I bought a used 2005 Grand Cherokee Laredo 4x4 or maybe AWD, with 75k already on the odometer about 1,5 years ago. Noticed new tires on it when we bought it. I just replaced all 4 tires and found out that the original tires were wrong size.
I bought Firestone 235/65/17. The original tires when I bought the car were 225/65/17.
I noticed no issue with the car so far. No diffrential problems. Except when we’re going downhill on the freeway or regular road the car went so fast, we always have to shift down. Always. Also the ride is always stiff. But I figured cause it’s a truck not a sedan.
The car has 150k mileage now, cause it is our main daily vehicle for drop and pick up my daughter and work, groceries, even to the mountain for recreation as well.
It gave me a chill in the back of my neck when found out that it was wrong size tires all along. Noted that the 225 is way cheaper by $40 each than the 235.
No need for a chill in the back of your neck, as long as all 4 tires are the same.
They’re not ‘wrong’ , just different.
Optional tire sizes exist in many manners of size designations.
It’s just that 225s are a slightly smaller diameter .
Now you might notice a slight improvement in MPG, albeit miniscule.
You can’t be so concerned about ‘cheaper’ either. with so many brands a types available in the 235s, you can find ‘cheaper’ in that size too. ( which is probably why the previous owner fudged on size )
It is nice to get the truck back on spec however.
Don’t worry about it. People intentionally put larger and smaller tires on their cars all the time, for lots of reasons.
The part that gives me chills is that you don’t know if this car has4WD or AWD. They should be driven very differently. 4WD is excellent off road but should not be driven at highway speeds with the 4WD engaged. It can spin you like a top if the road gets icy.
It’s a good thing you corrected the tire size situation. Smaller tires have lower load carrying capacities - and using smaller tires increases the risk of a tire faiiure - and that sometimes has tragic results.
So smaller tires (in terms of load carrying capacity) is BAD!!! You had a right to that cold chill.