The last time I looked in a Mopar factory service manual, it also states to put the best tires on the REAR! The reason given was because in the event of a car skidding in a panic stop, most drivers can handle the front tires loosing traction, but will loose control if the rear tires loose traction in a stopping skid.

I can attest to the fact that when the rear tires lock up in a stopping situation, things can get out of hand pretty quickly.

Even knowing this, my choice has always been to put the best tires on the front. These days, most of the stuff I drive has different sized tires between the front or the rear. It would look pretty strange to have big wide tires on the front, and little skinny tires on the rear with a rear wheel drive ride. Given my tendency to spin the rear tires, it petty much guarantee that the best tires are on the front, the rear tires are often more wore out. Gene