Fit new tyres to rear?

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trumpet

Member
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34
Location
Dorset, UK
So new tyres should always be fitted at the rear?

I am assuming that this is because fitting new tyres on the front, with worn tyres on the rear, would *increase* the difference in rotation speed between the two halves of the rear prop shaft (I think I have that the right way round, with the rear section turning faster than the front section) causing the VCU to begin to lock up?

Is that right?
 
Shouldn't make any difference which end the new tyres are fitted to, all the wheels will turn at different speeds while driving anyway, except in a dead straight line.
 
clutchdust said:
Shouldn't make any difference which end the new tyres are fitted to, all the wheels will turn at different speeds while driving anyway, except in a dead straight line.
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Well the owner's manual says new tyres should always be fitted to the rear and I just wanted to make sure I understood the reason for that.

Of course you are right that the wheels turn at different speeds when not driving straight. But, as I understand it, even when you are going dead straight the rear drive is slightly underspeed compared to the front drive. So the front half of the rear prop-shaft is going slightly slower than the rear half, which must match the rotation of the rear wheels, with the difference being taken up by the VCU. If the front tyres are new and the rear tyres are worn that difference would be greater, perhaps causing the VCU to stiffen and cause the transmission to wind up and the rear tyres to scrub. Or have I misunderstood the situation?
 
Never had an issue with this, i replace the tyres in pairs which should always be done on a 4x4, but i ignore the new to the rear instructions.

I have always put the newest on the front without any problems at all.

I also rotate the tyres after time to even the wear up.
 
trumpet said:
Well the owner's manual says new tyres should always be fitted to the rear and I just wanted to make sure I understood the reason for that.

Of course you are right that the wheels turn at different speeds when not driving straight. But, as I understand it, even when you are going dead straight the rear drive is slightly underspeed compared to the front drive. So the front half of the rear prop-shaft is going slightly slower than the rear half, which must match the rotation of the rear wheels, with the difference being taken up by the VCU. If the front tyres are new and the rear tyres are worn that difference would be greater, perhaps causing the VCU to stiffen and cause the transmission to wind up and the rear tyres to scrub. Or have I misunderstood the situation?
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I know what you are saying, the owners manual contains a lot of stuff to cover LR's arse, freelander transmission winds up something awful anyway and the rear tyres always scrub out before the fronts, its a crap design, why the hell didn't they give it a proper transfer box with part time 4WD and a low range?, this would have made it so much better to drive and fuel consumption wouldn't be so bad either!
 
clutchdust said:
I know what you are saying, the owners manual contains a lot of stuff to cover LR's arse, freelander transmission winds up something awful anyway and the rear tyres always scrub out before the fronts, its a crap design, why the hell didn't they give it a proper transfer box with part time 4WD and a low range?, this would have made it so much better to drive and fuel consumption wouldn't be so bad either!
Click to expand...

Personally, I agree - I would prefer a proper transfer box with low range, except with full time 4wd and lockable centre diff. But I guess Land Rover knew that 90% (or more) of owners of a vehicle in that class would never use low range, and probably never select 4wd in a part time system or lock the diff in a full time system. So why add the cost, weight and complexity of a proper transfer box?

There is satisfaction to be gained from knowing how to use the extra levers effectively in a "proper" 4wd, but there is also a lazy kind of satisfaction when your vehicle does it all for you without you needing to lift a finger from the steering wheel.
 
slob said:
does that infer that a proper transferbox is more costly,heavier and more complex that what the gaylander has?
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It *implies* that a (hypothetical) FL with a high/low 'box would be more costly, heavier and more complex than the actual FL which doesn't have a high/low box. Probably.
 
Here's a quote from Kwikfit:

"Many tyre manufacturers agree that it is no longer good practice to rotate your tyres in order to extend their legal life. The reasons for this are;

* Partly worn tyres are more likely to experience punctures – particularly in wet weather conditions.
* Front tyre deflation will create an under-steer effect which is easier to control than over-steer (the effect produced by a rear tyre deflation)

In the unlikely event that a tyre deflates suddenly, then it is easier to control the vehicle if this occurs at the front of the vehicle. For improved handling and stability it is now recommended that the ‘best’ tyres should always be fitted at the rear of the vehicle. This is irrespective of whether the car is front or rear wheel drive."
 
trumpet said:
Personally, I agree - I would prefer a proper transfer box with low range, except with full time 4wd and lockable centre diff. But I guess Land Rover knew that 90% (or more) of owners of a vehicle in that class would never use low range, and probably never select 4wd in a part time system or lock the diff in a full time system. So why add the cost, weight and complexity of a proper transfer box?

There is satisfaction to be gained from knowing how to use the extra levers effectively in a "proper" 4wd, but there is also a lazy kind of satisfaction when your vehicle does it all for you without you needing to lift a finger from the steering wheel.
Click to expand...

Suzuki vitara has a proper transfer box and part time 4WD and is considerably cheaper than a freelander, how many vitaras got off road? 5% if that
 
aye and you forgot about all the nails, bit of glass and other sharp things that come out in the rain but prefer to stay at home when its dry
 
clutchdust said:
Suzuki vitara has a proper transfer box and part time 4WD and is considerably cheaper than a freelander, how many vitaras got off road? 5% if that
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Not really sure what your point is. The Range Rover has a proper transfer box too, and is considerably more expensive than a Freelander. And?

You could argue that Suzuki misjudged their market if only 5% of buyers ever use 4wd.

And never underestimate the stupidity of some drivers when faced with an additional lever. Some years ago I was chatting to the service manager at a local Land Rover dealer whilst they were doing a head gasket job on my Range Rover (V8 - two heads - ouch!). Apparently they had sold a new Discovery (probably would have been Series I at that time) to this woman. After 3 weeks she brought it back saying she couldn't go faster than 30 mph and it was very noisy - turned out she'd been driving in low range for the past 3 weeks.
 
For them as get there vehicles mucky then it's recommended that the best tyres are fitted at the front so you have more advantage on the steering wheels. As for chatting to Service Managers, I'd sooner be stupidly underestimated.
 
trumpet said:
So new tyres should always be fitted at the rear?

I am assuming that this is because fitting new tyres on the front, with worn tyres on the rear, would *increase* the difference in rotation speed between the two halves of the rear prop shaft (I think I have that the right way round, with the rear section turning faster than the front section) causing the VCU to begin to lock up?

Is that right?
Click to expand...

Back on topic - you are correct in your statement above. I had a pair of tyres fitted in December to my Freelander. I had them fitted to the rear for two reasons. a) I wanted to wear out the older tyres first and the fronts wear quicker than the rears. b) I also wanted to keep the VCU happy despite how marginal the difference may be.

The previous owner of my car had new tyres mixed with old across axles. When I got the car running, I swapped them about (2 newest at rear and thinning ones at the front) to try and keep diff wear to a minimum.
 
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