The weather has been gorgeous here in the Ozarks. It hasn’t been too hot, it hasn’t been too cold, and the leaves are starting to turn a nice shade of unreal. It’s enough to make anyone want to hop in their car and get outside!
Now, let’s say you just finished an amazing weekend of hiking and camping, and you’re heading back into town. A particularly beautiful tree distracts you from noticing the enormous pothole in the middle of the road, and you have a blowout. Luckily you’re fine and nothing is damaged, but your front right tire is completely shredded. You throw on the spare you brought and make it back in to town to try and find a new tire.
If you are driving a Subaru, or any All-Wheel Drive vehicle, you can’t just replace a single blown tire, or even just a pair. When you replace a tire on an AWD vehicle, you have to replace all four at the same time.
The differential in AWD vehicles works with an onboard computer to send the appropriate amount of torque to each of the four wheels as needed. This ensures that the vehicle has maximum control and minimum slippage. For this system to work, all four tires have to be as alike as possible. It won’t work if you have three older tires and one brand new one. Even if the tire is the exact same model, the three older ones will be smaller than the new one due to wear and tear.
If the four tires aren’t the same in an AWD vehicle, the computer will take an incorrect reading, and apply the wrong amount of torque. This forces the differential to overwork, and will rapidly wear out the drivetrain.
Remember to rotate your tires regularly. It not only increases the longevity of your vehicle, but can help lessen strain on the drivetrain in AWD vehicles
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