pair of new tyres - front or back ?

due to ongoing poverty brought on by a recent house purchase (well, not so much the house as the "must have" new curtains/taps/kitchen and other woman-related tat...) - i propose to do the unthinkable and get just a pair of new tyres, bearing in mind that the current state of play is that one is distinctly threadbare, and t'other three are pretty much ok.

conventional - or should i say, layman's - wisdom would dictate without thinking about it too much that the new 'uns are best on the front, but giving it more consideration, i could make out a pretty good case for new 'uns on the back and the part-used ones on the front - what d'you lot reckon ?

i'd add that 95% of my driving is low-speed single carriageway or B-road meandering around the countryside, although the new rubber is necessitated by an impending trip which will be 500 miles or so on dual carriageways or "better", so if one configuration is better than the other for specific usage, i'll change when the long haul is done, and it's back to almost exclusively scaring pheasants on country lanes...

Michelin advise you put new tyres on the back. Received wisdom is to put them on the front, but the change in advise is based on a front wheel skid being more controllable than a rear wheel skid.

if yer in a RWD vehicle yer rear tyres put down the power and yer fronts cope with the steering, so from a safety veiwpoint you'd stick em on the front. if you want better traction in the wet you'd stick em the rear


Fwd the fronts have to cope with both steering and traction so you stick em on the front.

4wd yer stickin power down and steering with the fronts while the back is only supplying traction.

as most braking is done with the front no matter what drive train yer have it dunt alter.


so unless yer got a 5000HP dragster at santa pod put them on the front

folk always used ter put new uns on the rear in the days of rwd cos they were the ones that wore out faster but i agree with monsiuer slob in todays climate, get em on the fronts

I will go with Slob in this situation.

NEW tyres on the front every time.

If you want excitement try a front wheel slide in a 2-ton 4x4.

It's so exciting you may not want to try it a second time.

CharlesY

CharlesY said:

I will go with Slob in this situation.

NEW tyres on the front every time.

If you want excitement try a front wheel slide in a 2-ton 4x4.

It's so exciting you may not want to try it a second time.

CharlesY

Click to expand...

of maybe even live to try it a second time..................

Widget said:

Michelin car tyres company : new tyre

Click to expand...

that bin writen fer ****s that
A/ dint realise that things will be different

B/ are unable to correct a rear end skid

C/ believe that crap about fronts wearing quicker than the rears on a rear wheel drive

I'd fit one on each opposite corner... and let me know where we can find the salvage...

RobCSH said:

I'd fit one on each opposite corner... and let me know where we can find the salvage...

Click to expand...

each oppoisite corner??? shirley that would be all four corners? therefore hard to do as he's only gort two tyres.

Not only Michelin but Continental and Dunlop both say that new tyres should be fitted to the rear of any vehicle ~ no matter how many wheels drive it or where they are.

It's unlikely that anyone responding to this thread actually knows more about the science behind tyres than the manufacturers. Perceived wisdom and urban myth are no substitute for knowledge where safety is concerned.

A bloke sed so on t'internet - so it must be true...

i meched for a skoda rally car (non-works team) so i would sugest fittting a set of 4 or if you have to fit just 2 fit them where you like just scrub them in first

DiscoJoe said:

Not only Michelin but Continental and Dunlop both say that new tyres should be fitted to the rear of any vehicle ~ no matter how many wheels drive it or where they are.

It's unlikely that anyone responding to this thread actually knows more about the science behind tyres than the manufacturers. Perceived wisdom and urban myth are no substitute for knowledge where safety is concerned.

Click to expand...

bull****! if you read the reasons why the tyres makers say fit them to the rear you wouldn't be talking such bollocks.

the reasons are simple

1/ most drivers don't take into consideration that putting new ones on the front will change the handling of the car insuch a way as to cause oversteer.

2/ most drivers are unable to deal with oversteer as its mean steering opposite to where you want to go


3/ most drivers can cop with understeer as all you have to do is turn the steering wheel abit more

so no one is claiming to know more about tyres than them wot make them.
wot we are claiming is that putting new ones on the front is a better option if you can deal with the changes it brings about.


how can you possible think that having worn tyres on the front axle, the end of the car that does most work and therefore needs better grip is a better option than having the worn ones at the rear? unless you cannot comprehend the basics of driving, vehicle control and the laws of pizzicks

Wherever you put them, remember to "run them in" for 100 miles or so to start with. My tyre man says this cuts down on the wear rate.

DiscoJoe said:

Not only Michelin but Continental and Dunlop both say that new tyres should be fitted to the rear of any vehicle ~ no matter how many wheels drive it or where they are.

It's unlikely that anyone responding to this thread actually knows more about the science behind tyres than the manufacturers. Perceived wisdom and urban myth are no substitute for knowledge where safety is concerned.

Click to expand...

Balls!
Total Drivel !

Let's ask them about permanent 4 wheel drive cars, and whether their advice is politically correct theory, or the result of any science. Remember, both of these companies exist for one reason only - to make PROFITS, and the ONLY way they do that is by selling more tyres. NEVER trust anyone in that situation.

ALL the steering in every car, and MOST of the braking is achieved by the TWO FRONT TYRES.

After that, and a LONG WAY after that, let's worry about which end of the thing drives the car along the road. Braking forces would regularly exceed maximum driving forces by a factor of at least 5 or 6 to one, so assuming we keep our cool and don't try opposite-locking our 4x4s on wet and icy corners, then my advice is always to keep good tyres on the back, and BEST tyres on the front.

CharlesY

I would always put new tyres on the front cos they will wear down quicker, so it will be more even front - back

CharlesY said:

Let's ask them about permanent 4 wheel drive cars, and whether their advice is politically correct theory, or the result of any science. Remember, both of these companies exist for one reason only - to make PROFITS, and the ONLY way they do that is by selling more tyres. NEVER trust anyone in that situation.

CharlesY

Click to expand...

I think it's because these firms want to keep their customers alive that they issue this advice. Law suits eat into profits, so its likely that this advice is probably legally driven rather than scientifically driven.