Tires

[FMGX470]

I have an unrepairable flat on my 2004 GX470. I bought a new tire and was going to use it with the spare which has not been used. The spare matches the new tire, same brand, size etc. The tire shop says they will not put the two tires on because they are new and dont match the wear left on the remaining two tires. They say this will wear out the center differential. The 2 older tires have 50% wear left. They say I have to buy 3 tires and use the spare as all 4 tires have to have the same wear. Can anyone verify this? <_<

[denslexusgx470]

I have an unrepairable flat on my 2004 GX470. I bought a new tire and was going to use it with the spare which has not been used. The spare matches the new tire, same brand, size etc. The tire shop says they will not put the two tires on because they are new and dont match the wear left on the remaining two tires. They say this will wear out the center differential. The 2 older tires have 50% wear left. They say I have to buy 3 tires and use the spare as all 4 tires have to have the same wear. Can anyone verify this? <_<

I'm not familiar if tire wear will affect the center differential, but all I know is that if you have different tire wear in different tires, it's hard to keep track of the tire wear and the replacement will all happen at different times. I think balancing shouldn't be too affected, unless the old tires have a significant amount of tire wear compared to the new tires. I'm not sure, but that's my $0.02

[SW03ES]

You can replace two tires as long as they're both on the same axle providing you move the new tires to the rear.

Now, that said I wouldn't do that unless the original tires were within 75% or more tread remaining. If I were you, I'd replace all 4.

[mkeeney]

I have an unrepairable flat on my 2004 GX470. I bought a new tire and was going to use it with the spare which has not been used. The spare matches the new tire, same brand, size etc. The tire shop says they will not put the two tires on because they are new and dont match the wear left on the remaining two tires. They say this will wear out the center differential. The 2 older tires have 50% wear left. They say I have to buy 3 tires and use the spare as all 4 tires have to have the same wear. Can anyone verify this? <_<

Unless you are able to drive in a perfectly straight line on a perfectly flat road, your center differential is constantly adjusting between the front and rear axles. That's the whole purpose of a center diff., and the size difference between worn tires and new tires is not enough to affect it. They are trying to sell you additional tires. I'd try another shop. Use the spare and the new tire on the vehicle and use the decent tire left over for the spare.