Bad idea -- If you look at makers of other 4x4 cars (Audi, Subaru, etc) they'll mandate changing both tires if there's more than 2/32 - 3/32 of tread depth difference. Your 255/60's are roughly a whole inch off in diameter. Might be get away with it on dirt or snow but you're probably putting an unhealthy amount of stress on drivetrain parts if you do that on the pavement.
18" vs 19" for All Terrain Tires
- Thread starter dtopkin
- Start date
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I know VW and Audi use central clutch packs rather than a center diff, effectively locking the front and rear axles together, and only doing that when they detect slippage. If you run the system out of tolerance for the engagement, it will create a lot of binding by over-engaging the system. I suspect Subaru is similar, but don't know for sure - our 90's Subaru did not have a center diff either.
With the LR4, where you do have a center diff, my only concern would be if it was a locking diff and thus wanted to lock up due to the axles rotating at different speeds. If it's an open diff then I wouldn't have any concerns. You could mitigate things by letting some air out of your taller tires to try to compensate.
All that said, tires have a limited lifetime even if you aren't driving on them, due to the rubber aging and losing compliance. If you anticipate sticking with the 255/60 tires, why not commit and swap the spare too, especially if the existing spare is old.
With the LR4, where you do have a center diff, my only concern would be if it was a locking diff and thus wanted to lock up due to the axles rotating at different speeds. If it's an open diff then I wouldn't have any concerns. You could mitigate things by letting some air out of your taller tires to try to compensate.
All that said, tires have a limited lifetime even if you aren't driving on them, due to the rubber aging and losing compliance. If you anticipate sticking with the 255/60 tires, why not commit and swap the spare too, especially if the existing spare is old.
cjm41
Well-Known Member
19s have very few tire options. I have a set of 19s in my garage I never mounted because the tire selection was atrocious.
Went with 18s and 275/65/18s all the way around. Been very happy- but these AT tires knock an easy 2MPG off the fuel economy.
I’m very happy with the way it looks and drives, and it’s a very competent setup offroad (I can air down to about 20psi and crawl over sharp rocks no problem).
If this were a daily driver the gas mileage might bug me a bit.
Went with 18s and 275/65/18s all the way around. Been very happy- but these AT tires knock an easy 2MPG off the fuel economy.
I’m very happy with the way it looks and drives, and it’s a very competent setup offroad (I can air down to about 20psi and crawl over sharp rocks no problem).
If this were a daily driver the gas mileage might bug me a bit.
