Running Slightly Different Tire Sizes? (1 Viewer)

[Mark SR.]

My wife (often w/ our 2 boys) drove my 100 for a year and a half after losing her company car. I was back in my '90 4Runner for a while after selling a Tundra WT. Bought her a CRV and am "restoring" the 100 for my use. We have to U-turn often to come and go from home, and she typ. does it at full lock while on the gas a bit.
My lack of attention to a rotation schedule has left the truck with a nearly bald front PS tire (REVO 275 70 16). One other tire is fairly worn as well, leaving me with 3 decent & matching tires and 2 that have to go. This tire/type/size is not available anymore I have found.
Thinking of going to REVO 2s at 265 75 16s, which are very slightly larger in diameter. Can I run 2 new REVO 2s on the back, and run 2 of the old REVOS on the front to use them up for a while w/o harm to the drive train? I would love to not have to buy 5 tires right now, and see 3 decent tires get tossed. -Thanks

 

[Ole Colony]

Have you looked a used tire shops? I have had good luck with used tires on my work truck.

 

[larss]

What year is your car? If it has VSC the computer might detect the difference in size as slipping. happened on our sequoia when we got the wrong size tire once.

 

[re_guderian]

Buy 4 and throw the 2 good ones on Craigslist. Forget the 5 tire rotation.

 

[AimCOtaco]

Sounds like you've been running some mis match as it is, I expect you would be fine with the new pair but you might want to go back to a 4-way rotation to keep the matching tires together(on same axle) and let the other wither away as your spare.

 

[Mark SR.]

Thanks, my intent would be to buy 2 265-75-16s now and run them on the back for 5-8k miles, with the 2 best old 275-70s in front. Later buy two more 265s and put them in front for a while, then do regular rotations once all 4 (or 5) match.

 

[Texas993]

Make sure that you check the load rating on the 265's before you decide. I think they are lower than the OEM size.

 

[r2m]

Buy 4 and throw the 2 good ones on Craigslist. Forget the 5 tire rotation.

I agree with re_guderian.
We had a '90 Previa All-Wheel-Drive van, which we bought new. At just shy of the 60k mile mark we had a punctured tire we had to replace. Didn't realize that it wasn't the same size. In a short time, it wound up the entire drive train; tranny, transfer case and diff's. Thousands ($,$$$'s) in repair. Fortunately we were still under the Toyota 60,000 mile drive train warranty. They paid for everything!

Moral of the story, by no means have different size tires on an All-Wheel-Drive vehicle.
IMHO I would consider the same size tires with one at full thread and the other bald to be different size tires. It might just take a little longer to wind up your drive train.

 

[EdsCruisin]

There is no doubt that bald tires are a different diameter and circumference than fresh tires, so you have been running different sizes for a while now. Think about the tread depth difference and multiply it times 2 for a diameter difference. Even if you have 4 matching tires, the fronts are turning different than each other and the rears, as you've seen from many u-turns.

I too have Revo's and had a blowout, forcing me to replace 2 tires at once. The problem was that they changed the design to the Revo 2's and upped the load rating to E (for a 285 tire). So I put the new pair on the back, put the good rear one underneath and left the old ones on the front. My rears still look like new 2 years and 35-40k miles later and the fronts are ready to be replaced.

I will rotate the rears to the front when I replace the fronts only. Too expensive to replace all 4 at once. Now at about 170,000 miles I will also buy a cheaper tire.

Overall, I have had no transmission or transfer problems. Full time all wheel drive is designed to work with all four wheels rotating differently. It is the most forgiving system. Typical SUV's that are not true all wheel or 4 wheel drive are different.

 

[Sandroad]

In addition to the half inch difference in diameter between the 275s and 265s, there are other considerations. Having all 4 tire match in tread, construction, load rating, width, etc. is important for handling and especially for emergency steering and braking. Unless the vehicle is only for off-road use or you simply can't afford it, I echo the recommendation to buy 4 new ones and throw anything with tread remaining on Craigslist.

 

[Anthony.L]

The Land Cruiser is not a 78 3/4 ton pickup, spend the money and put all four new tires on it. For the family daily driver, I highly suggest the Michelin LTX MS2.

 

[r2m]

The Land Cruiser is not a 78 3/4 ton pickup, spend the money and put all four new tires on it. For the family daily driver, I highly suggest the Michelin LTX MS2.

In the end, I agree. Not necessarily on the tires, but just bust out the cabbage and get 4 new tires and call it done.

And after you get the new tires, adjust the steering stop nut so far out that your wife can only go straight or make right turns.