I need a pair of snow tires to go with the two I already have for a Suzuki Sidekick. I found a good pair for cheap on CL, but they are a slightly different size. Stock tire size is 215/65/16, while the pair i found online are 225/60/16.
The difference in overall diameter is 4/10 inch. Question is, can I run the Sidekick in 4wd with different size tires on each axle? Or, will it damage something like the transfer case if different tires are trying to spin it at different speeds?
Let's say these tires are roughly 24" in diameter. 0.4" is then about 1.7%.
At 30 mph, there will be about a 0.5mph difference between the axles. I would think your transfer case (and tires and diffs) would dislike that rather a lot on a continuous basis.
If you never engaged 4wd when you weren't on snow, I don't know how strangely it would behave.
If you only use 4wd when it is snowy, icey or offroad, you probably won't have a problem. Now on pavement, that is a whole different story. On another post, I told about the guy with an old Jeep. He put two ne tires on the rear, he complained of a loss of power when he used 4wd. His front tires were bald. One way to get around the problem is to put the same size tire on each side. The axles differential will take care of the difference.
What about different sizes on front of a FWD car w/o LSD? 185/65/14 vs 195/60/14 (~1/4" diameter or 7% different)
Good question.
I'd tend to think that the diff wouldn't care too much, but I certainly wouldn't want to drive it like that more than to get home: I expect the 7% smaller side will get equivalently more torque at the contact patch, for both accel and braking.
I'm gonna find out!
well, at least you'll have the hundred bucks you saved to pay to replace your transfer case......
new snow tires are pretty cheap.....I don't see any reason to risk messing up your drivetrain just to save a hundred bucks.
Don't do it, or if you have too do the math and have the new tires shaved to an appropriate tread depth that your roll out is identical.... differentials are alot more $ than buying proper tires in the first place...
Main thing, even stock, it is reccomended to NOT drive on dry pavement in 4WD. Unless of course you have a center differential.
petemc53555 wrote: What about different sizes on front of a FWD car w/o LSD? 185/65/14 vs 195/60/14 (~1/4" diameter or 7% different)
It dawns on me... 1/4" is a lot less than 7% of a tire's height. 1/4" is about 7% of 3.5"...
irish44j wrote: well, at least you'll have the hundred bucks you saved to pay to replace your transfer case...... new snow tires are pretty cheap.....I don't see any reason to risk messing up your drivetrain just to save a hundred bucks.
Assuming this is in reply to petemc53555, he's talking front wheel drive; no transfer case.
I still think it sounds like a bad idea from a safety/driveability standpoint. But I don't think it should cause more than a bit more than usual wear on the spider gears...
Jamesc2123 wrote: I need a pair of snow tires to go with the two I already have for a Suzuki Sidekick. I found a good pair for cheap on CL
Why not try to find a good set of four snow on CL and flip the two good ones you have? If all four are the same size (don't necessarily have to be stock size though) all will be good.
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