Replacement tires, can it blow my trans case, or anything else?

Question

Two weeks ago, I had a couple of used tires put on the front of my 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 Ltd 4X4 at a regular tire place. They did not have the same tires as was on the back which are P225 70R 16's and are the normal ones. They only had P225 75R 16's. I was told this was absolutely fine and would not be any issue whatsoever. So I had them fit them. Two weeks later and it seemed one of the front wheels now had a bearing going, so into an actual mechanic it went. The mechanic quickly noted that it was not a bearing but my trans case that is shot, along with the possibility that the rear end could also be affected, all a direct result of having these different tires being fitted. Is this plausible?

Answer 1

Normally, the center differential should cope with the difference in tire diameter. If you lock the center diff for on-road driving, you could get problems.