So you’re buying new tyres, but where is it best to put them. There is a conflict of opinion between tyre manufactures, vehicle manufactures and tyre dealers. So how are you expected to know? Well let me give you the information and were go from there.
You’re changing your front tyres! If your vehicle is front wheel drive, like the majority of cars of today, these tyres will always wear first.
· Do you just put the new ones on the front?
· Do you swap the tyres around and have the new ones on the rear?
· Do you buy all 4 for safety?
Putting the new one's on the front will be easier for your tyre fitter, will have more tread so will wear out a little more evenly with the rear tyres, but can upset the balance of the handling of your vehicle that you have become used to. Whereas previously the vehicle would have a tendency to under steer, now that you have more grip to the front, the vehicle would over steer, a more difficult situation to recover from.
Swapping the tyres around and having the new tyres on the rear could cost a little more as it would be recommended that you get the rear tyres re-balanced before putting them on the front. Don’t forget that your rear tyres are half worn and will not be in the same balance state as when they were new.
Your rear tyres are possibly 2 or 3 or more years old and before they start to show some signs of aging having them on the front will use up the remaining tread before this becomes an issue.
As the front tyres wear much quicker on the front than on the rear you will have become used to having less tread on the front. By swapping the tyres around you are unlikely to notice any vast differences.
Buying 4 tyres at the same time will always be a big cost issue every time you change your tyres. To ensure that you get the full life out of your tyres you will need to change them around halfway through the tyres life. Approximately 10,000 miles. Similar to above, you will need to get them re-balanced. You can easily keep a check on your tyre wear with a tread depth gauge, every time you check your tyre pressure. Remember your looking for 50:50 so as the front tyres wear quicker, it is leaving you with the more grip to the rear.
As the road conditions become slippery it is better to have the more traction on the rear of the car. It is far better for the front tyres to lose grip first and under steer, than the rear tyres so you don’t spin around and lose control, over steer.
Summary:
New Tyres Quick recommends have the new tyres fitted to the rear of the car. As this is a much safer for you to drive. As with rear wheel drive vehicles, the rear tyres will wear much quicker, this will still be safer for the more grip on the rear. As with vehicles with different size tyres that are fitted as standard, swapping around would not be possible and a cautious approach to driving at first would be recommended.
It is recommended that tyres are used in identical sets of four, same size, brand, pattern, load and speed index. An exception is when the vehicle is originally fitted with different tyres sizes front to rear. The vehicle manufactures should also be followed.
