, I know a jeep wrangler actually disconnects the front axle so not to turn the driveshaft at speed (Thus saving gas) and the same concept is behind locking hubs.
So in 2wd you can pretty much consider the front driveshaft and therefore transfercase as dead weight.
That’s how my subaru works, fwd until it slips then goes into awd.
its truck thats for sale that already has mismatched tires on it. obv if i get it, ill put new tires on it (see my add in the classifieds if you can help) the owner said he hit some debris that killed the front two tires so he put what he had laying around on in order to get it from where it was stuck back home and that it was never out of 2wd with the mismatched tires. whats the best way to check the 4wd to make sure its funcioning correctly? its an old K series chevy truck
Like has been said, all depends on the vehicle and 4wd system.
If you have a for-sure 2wd position on the transfer case then you’re fine. If you have an “auto” 4wd then it may grenade the transfer case.
did you even read the last post?
I don’t know of any way to diagnose it other than to kick it into 4wd and drive it. Obviously listen for funny whining noises and clunks and stuff.
thats what id typicaly do but withthe mismatched tires i didnt know how much driving would be able to be done before something terminal happened.
yeah, you probably don’t want to do that with the tires mismatched. Although, I don’t think a few hundred feet in a parking lot would kill it. At least you would know whether or not it goes in and out of 4wd.
my thoughts exactly. just the fact that its not mine (yet) prompted me to get second opinions before i made any rash decisions.
Just pop it in 4X4 and try to drive it, you will hear the tires fighting each other and it will not feel right at all. I can’t think of any other way to test it, but I’m sure it will not hurt anything just driving 10-20ft to be sure it is going into 4WD.
It will not hurt the K series chevy truck at all as long as it was left in 2WD.
Go and try it on a grass or soft dirt / muddy area, you will feel it big time which will tell you the 4x4 is working. Then take it back out of 4x4. You might need to put it in N or reverse to get some tension off the TC.
The way I always test 4x4 is to put the truck in park in an open area, usually a parking lot and turn the wheels to full lock one way or the other. Then put the truck in 4x4. Once in 4x4, hit the gas. If the truck pulls to the side, the 4x4 is working. If it pushes forward first, then the4x4 may not be working. This is how I always tested the 89-98 half tons and the 95-03 S10’s that I tried out.
If you try it on dry pavement it will bind up going straight.so put it in and go very slow and wait to see if it binds up.Dont push it hard to get threw the bind up.If it does get threw the bind up chances are that it will make a loud noise and scare the crap out of you.The only other safe way would be to to jack it up,all 4 wheels off the ground and see if they all turn.then you dont have to worry about anything breaking.