Had sidewall damage and tire shop only replaced 2 under warranty on 4WD 98. How bad is that at 3/32" under? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Had sidewall damage and tire shop only replaced 2 under warranty on 4WD 98. How bad is that at 3/32" under?

Hey guys, recently I found a cut in the sidewall of one of my tires and didn't think much of it as when I got them (from walmart) I got the road hazard warranty.

I run 31X10.5r15 Goodyear Wrangler Authority A/T's on stock rims (Link to tires on Walmart)

Last week I went in and they told me the tires had worn down from 18/32" to 15/32" and they were only going to replace 1 tire. I pushed back against that because I know that if nothing else you need to replace them in pairs. They ended up not having time to work on it, so I left for the day.

I made an appointment and came back today and was told that 3 of the tires were at 15/32" and the damaged tire was at 14/32".
I told them it was a 4WD truck and that at 3/32" under new size that puts us at about 3/4" under new circumference. The spec on the truck (from what I can gather) is that all tires need to be within 1/4" circumference.

They took the truck in saying they would replace at least 2 tires and measure the circumference and see about another two.

Came back 90 minutes later and they replaced only the 2 rear tires (the damaged one and the one across from it). To there credit they didn't charge anything including install cost. I left it at that for the day.

Given we are in the summer I dont think it will matter too much now, but being in Montana you run 4X4 on paved roads in the winter. Should I just be happy with this, or should I go back and get them to replace the other 2?

It is 3 times out of spec and I don't want to need to replace the transfer case, but if the spec is just tighter than reality and it won't do damage then I don't really want to deal with fixing this.

Also, would this cause ABS issues?
 






If that is a V6 and 4WD, you can get away with that if there is no perceptible engagement of the 4WD. If it may be engaging, you need to stop that until the tires are the same size. If it was an AWD V8, then that would have to be corrected immediately. The AWD runs constantly, whereas the 4WD is an automatic system which detects tire speed difference, and engages the 4WD.

With it being 4WD, if the TC is not operating(whether you can tell or not), then the best tires could be put in the rear to wear them down faster than the front tires. If the 4WD may be engaging, then the power wire(brown) should be disconnected until the tires are the same size.

The original 4WD system was the best, with a 2WD selection you could more easily control what was happening.
 






Back
Top