Different diameter tires: front vs rear. (1 Viewer)

[RyanNC]

I am currently in the market for a LC or LX450. I have found an LX that I am interested in. One thing that concerned me was the new tires on the front and the partially worn tires on the rear. I would say the rear have 50% of their tread left. The owner said he had driven with them like this for about 5000 miles. Now I know on my Subaru that this will wear out the vc prematurely, what will it do to the cruiser?

This was the only cruiser I have been able to take on an extended test drive and I noticed that at 45-50 mph there was a humming coming from the front end it is only noticeable with the radio off. It sounds as if it is running on all-terain tires but it has michelin LTX all around. Is this just a normal noise?

 

[Beowulf]

Ryan,
It is not good to run different diameter tyres for extended periods on our 80 series (just like on your Subaru.) The VC will suffer. It's hard to say whether or not it has been damaged as that is one of the functions of the VC; to adjust for differences between the front and rear.

If it were me, and the price was right and the equipment was right and the condition of the vehicle was right... I would take the chance that the VC is OK; but I would put on 4 new tyres and factor that in the offering price.

As for the humming noise... all 80 series are pretty noisy from what I've experienced. You would have to describe the noise a little better and give us some basis for thinking something was wrong. Was there any vibration? Was the humming constant? speed related? engine speed related? N or D? turns? compounded by bumps? If you owned the truck we would ask you to remove driveshafts to isolate the noise front or back.

Bottom line is that it is almost impossible for us to tell you if a humming is normal noise or not. We would need more information.

-B-

 

[landtoy80]

If you have the center diff locked, you wont hurt the VC
With different size tires you are heating up the VC (not good).
A new T-case is only $2100
I assume that is what the PO of my 80 did, run with odd or uneven tires as the spare was bald and he told me he just got the used tires for the 80

 

[MTNRAT]

If the belts are not OEM you can get humming from the front. Just a thought.
Sean

 

[Pitbull]

Sounds like you just need to buy two new rear tires if the fronts are new. I would have if checked out, if it passes buy it.

 

[landtank]

Pay close attention to the sizes of those tires. Recently a couple of people got trucks with different size tires. Looked like a set of LCs and a set of 4Runners. They both came with the same tires, well the 4Runners where on the higher level trucks. Anyway the size difference went un-noticed for a bit.