So I am just curious if anyone has experienced anything like this. Last summer my Jeep Wrangler got hit while parked on a busy road.. the kid who hit it ended up breaking my whole back axel. They replaced the axel and housing and replaced ONE tire (the one that got hit) Now all winter I had a heck of a time with my 4x4.. it was difficult at times to shift into 4x4 and especially difficult to shift out. I took my Wrangler down to the Dodge dealership here and they told me that sometimes when your shifting on the fly and your tires are slipping it would be difficult to shift. So I left it that. Now about a month ago I took my Jeep in for 4x4 servicing to a different garage and told them the same thing.. what it was doing still to this day (difficult to shift) they went up into the transfer case with a camera and said there was nothing wrong. They did mention that my transfer case oil was really black (hence why I was there to get it serviced)

They then tell me that the reason why my 4x4 is shifting hard or not at all at times, is because of I have a 1nch tread difference between 1 tire and the other 3. When that kid hit my jeep n they replaced that tire.. there was 55,000k on those tires so basically over 1/2 worn on the tread. So I phoned up insurance and explained this to them as the garage told me that because its a 4x4 all 4 tires should have been changed on the jeep as it does alot of wear n tear on the driveshaft hence why my transfercase oil was so black.

Insurance is basically coming to me and saying no.. we only replace 1. How is this possible when you get into an accident are they not suppose to fix your vehicle back to standard? Having a 1inch tread difference in tires is not standard correct? Can someone share some light on this and maybe give me something to work with from a mechanical stand point.. I am taking this to someone higher with MPI cuz this is BS!

 

Had something like this happen to me a few years back..... Some low life slashed my tire. I had to go for the cost myself. Then it was a hog in snow.... asked around why? and found out because of the different tread and thickness........ Sucked but such is life.

 

I'm not a mechanic but I do work at a dodge dealership and as far as I know that is correct. With that much tread difference it can be very bad. I saw a guy that came in with like 3 or 4/32 difference on a ram and it ripped the t/case in half. Not the same for everyone but it can do damage.

 

different tread wear can def kill your drivetrain. thats why you should always replace tires 4
at a time on any 4x4 vehicle. unfortunately just like tire warranty the tread wear is on you
so you will likely not be able to get anymore out of them but you shoulda def got 3 more
tires when u replaced that one. it doesnt take much wear to make a difference either thats
why you should rotate your tires regularly too. its a crappy deal but i dont think you'll get any
more from the insurance company but good luck let us know how it pans out

 

This question come to my mind, when rotating tires, what about the spare one you got in the back, should we put this one in our rotation pattern? because if I drive only on 4 and then need to replace one with the spare, I will definitely have a difference in the tread wear!!

 

I just did my second 5 tire rotation. Dealership was happy to do it. I asked if that was normal fair. I was told no, most people like the shiney new tire on back. Translation: use the tire on the back, you paid for it. And if you suddenly need it you're obviously going to have an uneven set of tires when you install it. Given the price of these tires my recommendation is put it into your rotation. others will have their arguments against but when comparing cost and price I'd say 5 tire rotation. My 2cents.

 

When dealing with transfer cases it's important to rotate your tires to help keep them close to the same size. If your spare is the same size as the other four it should be put into rotation to so you dont have a problem with it.
Bought a ford years ago that had slightly smaller tires on the front and it would kick the T/C out after about 100 yards. Once it had 4 of the same tires wasn't a problem.