Why not to run a staggard tire setup on rt4wd

klumklum Senior Wagonist
in Suspension, Braking & Wheels
i recently put a 205/50 and 195/50 setup on my RT and it feels good minus the constant vibrations im iencountering anyone tell me why this is happening/

Comments

  • The_HeadThe_Head familEE
    I think the tires have to be the same height or you will destroy the Viscous Coupler. All tires have to be spinning at the same rate.

    I could be wrong though.
  • The_HeadThe_Head familEE
    So I guess for an RT4WD it's ok to run the donut tire if you are running the stock tire size? Is the spare tire worthless if you are NOT running the stock tire height?
  • klumklum Senior Wagonist
    thats what i been getting as far as feed back / research goes. any idea how long it would take / any permanent damage from riding on it for acouple days?
  • The_HeadThe_Head familEE
    Well, it says here

    http://stecouplers.com/recharge/modules/cjaycontent/index.php?id=9
    You must measure all 4 tires circumference regularly
    If your tires have more than a 3/16" difference
    you risk damaging your Viscous Coupler.

    HTH
  • bikewrenchbikewrench Wagonist
    I didn't think about this, I'm not running stock size tires and definately don't want to damage the vc. I guess the thing to do is carry a 10mm and extension with the spare and put it in 2wd if I get a flat.
  • kylerwhokylerwho Wagonist
    you wont damage the vc if you get a flat and put the spare on. the spare tire is only suppose to help you limp to the nearest tire shop. that short distance would not have any long term effects on the drivetrain.
  • MrWhoopeeMrWhoopee Wagonist
    Damn that's close! 3/16 difference in circumference is less than 1/16 on the diameter! There's your preload for the VC right there.
  • ragenasianragenasian Moderator
    I will be running staggered on my RT. There are online calculators for tires to tell you the difference in the tires. Luckily I have an extra viscous just in case.
  • MrWhoopeeMrWhoopee Wagonist
    ragenasian wrote:
    I will be running staggered on my RT. There are online calculators for tires to tell you the difference in the tires. Luckily I have an extra viscous just in case.

    I'd disengage the rear. When I had different size tires front and rear, there was weird behavior (noises) from the driveline within a couple of miles at highway speed. Just like oil in the ground, there are only so many of those VCs in the world, they're not making anymore.

    jomo
  • NZ-DB8RNZ-DB8R Moderator
    MrWhoopee wrote:
    ragenasian wrote:
    I will be running staggered on my RT. There are online calculators for tires to tell you the difference in the tires. Luckily I have an extra viscous just in case.

    I'd disengage the rear. When I had different size tires front and rear, there was weird behavior (noises) from the driveline within a couple of miles at highway speed. Just like oil in the ground, there are only so many of those VCs in the world, they're not making anymore.

    jomo

    Yes, but what ragen is saying is that he will run staggered width wheels, which means he will have to work out the same diameter tyre with a different width. I.e a 195/50 front and 215/45 rear would be a similer diameter since the profile is a percentage of the width (45% of 215mm is the height of a 215/45 tyre)

    So even with staggered widths the overall diameter stays the same
  • ragenasianragenasian Moderator
    MrWhoopee wrote:
    ragenasian wrote:
    I will be running staggered on my RT. There are online calculators for tires to tell you the difference in the tires. Luckily I have an extra viscous just in case.

    I'd disengage the rear. When I had different size tires front and rear, there was weird behavior (noises) from the driveline within a couple of miles at highway speed. Just like oil in the ground, there are only so many of those VCs in the world, they're not making anymore.

    jomo

    I always enjoy how some of you think a lot of just joined this site yesterday.

    As I STATED before, there are online calculators that will give you the difference in circumference in either a measurement or a percentage. Plus if I have any issues after I get this thing running I am pretty sure I will just buy another set of wheels to fix the issue. I won't be disengaging the rear, I am pretty confident in the calculations I did.
  • klumklum Senior Wagonist
    ^ thats what i like to hear lol see i was thinking that same thing but my gut said the sidewalls had to be the same but my brain was saying just compensate for the difference by widening/thinning on a staggered setup. that might only work on a staggerd wheel setup as opose to the staggered tire on non staggd wheel setup if that makes sense.
  • The_HeadThe_Head familEE
    NZ-DB8R wrote:
    So even with staggered widths the overall diameter stays the same

    I also overlooked circumference versus diameter. But it seems to me a taller tire will also have greater circumference. I'm no math major though. The online calculator I used said the 195/50 tire would have 3.2 more inches of circumference versus the 215/40 tire. It does not account for the width of the rim that the tire is mounted on however.
  • ragenasianragenasian Moderator
    The width of the tire will account for how wide the rim is. On my staggered setup (16x9 and 16x10) I have a 3/4 of an inch size difference.

    There are plenty of German guys over here who are running what appears to be staggered setups but they are just different offset wheels. So if I have any problems with my tire sizes I will be buying another pair of 16x9's with a lower offset to fill the rear wheel wells.
  • JakerJaker familEE
    Wheel width is not a contributing factor to overall diameter. If the tires are the same size, or of a size with the same circumference, that should be your only concern. The changes in diameter from stretching the tire on a wider wheel are so miniscule that they can be considered insignificant.
  • The_HeadThe_Head familEE
    Er, If you put a 195/50 R15 tire on a 15X5.5 rim and compare it to the same tire mounted on a 15X7 rim... wouldnt there be a difference in overall circumference?
  • woodiwoodi Wagonist
    Since tires have steel and or nylon and or whatever else belts in them that hold their shape that is what is going to define the size of the tire. If you put them on a 5.5 vs 7 rim you are going to change what the sidewall looks like and probably alter the shape of the contact patch a bit but overall diameter of the tire is going to remain the same based on whatever size it was molded at and the belts are holding. A 5.5 would probably have a bit rounder profile across the tread due to the edges being "pulled in" where as the 7 would probably be a bit flatter profile.

    My $0.02 hopefully it makes sense.
  • absolutetintingabsolutetinting Wagonist
    put on the stock one and see if it goes away.
    i had 15x7 15 offset and 15x8 9 offset on some works 03. i had the same size tire all around 205/50-15.
    rule of thumb.
    always run the same size tire on all wheel drive vehicles.
    front or rear wheel drives you can get away with it, as long as the 2 fronts or the 2 rears are the same.

    good luck,
    i hope it don't didn't cost you.
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