Matching Tires ?

[steph74]

Warning, this might be a dumb question....

What is the rule about matching tires...
I am assuming that they have to be the same size to start with right ?

But is there any benefit / disadvantage in using sets of tires with different thread pattern or from different brands.

The only one I can think of, is the slight differences in size between brands, but that has to be marginal...


What are your thoughts about that ?

[Mudderoy]

Warning, this might be a dumb question....

What is the rule about matching tires...
I am assuming that they have to be the same size to start with right ?

But is there any benefit / disadvantage in using sets of tires with different thread pattern or from different brands.

The only one I can think of, is the slight differences in size between brands, but that has to be marginal...


What are your thoughts about that ?

Just thinking about it, not like I know, or have any facts...

2WD the tires need to be the same height on the axle.
4WD Full time the tires need to be the same height on the axle.
4WD Part time ALL 4 tires need to be the same height.

Tread patterns, well if they are different this could mean different traction on the road. Might cause some unusual behavior in the rain. For off road there might be some advantages.

[XJ Rat]

Do not mix radials with bias ply tires on the same axle.

[MaxxTraxx]

full time 4wd/AWD needs to have same height tires at each corner and all tires at the correct/same air psi or it can cause handling/system issues.

If you are locked or have a posi, you cant have more than 2/32nd of an inch difference between overall tire height or it can cause sever damage to the locker/posi unit.

Try to keep matching tires all around for the best performance and handling...at the least tires have to match per axle side.

ex, don't run a swamper on a left front and a BFG A/T on the right front...

[hookedonxjs]

Steph if you go to a tire store web page and start looking at the same size tires of different manufactures you will see that not all 31x10.5x15's or any size for that matter are not all the same hight. It's too bad your not down here there is a huge tire place called used tire king and you could find some to match up to. 25 a pop mounted.

[prerunner1982]

As far as mismatched tires front to bad you will see this occasionally where a truck has Super Swamper Boggers in the bag and Super Swamper TSLs on the front. Does it help? I don't know I prefer to have all the same tires.

[xjpirate]

Steph if you go to a tire store web page and start looking at the same size tires of different manufactures you will see that not all 31x10.5x15's or any size for that matter are not all the same hight. It's too bad your not down here there is a huge tire place called used tire king and you could find some to match up to. 25 a pop mounted.

where the heck is this place and why do i not know about it?
:bang:

[ParadiseXJ]

I passed on a set of tires on CL because they (all 4) were different tread, wear AND diameters and they all said 31x10.5.

Like MaxxTraxx sez, four matching tires is the way to go...and a matching spare, preferably rotated out with the rest of the set.

[steph74]

well yeah of course the matching set of 5 rotated is definitely the best situation....

But I have learned to not be always in the best situation with my jeep lately, so I was just curious

[LizardRunner]

on our baja racers we always had the same tires on all four corners. If your jeepspeeding (paved tracks) you could have different fronts and rears but it would be dependent on the setup you were running. I run same on all four corners.

[4.3LXJ]

Well, I am going to be devils advocate here, based on experience. If you are wheeling on hard surface or long areas of good traction, then yes equal circumference is what you want. However, if in loose traction you can benefit from slightly greater circumference in the front. I learned this the hard way at a place called Sand Lake in OR. I had a CJ5 and had purchased some Goodyear Terra Tires (31.5X15.5) for the rear and had some very similar caps for the front, but they were shorter. No matter how much air I let out, I just couldn't get around at all, and could not climb up anything bigger than a mole hill. Everybody else was having a great time without me. Then I acquired some larger tires for the front. What a difference. I could climb anything. So I learned a valuable lesson. The front needs to pull, not plow. When driving on snow or ice, even with equal circumference tires. I air down the rear a little more than the front. Makes the tires stick like super glue. So if I am in a situation where I have two different circumferences, the larger one goes on the front if I am not dealing with a full time tcase.

[uberxj92]

i run very aggressive mudders on the rear & bfg at's front. all are 33's no handling issues & she pulls hard where we play. but in florida there is black mud, clay, sugar sand

[cherokeewrecker]

Well heres my 2 cents from working at a tire shop...

if its 4WD you need to keep the same size front and back, each side of the axle. Matching tread patterns in the front are better for handling obviously, if the tread is different in the front it can cause pulling, and other handling issues. The rear can be mixed treads because alll they do is track behind the fronts, the only thing is its better for them to be right around the same tread depth. IF you mix different sizes on a 4 wheel drive your asking for problems: blown transfercase, rear end, front end, etc. I've seen it first hand and its not good...

If its all wheel drive, you need the exact same tires, same size with the same amount of wear or it could blow your axles, transfercase, etc.

....2WD.... you can play with different sizes but its better to keep them in pairs....and as long as you dont go below factory recommended sizes.

If anyones got any other tire related problems, questions feel free to message me!:patriot: