PR tire wears quicker

[pb3]

hi gang,

'04 awd, 165k miles. in 2k miles the passenger rear has worn 1/32" in tread depth while the other 3 have not.

some background info: ATC fuse has been out since encoder motor was replaced. believe in the time the van was being driven with the "service awd" lamp (~4k miles) that the rears wore 1/8" greater than the fronts, again with the worst worn tire being the PR. we rotated tires at the time the fuse was removed and have been waiting to create even tread depth at all 4 corners however this problem has not resolved.

i'm not the daily driver of the van; the "crow hopping" was very noticable after the encoder motor was replaced, the only other input i get is that the rear doesn't feel right (since the fuse has been out).

i'm afraid i know the answer is the rear diff, just curious what the collective advice would be from the experts here. need the AWD for winter, and hopefully 4 similar depth tires.

tia,
parker

[LiftedAWDAstro]

The reason the PR is wearing faster is because you are running an open rear diff and that side tends to get the driven torque. You can swap in a posi in the back to even it out or run a harder compound tire next time. I don't suspect any issues with the rear diff. If the AWD is fixed you can run with the ATC fuse in and not worry about it. Who is the primary driver?

[pb3]

driven by a g/f. i'm not saying the dealership's parts dept is always right but after giving them the vin they confirmed it had a G80- that means it is a limted slip rear correct? it has the LT package.
*i probably don't know what i'm talking about*

[astroturf]

A G80 huh? Good Deal.

Pop the cover and see what's going on in there.

Good Luck, Jim

[pb3]

I don't suspect any issues with the rear diff. If the AWD is fixed you can run with the ATC fuse in and not worry about it. Who is the primary driver?

you mean once i get all 4 tires' tread depths to within 1/8"? or was my conclusion of the crow hop cause also wrong? (fluid had been replaced since encoder motor w/ autotrakII).

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Look in the glove box or passenger door jamb for the RPO code list. You will see the GUx or GTx and/or G80 code if you have a posi. With the posi the tires should wear evenly unless she is spinning the tires on wet roads at speeds above around 20 - 30 mph. At that speed and above the G80 does not work.

I guess I am confused about the AWD...is it still broken?

[Cobra]

Lifted: i think he doesn't want to enable the AWD until the tires are all the same size or at least within an 1/8" because he's afraid of binding and false activation

PB3: just to make sure i understand, you replaced the encoder motor and changed the fluid at the same time but still have the hopping and binding?

[pb3]

Lifted, if this is the RPO, i see GT4 and G80. and yes, i have the ATC fuse out still due to crow hop. i don't believe the awd is broke, it's just with the fuse in it's binding when turning- onto a street, parking lot, parking spots are real bad.

I believe the tread depth differences occurred due to driving ~5k miles with the "service AWD" lamp on. once the encoder motor was replaced, that's when this binding developed.

cobra, i'm not positive what actions took place at the time of the encoder motor replacement- i didn't do it. [did notice the dorman sticker on it! ] I did a flush about 3k miles after the replacment and the fluid that came out was blue. driven 100 miles with no change. and i am aware of the TSB that mentions possible 2nd flush after 100 miles. i figured it'd do that once all 4 tires are similar, fuse in, and still binding.

[Kidhauler]

A g80 does not stop uneven tire wear as it needs 100rpm difference in wheel speed to start locking up. That's how you can corner without hopping the back end.