Damaged Tire, Replace 1,2,4?

[mccurdy21]

So I have a tire with sidewall damage that cannot be repaired. They are Terra Grappler G2s with about 24k miles on them. So, coming from an AWD BMW it was always frowned upon to replace one... ie: tire diameter mismatch will cause driveline issues etc...

What are your thoughts here? We are heading on a road trip soon and need to make a decision. Replace 1? 2? or all 4 and keep 3 as spares or sell them....

Is it bad for the LR4 drivetrain to have 1 slightly larger tire?

Also, we are running 265/50/20 Can I run anything with a little more sidewall without rubbing?

Thanks for any input.

 

[ktm525]

What is the current tread depth of the remaining 3 and what is the tread depth new?

 

[PaulLR3]

You could have one tire shaved down to match the depth of the other 3. I've always thought that was a stupid idea.

You should either replace 2 tires (put new ones up front) or all 4.
With a road trip coming up, I would just replace all 4. You got 24K miles out of the set and would typically need 4 new tires around 30K miles anyway.

 

[jpjp]

Install the new tires on the rear if you get 2.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52


I have the same tires, do you notice a little bit of steering wheel vibration at speeds of 75+?

Just did a tire rotation and alignment before a 1500mile road trip and there is still a little jiggle. I have recently replaced the lower control arms which erased a more violent shake upon braking at high speeds.

 

[johnnwalters]

I would differ on putting two new tires on the rear. Put them on the front where the steering of the vehicle takes place, especially when travelling on wet roadways. Why risk your safety? Ideally if you can afford it, replace all four and absolutely have a full alignment performed.

 

[umbertob]

The front axle is more sensitive to slight differences in overall circumference between the two wheels (speed sensors may detect the rolling difference and translate it as "cornering" to the transmission, which may prevent upshifts past 2nd or 3rd gear as a result.) If one tire is only slightly more - or less - worn than the other 3, put it in the back and you should be alright. The key word is slightly. With 24K miles on them, those Terra G2s should not show much wear at all - I drove a brand new 285/60/18 spare on the rear along with with 3 Terra G2s of the same size with 50K miles on them without issues for several weeks before replacing all 4 tires - but measuring the current tread depth of the worn tires and doing a little math would be helpful.

 

[mccurdy21]

Great Advice, all, Thank You!

I don't have the truck at the moment as it is in the shop for hail damage repair... ... Which is a different conundrum that happened a month ago... Frickin Colorado hail is terrible this year.

So, yeah, replacing all 4 is definitely an option and actually the wife, whos daily this is, was pretty much like, I don't care if you have to replace all of them, lets just get it done. So, maybe I will just do that.

To answer a couple others...

I have the same tires, do you notice a little bit of steering wheel vibration at speeds of 75+?
Just did a tire rotation and alignment before a 1500mile road trip and there is still a little jiggle. I have recently replaced the lower control arms which erased a more violent shake upon braking at high speeds.

I don't notice any vibration with these tires and actually based off of the performance on the rover, I now have them on my Sierra.

The front axle is more sensitive to slight differences in overall circumference between the two wheels (speed sensors may detect the rolling difference and translate it as "cornering" to the transmission, which may prevent upshifts past 2nd or 3rd gear as a result.) If one tire is only slightly more - or less - worn than the other 3, put it in the back and you should be alright. The key word is slightly. With 24K miles on them, those Terra G2s should not show much wear at all - I drove a brand new 285/60/18 spare on the rear along with with 3 Terra G2s of the same size with 50K miles on them without issues for several weeks before replacing all 4 tires - but measuring the current tread depth of the worn tires and doing a little math would be helpful.

I'll have to measure the tread depth of the existing tires when I get it back... The G2s are supposed to have a 50k+ warranty, so I imagine that they should have quite a bit of remaining life in them.