Tires: different make tires, tread patterns, differential

Question
on a dual rear wheel pickup,all my tires are the same size but two of them are of different manufacture,all have about the same wear,can i mix the 2 of different make on the rear? also tread patterns are very close? 1993 -gm -3500 -4x4 -ext. cab- 8ft. bed 170,000 miles

Answer
Harry,

It is very important that dualled tires be matched up - meaning same size, make, model and state of wear.  This is to minimize the differences between the weight each tire is carrying - larger diameter tires carry more of the weight.  If you don't do this, then there is a possibility that one tire may fail from overloading.

So at best you can have 2 tires on one side and 2 different tires on the other side, so long as the tires on one side are the same.  Just realize that this now puts a bit of a strain on the differential (trying to make up the difference between the tires.