Tire size ???

[frank]

Due to a couple of road hazards over the last 10 years, I ended up with tires of greatly varying wear on my Jeep Liberty. They were all Goodyear Wrangler SRA's in 235/70 R16 but two of them were in need of replacement. Sears wanted around $440 total to replace them with two of the same, so I did a little shopping and found I could get two Kumho tires of the same size but rated for 85,000 miles for $280 total so that's the route I went. However, once I got home I noticed what appeared to be a great difference in the overall size of the tires compared to the Wranglers. The Wranglers are both taller and wider even though the sizes indicated on the sidewall are identical.

Is it normal to have big difference in actual tires size across different brands of tires marked as being the same size or did I get some that were mislabeled?

Is it safe to run in 4WD on the beach with the different sizes without tearing up the transfer case?

[chris311]

Is it safe to run in 4WD on the beach with the different sizes without tearing up the transfer case?

I have always been told its a no no to run diff size tires on a 4x4

[drsnow]

On loose sand you may be OK if the diameters are not too far different. On hard pavement definately a NO NO. Something has to give. I had 12.50's on my original 1981 Bronco. When I replaced two tires on rear with two wore ones up front with identical tires I had problem on the road in snow. The chain in the transfer case would pop and skip a tooth and sound like helll when I had good traction on clear pavement. On sand I never noticed a problem. The tires I quess were only less than 1 inch difference in height.

[mr.breeze]

might try letting a couple extra pounds out on the larger tires,, would give a shorter profile,,,,,

[frank]

I'm wondering if I have any recourse with the vendor over this. If I have to buy two more new tires when I have 25,000 miles of tread left on those I have just so I can have matching sizes when they should have matched in the first place, I figure I'm out $250 or so. It's not enough to get completely preoccupied with, but I'd even be happy if they were to give me a decent discount on the replacements. I still can't see how two tires marked as being the same size can actually vary so greatly.

[chris311]

I would go back for at a min an explanation, I dropped off my truck a few years back for tires and a front in alignment and when I came back the front tires where clearly not aligned to my liking. I had them put it back up on the rack and they guy tried to tell me that they whee done to Nissan specks, i said i don't give a crap about that they are not straight fix it. He did, I flipped him $10 and told him thanks!

[frank]

I would go back for at a min an explanation, I dropped off my truck a few years back for tires and a front in alignment and when I came back the front tires where clearly not aligned to my liking. I had them put it back up on the rack and they guy tried to tell me that they whee done to Nissan specks, i said i don't give a crap about that they are not straight fix it. He did, I flipped him $10 and told him thanks!

I had a similar situation with a brand new Dodge Dakota I bought in 2001. No sooner did I take delivery of it and drive it home than I noticed the truck was leaning to the right. The right front corner was a full inch or more lower than the left! I took it back and they told me the difference was within Dodge specifications and I nearly went ballistic. I ended up taking it to an independent shop to have the torsion bar torqued up a bit, which also required a realignment, and all was well. I couldn't believe the dealership would not budge on making it right. I think they're out of business now, though, so hopefuly I had a little to do with sending some bad karma their way.

[chris311]

I had a similar situation with a brand new Dodge Dakota I bought in 2001. No sooner did I take delivery of it and drive it home than I noticed the truck was leaning to the right. The right front corner was a full inch or more lower than the left! I took it back and they told me the difference was within Dodge specifications and I nearly went ballistic. I ended up taking it to an independent shop to have the torsion bar torqued up a bit, which also required a realignment, and all was well. I couldn't believe the dealership would not budge on making it right. I think they're out of business now, though, so hopefuly I had a little to do with sending some bad karma their way.

I just dumped a Dakota for the Titan back in Oct. I had an exhaust manifold issue on the Dakota two weeks after I bought it and they would not fix it under warranty, I had to pay $250 to have it fixed by the Dodge dealer.