??? I am surprised by the noise, as they are usually one of the quietest MT’s out there…. Wear is spot on, pretty sure my best set were 20k miles with still having off road tread left. Give the XT’s a shot in the future!
This doesn't make any sense. Front tires can have a differential speed in an open differential setup, which is what gladiators have unless it is a Rubicon with the front differential actively locked (which have a very limited application). That's literally how the vehicle turns sharply without binding. The front driveshaft and half-shafts spinning or not wont change that. Putting a different sized spare on and putting it in any 4WD mode, or putting the different size on the rear if an LSD are present, are what will cause damage.
This is not correct. Running a different size spare is fine to limp off the trail at low speed, but at higher speeds you are going to have much more differential speeds between sides of the axle than you normally would. That means heat, lots of it, which breaks down gear oil and causes excessive wear to the diff. Cruising down the highway means big, wide turns with almost no differential between the sides of the diff, the only teeth moving are the pinion and ring gear. Now add two different size tires - not only do you have the pinion and ring gear moving, but all the spider gears too. That's a lot more interlocking teeth, a lot more heat, and a lot of parts that are not made to sustain prolonged high speed use. That means more heat, which breaks down lubrication, which means more wear on your very expensive diff. Is it worth risking $1,200+ in parts alone (assuming you know how to rebuild a diff at home) to save $350 on a tire?
