Tires: Replace one you must replace all?

[jptruck]

I somehow managed to lodge two, three-inch long spikes in my right front tire, and in the process of getting it fixed I was told something suprising. Apparently, if you blow one tire on the LR3 (after medium use) you have to replace all four tires. Something about the tires being different in size and this would cause serious damage to the transfer case.

Lucky me, they were able to fix the puncture wounds, but is the above correct? The guy that fixed my tire is actually a pretty good friend, and I don't think he would try to screw me, but is he misinformed?

 

[Airboss]

That's what I've been told in the past. It made sense to me then so I never questioned it again. Bummer though.

 

[jptruck]

That's a problem when new Michelins cost $275 per.

 

[jimbiram]

That seems like a crock of s**t. You probably should replace the same axle, but all 4 is overkill. The awd aspect has enough compensation to handle the minor size differential.

However, if you have the GY-hp's, then I would go ahead and change all four to Synchrones, if you have 19's. Anything but those GY's. They are pretty durable offroad, but on road, they are terrible.

 

[toddjb122]

Nah, that's BS. I'm sure in the ideal sense, yeah, all 4 at one time would be great.

With medium wear on my tires I had my dealer replace two tires only. (one new, one was my spare) this was related to the allignment issue that has been discussed in other posts.

Anyway, I've had no issues or warnings because of it, nor did my dealer warn me about any performance hits for doing this. It was their idea.

 

[FloridaLr3]

I read that was one of the major problems with 4 wheel drive vehicles is that one tire goes, you need all 4. I'm begining to think this statement is outdated.

But I did come accross in that same article that there are places that will trim your tires so that all 4 will match. Has anyone ever done that.

LRNA just replace two tires, one under warranty and the other because of a punture. No mention from the dealear of replacing all 4. Asked about trimming the tires they said not necessary.