I have been told that having tires made by two different manufacturers, Big O in the front and Les Schwab in the back, both sized for my car and similar in features, will create problems with my transmission. My car is a 2001 Jeep Cherokee Limited. Really!?
There might be a problem if they’re different sizes and thus different diameters sure.
I’ve never heard of either of these tire brands to be honest-where did you get these?
There are two kinds of problems.
First of the handling characteristics of the two types are different that likely will create handling problems under emergency conditions. You likely would not notice them until it was too late.
If the outside diameter is even a little different it can damage your drive system on some 4 wheel drives. I don’t know if that is true for your Jeep, someone else will have to answer that one, or you can look in your owner’s manual and see what it says.
It will possibly damage your AWD (transmission) if your vehicle is full time AWD. A slight difference in diameter will cause your AWD(transmission) to slip constantly which generates wear and heat. Doing this continuously will wear it out prematurely.
Years ago I replaced two tires on my wife’s 86 Dodge Colt. The new tires were the same size as the OEMs but from a different maker. The car would start shaking violently over 40 mph. Even though the two pairs of tires were marked the same size, there was a significant difference in tire diameter between the new and OEM tires not accounted for by tread wear. I replaced those tires with 4 new ones and the car was fine.
After that, I either replace all four tires at one time or buy the same make/model replacement tire. If your Cherokee has part time 4wd, the tires may be ok. However if the Cherokee has Full-Time AWD, then it should have 4 matched tires.
Ed B.
“A slight difference in diameter will cause your AWD(transmission) to slip constantly which generates wear and heat. Doing this continuously will wear it out prematurely.”
Actually, it is the center differential, not the transmission that would slip and wear out prematurely. But, either way, on a full-time AWD system, mis-matched tires lead to expensive repairs.
Thanks to all of you.