I haven't rotated my rear tires to my front for sometime. They are around 1/2 in shorter/lower than my front tires. I'm using a 33in tall tire (285R16 75), my local tire shop is telling me that this is hard on my transfer case when I'm in 4X4 mode. Probably true but I'm its been done before. Even tells me to go burn-off the now taller rear tires until they are the same size. I want to just drive the truck in 2wd until they are the same size again, I'm a cheapo. What do you guys think?

 

I can't imagine that little difference is going to hurt anything unless you're running 4wd on hard pavement. If you're in the loose stuf you should be fine. Sounds like someone wants to sell some tires.

 

Yes, as long as you're not running on dry or wet pavement for extended periods, your good...

 

Just as the others have said, you should be alright as long as you are on a slippery surface. If you are running on anything hard that allows fairly good traction, you could be hurting your T-Case. 4X4 trucks with T-Cases need to have some slipping. I am assuming you are only going to be driving for a short while in 4X4?

 

I NEVER rotate mine, I just keep buying 2 new for the front and move the front to the rear when the rear are worn out. Never had any problems. HOWEVER on another 4X4 I used to use summer tires and winter tires, the summer were bigger and wider on the rear than the front. I hadn't used it in awhile and wanted to lube things up so I selected 4WD, I was slowing down so only 20-25 MPH, Huge mistake I almost lost control as the truck hopped and jumped from wheel to wheel. I replaced the tires immediately and now run a same size fancy tire on my summer rims all year round.

 

I think it only hurts if you have 2 different sizes on the same axle.

 

Not True,

The T-Case is trying to run the rear axle and the front axle at the same RPM (in regards to speed). So lets say you are running 31 inch tires on the front and 30's on the rear. The rear axle will be trying to spin at 50mph while the front (due to the larger tires) is trying to rotate at like 55mph. In 4 wheel drive, this is very bad for tires and especially the T-case.

Transfer cases can not differentiate like differentials!!

 

To achieve equal traction, both the front and the rears should be as close to the same circumference as possible, a slippery surface will just make one of the axles break traction. If they both get good traction, I.E. hard surface, than problems are soon to come..

 

In 2WD mode it is not critical. Should not drive in 4WD mode on good tractions surfaces for any distance. Sometimes have to back up to get unlocked. Service manual mentions something about up to one inch total varation or rolling diameter. That is hard to achieve on some agressive tread tires.

 

For one weekend I ran 245's in the rear and 265's in the front while in 4wd. It was in pretty deep snow though. I measured the difference in diameter and it was 0.5 - 1" (265's were old and 245's new). I wish I didn't do it but I had no choice at the time. Transfer case seems to be fine still. I hope at least.