Tires: tires for my jeep, jeep grand cherokee laredo, jeep grand cherokee

Question
Ok, I have a 2001 jeep grand cherokee laredo awd. I recently went in to get my front two tires changed. the "expert" there told me that he could'nt change them he said it would blow up my transfer case. i told him that my front tires were really bald and my back tires were still at about 75% tread. the tires i have to put on are about 80% tread. would it be safe to put them on?

Answer
Raymond,

The general rule is that all 4 tires on AWD and 4X4's must be exactly the same - size, make, model, and state of wear - in order to prevent problems in the transfer case / center coupling.  The differences in diameter could cause binding problems - and the more different the tires are, the more likely there is to be a problem.  Even tires of the same size can have different rolling diameters.

It is common for tire shops to refuse to sell you 2 tires because of this.  There is an implied warranty, and to avoid problems, the simple way is for the shop to only sell 4.