Front Tires, Smaller Than Rear Tires. 88 K5
 

My wife was driving to work and having issues with the Blazer. It was pulling hard to the right and sliding around on the ice. Did I mess up by not having the same size tires? I have been trying to get back to the stock size (31's) and have two of them on the rear. On the front I have 235-75-15's. My guess is the past owner wanted cheaper tires.

My thought is that the caliper is going bad on the Pass Sd front since it was pulling to the right. But its not like I can go out and take a look now. The ground is full of snow and I have no garage.

We also put on the manual hubs and I did the install myself with help from write ups. I have been noticing a little more wobble when turning the wheel in parking lots. Wonder if the inner bolt is backing out and could be causing issues.

Using 4 wheel drive with different sized tires is an absolute NO NO.


Are you using 4wd when this is happening or 2wd?

The streets had snow and ice on them so she was in 4H. Wonder what it hurt. I took it up the hill this morning and it still works. What do you think could have happened? Nothing seems broke or messed up otherwise.

Having different sized tires on a 4x4 results in the wheels spinning at different speeds and will result in damage to your vehicle; most likely in the transfer case or differentials. You absolutely should not use the 4wd with different sized tires.

Okay, that Fing sucks. I thought if each axle was the same I was okay. Then I got a flat and only had a 31" spare when the other 3 was 235's so I paid $200 for a second 31" tire and could not afford two more. If its not one thing, its another.
Well I guess I can only figure something was hurt. Dang it. This is our only car and it would have never even been put in 4 wheel unless it was needed. 10MPH on the hwy! So upset.

Things may not be hurt yet since it was slippery, but just the fact you had different size tires in 4wd could very well have caused your issues.


Don't use 4wd until you can get the same size tires all around.

You could always check your local Craigslist for a used pair of 31's. The 31x10.5x15 is a very common tire size and I know in my area there's always some for sale for fairly cheap. This could be a fairly inexpensive way to get all 4 tires the same size and regain the use of your 4x4. Really you should be able to pick up a full set of used tires for around $200-$300, and you can often find singles or pairs for between $20-$50 each. If you're really lucky you might even find a set already mounted on wheels that fit and save yourself the cost of getting them mounted.

Thanks for the response. I can only hope at this point. Its been a bad winter. Uncommon amounts of snow and ice. We do not even have salt trucks here, so the roads stay messed up for a while after a storm. To make matters worse in my situation, we lost the trans in our car from slipping around in ice, and trying to make it up hills. That was before the flat on the Blazer, but my wife had lost the keys to it. Then we lost our 33x18 carport due to the weight of snow. Its been frustrating to say the least.

Thanks for the advice. Long story on that one. I had one new spare and bought one to keep the same size on the rear axle. Then Walmart tossed one of the good 235's instead of the flat one (with a 4" gash in the sidewall). So they had to give me a new 31 for tossing my other good tire. That only leaves me with one left to buy. So for the cost of 2 tires, I will end up with 4 and a 235 for a spare. I can handle that for now, I just need to get some good weather so I can work.

Well I'm sorry to hear about the troubles you've had, but at least you had a bit of luck with Walmart "donating" you a tire. I hope it all works out for you in the end.