Tires: all wheel drive tires, chevy equinox, awd vehicles

Question
I was told that all the tires on my all wheel drive Chevy Equinox must be the same brand.  Is this correct?  I was having an unexplained noise and they said this could be the cause.  My two front tires are the same and my two back tires are the same, but the front tire brand is different from the back.

Answer
Felicia,

All Wheel Drive (AWD) vehicles are sometimes sensitive to differences in tire diameter - and sometimes to the point where differences in wear but the same brand / tire line / etc will cause driveline components to fail.  I suspect this is what the folks that told you about different brands of tires were referring to.

But this sensitivity is different from vehicle to vehicle, so this something you should ask your Chevy dealer.  

But what is the noise and is it in the components that are known to be problems with tires of different diameter - and that's a question you need to have answered by someone who actually hears the noise.