So the shop that is repairing my 02 wrx is saying they need to replace at least one tire. But by only replacing one tire, this would cause damage to the diff. gears because of one tire being larger in diameter than the rest. Take into consideration that the tires on there currently are over 3/4 worn - these will be replaced regardless. is this a true statement?
Yes...if there is a large enough difference in tires it can screw up the gearing with the AWD. If the tires are already worn down that far I would say get a new set and be worry free
Because Subaru's AWD system has quite strict tolerances to tire diameters, Subaru recommends that you don't run tires that are more than 3/16" difference from each other. It causes heat in the tranny, transfer case, and diff that can cause premature wear. So when you mount the spare tire on, get that flat fixed.
read it again justin they're telling him one tire needs it, but because of that, he needs to replace all 4
you could shave the tires. taking off the extra tread to make it the same size as the others, but IMO thats a waste of good tire.
We've done tire shaves at the dealership before, but I usually caution against them. Why spend the money for a tire plus the 40 in shaving so you can have a tire that's only going to last as long as the rest of the worn tires when you can spend a little bit more and get 4 good tires.
