FWD car, replacing 2 tires, leaving on 2 that are worn to 1/2 tread depth. Where would you put the new pair, where would you put the old pair, and why?
FWD car, replacing 2 tires, leaving on 2 that are worn to 1/2 tread depth. Where would you put the new pair, where would you put the old pair, and why?
I always put the new ones on the front. Fronts wear faster so that's where I want the newer tires.
Tire stores always want to put them on the back. New tires usually have less traction than older tires. They want the car to understeer not oversteer.
Talking about the new pair here.
Tirerack - Rear
moxnix - Front - by the time I wear out those new tires on the front the half dead ones in the rear should be done also.
Front. Even on a rwd car, better on the front prevents hydro planing and maintains control. If the rear gets loose you can always steer to compensate - if the front's still got contact. On a fwd, it's a no brainer. The front tires are control AND propulsion.
Only exception might be rwd in some towing or mud conditions
Probably new on the front, since they do most of the work? Especially if you encounter snow.
My original answer was going to be one new tire on the left front, and the other on the right rear to "balance things out"...
But I'm a guy who is convinced that if Satan himself didn't invent FWD, then at the very least, cats were somehow involved in it.
grafmiata wrote: My original answer was going to be one new tire on the left front, and the other on the right rear to "balance things out"...
I remember hearing some of the WRC cars were running the studded tires in that configuration at some rallies this year.
moxnix wrote:grafmiata wrote: My original answer was going to be one new tire on the left front, and the other on the right rear to "balance things out"...I remember hearing some of the WRC cars were running the studded tires in that configuration at some rallies this year.
It's about damn time that people who have no idea who I am finally start to recognize me for the genius that I am!!!
If the rear gets loose you can always steer to compensate
Not really. You can SOMETIMES... TRY... and it MAY work. But you really shouldnt bet on it. What it comes down to for me is the car is designed so that the safest way to hit anything is with the front. 
Stop being a cheap berkeley and buy 4 tires? Seriously. Are you 17? Put E36 M3 tires up front if you're that cheap. Front loose in rain: No big deal. Rear loose in rain: Big deal. Buy four tires. Rotate them.
FWD ( it's all I know anything at all about ) .... front .. safer, especially in the rain ... if the lesser tread depth tires will hydro-plane much easier than the full tread depth tires ... with the deeper tread, the front will displace much more water than the lesser tread depth tires ... making the rears more able to contact the road than if they were up front
we've all followed in the tracks of a vehicle in front of us on the highway ... those tracks have much less water in them than if we moved to the other "virgin" lane ... and therefore less likely to hydro-plane
grafmiata wrote: But I'm a guy who is convinced that if Satan himself didn't invent FWD, then at the very least, cats were somehow involved in it..
Thank you -- I love that quotation. It may end up being paraphrased for my next track day giveaway shirt
ZOO wrote:grafmiata wrote: But I'm a guy who is convinced that if Satan himself didn't invent FWD, then at the very least, cats were somehow involved in it..Thank you -- I love that quotation. It may end up being paraphrased for my next track day giveaway shirt
Do I get a free shirt?
I myself would replace both front and rear and quit being a cheap ass (4 new nokian wrg2's today)
If only 2 then it depends on the car and how it behaves, understeer or oversteer...
understeer=new on front
oversteer=new on rear
grafmiata wrote:ZOO wrote:Do I get a free shirt?grafmiata wrote: But I'm a guy who is convinced that if Satan himself didn't invent FWD, then at the very least, cats were somehow involved in it..Thank you -- I love that quotation. It may end up being paraphrased for my next track day giveaway shirt
Sounds fair to me.
Suh-wheet!!! When that day comes, that's one more day until I have to do laundry!!!
poopshovel wrote: Stop being a cheap berkeley and buy 4 tires? Seriously. Are you 17? Put E36 M3 tires up front if you're that cheap. Front loose in rain: No big deal. Rear loose in rain: Big deal. Buy four tires. Rotate them.
This.
For the record, this is a hypothetical scenario. I advocate rotating properly and replacing all four as a set.
That said, if my girlfriend got an irreparable puncture in one corner of her set of 4 evenly-worn tires that are about 3/4 - 1/2 worn, I'd be facing the same question. And I'd be tempted to put on a new pair in front and cycle the two best old ones to the back. Because I don't advocate throwing out 3 good tires when one goes bad.
I'd put them on the front, because oversteer scares me a lot less, especially on a FWD car - harder to initiate, and you can countersteer and stay on your intended path, whereas with understeer you've already left your intended path.
FWIW, legal precedent says the tire shop is at fault if they put new tires on the front and you get into a collision. Many tire shops refuse to sell two tires because of this.
The pisser is, as explained to me while I was trying to order two snow tires, if they have you sign a waiver, that sets them up for MORE liability because it means they knew that what they were doing was wrong!
(What are shops supposed to do, force people to buy things? That's awful scam-y)
Noodling this out and taking it to its logical conclusion, you should never rotate tires either, because that puts the worst two on the rear. So with a small FWD you have to buy four new tires every 5,000mi?
The proper thing to do is put the new tires on the rear and then replace the other two at earliest opportunity. Ideally you would replace all four, of course, but if this was an option then this wouldn't be up for discussion, would it?
Yeah, the front tires wear faster, but the other two tires are older, and all you need is to have to slow down in a wet corner to find out that old tires do not have the wet traction of new ones, no matter what the tread depth gauge says. Especially worse in front-drive cars with their easy to lock up rear brakes.
I would put the new ones on the front, but I'm not going to point fingers at anyone when I screw up, and I know that the car is going to handle like a Corvair with screwed-up tire pressures.
the FRONT, always the front.
I've never had a tire shop refuse to sell me 2 tires ...
From personal experience, two tires is not the way to go but most definitely they should be on the rear.
wbjones wrote: I've never had a tire shop refuse to sell me 2 tires ...
Me neither but they always want to put them on the back. If they argue too much I offer to take it somewhere else. No, I don't care what their little poster says.
I put two on the wife's Liberty a couple of months ago because of a piece of steel through a sidewall, and two tires and wheels on the daughters car two years ago when she slid it into a curb. I can't justify throwing out $540 in perfectly good tires.
that (among other reasons ) is why I usually just take the rims in, not the car
biggest gripe is the over torquing of the lugs by most tire places ( even by the tuner shop that I had do the oil cooler ... for some reason they had one of the rims off ) my cordless impact wrench wouldn't budge the lugs .. had to drop the jack and get a breaker bar 
wbjones wrote: that (among other reasons ) is why I usually just take the rims in, not the car biggest gripe is the over torquing of the lugs by most tire places ( even by the tuner shop that I had do the oil cooler ... for some reason they had one of the rims off ) my cordless impact wrench wouldn't budge the lugs .. had to drop the jack and get a breaker bar
+1
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