Ok, My front tires are in great shape, just skippy. But my rear duallies are in terrible shape, the insides are very low tread and the outsides are literally bald now....I know, I know...but the big problem is that I can't afford some new tires (especially not 4) and NO-ONE EVER has used 235/85/16s around northern fl. Seriously we have checked...

We need to go to Chicago and I don;t want to do it on bald tires obviously, towing a 5th wheel. So, I found a guy that has a nice set of 245/75/16s...4 of them...Load Range E...But my fronts would still be 235/85/16...So, what should I do?

Can I run different size on the back than the front? Is that my best bet?

James

 

If it is a 2 wheel drive no problem, if its a 4x4 I wouldnt do it.

 

That isn't a problem if you don't have 4x4.

If you do have 4x4, don't use it til you get all the same size.

I don't think your truck has a speed sensor on the front and rear either.

 

Absolutely OK. You're only looking at a fraction of an inch difference in height anyway.

 

Maybe this site could help you out also...

http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp

 

There's a 3/4" diameter difference between the two sizes.

If you're not running the truck in 4x4, and you have tire clearance to the fenders, then nothing will happen. It's when you have two different size tires on a vehicle, and some mechanism is trying to get both wheels to spin at the same speed during motion.... such as a transfer case or a limited slip differential. As long as one size is in the back, and one size is in the front, and you don't have the transfer case engaged, you're good to go.



Besides, wouldn't you have the front hubs unlocked this time of year, due to lack of the need for 4wd ? How much snow is there in FL this time of year anyway ?

 

If you have 4 wheel ABS, it isn't going to like it. That difference in circumference will probably be enough to turn the light on.

 

I guess there must be a difference between 93 & 94 drive systems, as you guys are discussing sensors and how the truck will have an issue. Is 94 an electronic front axle, such as with ADD ?

I converted my 94 toyota to manual hubs, and I've had no issues with the ADD, as the axles don't rotate unless I engage them either in the cab, or @ the hubs.

 

Never experienced it but it seems to me if the truck has 4 wheel ABS that different tire sizes might mess with it.

 

As already mentioned it's no problem as long as it's a 2 wheel drive truck. If it's a 4X4 don't do it, don't even think about doing it. You will forget then one time engage 4X4 and it's not pretty. I used to use some fancy wheels for summer use on a 4X4, I had larger tires on the rear and "I'll never put it into 4X4 in the summer". I forget why I selected 4X4 on that nice sunny day but I did, I was going less than 30 mph luckily. The vehicle started to buck and hop violently from one wheel to another and was totally out of control. Luckily there was nothing coming the other way and I managed to get it stopped without incident. There is a reason tire shops will only replace all 4 tires on a 4WD vehicle nowadays. You might also find those 245's too wide for your rims.

 

Where in North FL are you? I'm in North central (Ocala) and several places around here carry several brands in 235/85-16.

I just put 2 on the front of my '95...Took them 15 minutes and I was done.

 

It will be fine. You aren't supposed to be running it in 4wd when there's enough grip to cause problems anyways, because the same thing happens when you turn, front and rear turn at different speeds.

I don't think 10mm width difference will affect clearance on the rim or between tires either. Have fun!

 

It isn't whether it's 2WD or 4WD that makes the difference here. Starting in 1994, four wheel antilock brakes was an option on these trucks, whether it was a 4WD or not. If it has four wheel antilock, it will have separate speed sensors monitoring the speed of each wheel.

If the ABS controller sees two wheels constantly registering a different speed than the other two, (as two different sized tires will cause,) it will do one of two things: 1) it will assume there is an error in the system, disable ABS, lodge a fault and turn on the light; or, 2) during a braking event it will decide the two slower wheels are going into a skid and engage the antilock, reducing braking to the two slower wheels.