I'm thinking of putting 2 new mud tires on the back of the rig. The 2 front tires are at about 50% wear. Think this will be a problem? One of the rear tires has cupping and makes a lot of noise, so want to get rid of it, use the non-cupped tire as a spare and get a replacement tire then use my current spare for the back.

 

I certainly wouldn't do it. It would be fine in 2wd but in 4wd your front tires will be trying to spin faster than your back tires making things bind up.

 

one for
one against.

I can see where they'll spin a a different rate, but is it enuf to matter?

 

Off road it won't matter since your tires will slip. I just wonder if the ESP will freak out on road.

 

I would definitely not do it, even a slight diameter reduction can put an enormous strain on you drive train, the larger the tire worse it get. My two cents

 

I can't see as how it would matter, but I would keep the new tires paired either in the rear or the front. When you rotate just go rears to front, should be good to go. Might make a difference with esp or auto locker in rear if you only had one new tire on the rear mixed with an old wore one on the otherside. guarantee it if you had a rear detroit not so sure about esp. but if you kept them together I would be shocked if you noticed a difference. I could be wrong but I would do it without thought.

 

I guess I'll be an A-hole here. The diameter is what you are dealing with.

To the OP, no it will not matter and second you should only use your 4wd on a slippery surface. So, even if there was huge difference......

 

Thanks for everyones input. I kinda believe that it shouldn't make that much difference (at least I hope not) so I'll get a replacement tire for the cupped one.
Thanks for the comments and your time.

 

Circumference is what you're dealing with and that would exaggerate the issue to about a 1" difference per rotation on a 30" tire. So the worn tires will be trying to travel about 50 feet less per mile than the new tires(if my math is right). I'm not commenting on if it's an issue, just pointing it out.