will this blow up my rear diff?

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[vettefever5]

hey guys... i already posted this over on jeepforum so if you read both sites this is the same issue.... i forgot there's a bunch of guys here who know far more about tires/differentials than i do.

long explanation short - i know with a limited slip you need to run the same size tires on both sides so that the clutches don't wear out.  33 on one side and 31 on the other is bad business.  what if the tires are only ~0.5cm difference in tread depth?

i just noticed that my 2 rear tires are slightly different sizes, and the smaller one (right rear) has a nail in it.  i took it off and put on my spare which is a brand new goodyear mtr but the tread is about about 0.5cm deeper... i essentially switched the tire with the deeper tread from the left side to the right, but the difference in tread depth is roughly the same.

is that small of a difference enough to wear out my lsd clutches or create a ton of heat and potentially break something?  i'm taking the jeep camping in nh this weekend and it's around 160 miles each way so if i'm gonna do some damage i'd rather avoid it.  i was planning on getting new/bigger tires soon anyway but i don't have any time between now and tomorrow afternoon to get them.

here are some pictures for reference...

the ruler i used (about .5cm from the edge to the numbers)


left rear (used to have deepest tread)


right rear (one with nail, shallow tread)


spare

[Ian]

If your worried put the front tires in the back.  But I think you will be fine

[jeepgod]

it will cause no issues! when they say "running different tires sizes cause problems" it is in reference to completely different tires sizes (like your example 31" tires and 33" tires) and even then it would take many many many miles to cause an issue. 


 and if any of those "jeepforum" wangs tell you different they are truly more cluelss than i think! 

[vettefever5]

The two front tires both different amounts of wear too, they both just have less tread than both rears.  Ill check them out and see how big the difference is. I think when I bought the jeep 1.5 years ago the seller just scrounged together 4 tires to put on. I obviously didn't look at them closely enough. 

And Todd - about jeepforum.... I was aiming for a large audience hoping someone would have some useful insight.... Just turned into a discussion about whether the tj rubicon diff is open or LSD when unlocked  hence why I got frustrated/smartened up and came here. Even with the smaller user base here, the knowledge is 10x more than jf.

[jps4jeep]

run it. most tires direct from the manufacturer will have small incriment differences.

[Krome]

just do a burnout until its the same size

[vettefever5]

just do a burnout until its the same size

i like this idea.  i'll either smoke the tires or the clutch, but it'll be a smokeshow.