Tires: Tire replacement, 4WD Tire Replacement, AWD Tire Replacement

Question
I had a slow leak in one of my tires took it in to have it fixed they told me that the steel belt was the problem and it needed to be replaced. They told me because it was a 2005 Chey Trailblazer with 16" tire that all 4 tires needed to be replaced at the same time something about the 4 wheel drive not working correctly if i replaced 2 at a time. Is this correct? Do I really have to get 4 new tires or can I just replace the back 2 tires. There is only 32,000 miles on these tires and they have been rotated on a regular bases.

Thanks in advance
Rhodora Brandon

Answer
Rhondora,

4WD and AWD are sometimes sensitive to differences in tire diameter.  With 32K on the tires, it is not going to be too long before the tires will need to be replaced anyway, so doing all 4 is a prudent thing to do.

BTW, your vehicle owner's manual should tell you if there are restrictions concerning tire replacement.  If it doesn't mention any restrictions, it doesn't mean there won't be problems.  Only if the manual says specifically there are no restrictions is it OK to replace tires in pairs.