Would different sized tires affect a transfer case?
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New User
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Would different sized tires affect a transfer case?
If two of my front tires were different sizes, would that affect my transfer case? My truck is a 2006 F150 with 4 wheel drive. What other damage could it cause?
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jan 2007
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Generally you have to be careful to have equal diameter tires on all four wheels with any kind of 4WD or AWD. It wouldn't hurt anything as long as you don't use 4WD, or if you are careful to only use it on slick/loose surfaces where the wheels can spin a little to shed the torque build-up from the unequal tires. Otherwise you can quickly destroy a transfer case.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,293
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I thought maybe I should explain further. With different diameter tires on one axle, you have 'stagger' like a race car uses to help it corner. When turning a corner or just going around a curve, the front and rear axles make differing amounts of revolutions. You can imagine what happens when you do this with 4WD locked in - something has to give. On slippery/loose surfaces, the tires are free to slip and relieve the torque build-up. But on dry surfaces, it would continue to build up until something breaks.
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