This morning I went to my tire store to get a rotation on my 07 CTD. Front tires are getting down however the rears are looking pretty good. Probably need tires midsummer. Anyway, one of the sales guys checks my tires and tells me to leave the tires with most tread in the rear. What!!! Am I missing something. I have always been told that you want the tires with most tread in the front. Is this the new way at looking at tire wear. Teach me.

That sales guy must have just come from AutoZone or Advance !

I do it at times, somehow I think newer tires are all around better for cornering and braking in normal conditions and tires dont seem to last long these days and get hard so id rather blow a back one.

Maybe??? But then again I buy cheap tires, go figure.

So pOtO .. just from the braking aspect - since the front brakes do 85% OF that braking ..

The front tires should be the bestest !

It depends where you want the traction and if it is a 4x4 or 2wd. I like the tread on the front on my 4x4's and on the rear on my 2wd...

CTD, as in Cummins pick-up, I'm guessing, as in lots of nose weight ?

Me, I'd put the better tires on the front, as the vehicle seems to be telling you it's using those harder.

The logic is that the vast majority of people can't deal with oversteer. The average driver only knows to hit the brakes when they start to get into trouble. Dealing with understeer comes naturally for those people. Let off the gas and go for the brakes and understeer pretty much goes away.

found on Tire Rack
"When tires are replaced in pairs in situations like these, the new tires should always be installed on the rear axle and the partially worn tires moved to the front. New tires on the rear axle help the driver more easily maintain control on wet roads since deeper treaded tires are better at resisting hydroplaning."

So they’re not concerned with HYDRO on the fronts ??

Sounds like a quote from Tire HACK !

Thats just a ploy to sell more tires. In water the front tires are gonna clear a path for the rear ones somewhat so the rear won't have as much water to deal with. If you always try to keep the best tires on the rear you will never be able to rotate them either as most vehicles wear out the front faster, especially front wheel drive cars. I have seen people with FWD never rotate their tires and most of em will replace the rear ones 1 time for 4 front pairs.

This, so if you feel you are normal listen to the salesman.

If not, and you drive thru water that the front tires push out of the way for rear tires, and can handle oversteer from cornering too fast or too much right pedal, or panic braking, put the deep tread on the front.

REMEMBER !

It's your car ! You put the tires where YOU want them !

REMINDS me of past experiences.....

Heavy rain last year ..... the carrotvan HYDROED in the front - major pucker factor ...

Some years ago coming back from DETROIT Dragway after winning the big bux ... in minor rain with cheater slicks - minor pucker ...

You jsta lift the throttle and a minor steering adjustment

https://youtu.be/gSz7cm6MwH0

Here is where this comes from the tire manufacturers say that the better tires should be on the rear. The thought is most drivers can over come the front sliding but when the rear slides most would loose control.
But to me it would depend on the vehicle and the situation to say where they should go.

Well, we've had more than our normal amount of rain so far so I may delay for a week. Suppose to be in the 80s next week. Looks to me is his response comes from how he was trained. I always thought the school of thought was have more tread on the front.

it was that way when I got in the business in the very early seventies, better tires to the rear. In the ensuing years I've never found anything contrary to that, every time I've looked at tire manufacturers web sites, the recommendation is always the same, new or better to the rear. I can see both sides of the issue, but I'm beyond buying two tires anymore, always 4 or 6.

It's counterintuitive, but if 2 tires are rolling and 2 are sliding, the ROLLING tires have more resistance, and the SLIDING tires will go to the front, every time. Remember when ABS was first introduced in trucks, it was rear only. Hydroplaning is just like locked brakes. If the rear tires hydroplane and the fronts keep rolling on any vehicle, it'll swap ends faster than you can react.

That being said, I put the better tires on the front. I've gotten the same recommendation (better tires on the rear) every time I've bought only 2 tires for probably 10 years. It's an industry standard. But 99% of their customers aren't "Car Guys" who don't mind if the rear end gets a little loose occasionally, and the lawyers know it's easier to prevent a lawsuit than win one.

many tire places these days REFUSE to do that, if you don't let them put the best tires on the back they send you down the road.

Have a neighbor with a 12 Avenger that really needed 4 new, had to buy 2 at a time on different paydays. Tire store INSISTED that the 2 new went to rear (on a FWD car? Yup) and in the meantime I had to do brakes on this car. I rotated them to "best on front" like they SHOULD BE and the neighbor couldn't believe the difference in how the car handled and that's when she told me how the tire store works...\

I actually have a "bulletin" from either Firestone or Bridgestone that tells of this "best to rear" 'policy' they have, and they claim no matter FWD, RWD or 4x4, best tires belong on back..... 20 years of being an alignment guy and 36 years of being a licensed driver says "BS" to that...… sometimes on a RWD pickup or van I can make a case for "best on back" but even then. usually NOT.

" Remember when ABS was first introduced in trucks, it was rear only."

Your observation I believe is correct, but your conclusion I likely disagree with.

ABS rear only is more likely because the difference in weight and braking characteristics between an empty truck and a fully loaded one was almost beyond the driver's skills of a even competent driver, in all conditions, wet or dry. ABS was a logical solution.

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

Another vote for best tires to the rear.

If you have a blow out on a front tire, you can directly control the direction of travel with the steering wheel. Rear tire not so much. Odds of new tire blowing out should be less than older tires.

Kevin

This was also the policy at Sears and even watched videos of cars on a track both wet and dry with new tires on front then rear. But as stated, it's ur car and when you leave the shop you can swap them back, put on a surgical mask, and go to Walmart.

I would disagree with the absolute conclusion vehicle stability/control is more upset by rear tire blow out vs front steering axle, I feel its the opposite.

The vehicle is going tend to go in the direction of the blowout. If the front left goes boom, it's a matter of turning the steering wheel to the right to stay out of oncoming traffic. If the rear left goes, you actually would have to steer towards oncoming traffic should it step out of line to keep it gathered up and depending on circumstance and skill level, could still lose control.

Kevin

If the tread depth difference is large, then yeah, rear is better. Having an ass end that’s really loose gets people in trouble in life. (Wink) If the difference is small (like a 1/3 of the total depth) I wouldn’t sweat it, after all, if you put the good tires on the front it’s self correcting on most cars.

That's the point, if a left front blows, its instantly headed to on coming traffic, because of slight increase in rolling friction, but mainly influenced by a ride height loss resulting in artificial turn banking, requiring an immediate correction, that depends on a lot of steering traction that has been sacrificed with the blown now outside turning tire. The factors mentioned above with a front tire blow out do not exist or are much reduced or don't exist with a rear wheel blow out.

I suspect the danger is increased by the simple suddenness of a front tire blow out, requiring absolute immediate steering correction, which also I suspect is usually an over correction by a shocked driver. A rear tire blow out situation takes relatively time to develop, unless driver is in a turn or heavily on the brakes, which effects both situations front or rear

on my caravan, the best tires always go on the rear.
mainly because they are 235-70's and they hit the strut bottoms if i try to put them on the front.
the front get 215's.
big-n-littles ya know.........

I have been reading the answers looking for this. Driver training has taught us this over the years. You can take some corrective action when having an issue with front tire/tires by steering, but cannot with rears.

Apparently you were absent during the whole “steer in the direction of skid” portion of driver’s training ?

Sometimes you gotta turn right to go left

Yes, I went for coffee. Thanks for setting me straight.

Steer in direction of skid if my rear tires lose traction.

There are scenarios in which you would rather have better ones in front. This is just generally speaking.

What a topic.

If you aunt had a beard would she be your uncle or still be your aunt?

Um, how long of a beard?

That depends on the location of the "beard" now doesn't it?

I thought I got mine in 6th grade driving go karts with slicks on mud, but then I stumbled on old 8mm home movies when I was 3 pedaling my red tractor on the bad mitten court that I watered with a hose, because copious amounts of oversteer was "cool".

That hasn't changed.

PS, I have yet to meet a truck driver that prefers a front tire blow out over a rear, no matter what the truck.

Seems like this is being way over-analyzed....what is a safer handling condition/balance? Oversteer or understeer.? I vote for understeer which is a consequence of more rear grip than front.

Best tires on the rear- Ever experience a blow out at speed in the rear- car goes sideways- hard to recover- 69 Super Bee at 110 mph in 1970- out of control- sidways = luckily berm was a level field- Blow out on front you can steer yourself straight.
I think a reason to have more tread on front is you would have less hydro planing with deeper tread......

what about a mustache ?

One detail never mentioned so far about the personal experiences with rear tire blow out is, what corrective action was initiated, intentionally or not? Let off the gas, stay on the gas, coast, hit the brakes suddenly, yank the steering wheel, steer with the car's new direction and then gently regain control, counter-steer, etc? "Confirmation bias" is likely a factor here. Additionally not many have yet shared they have experienced both front and rear blow outs under any similar conditions to form their opinion.

Everyone knows, or should know, the best tires go on the front. Especially on a FWD vehicle.

#1 You don't want a blow out on the steering axle.
#2 Front tires typically wear faster. Equalize wear on all 4 tires.
#3 Better control and traction on slick surfaces.

Never been in a shop where this wasn't observed.

Now the rotation procedure for non-directional radial tires is open to debate. Although I use the same old method we were taught years ago.

....or SHOULD KNOW ?

cMac ... saying that might get you

1) A blow out on either end of a vehicle at 90 mph isn't fun any way you look at it, and yes, I've experienced both. After the shock of the initial discovery of the instant flat, and after the 1st few seconds of driver response, there really isn't much difference, if the proper responses were taken.
2) I had a Buick that must have had a bent rear axle housing, I took tires off the rear end and put them on the front so they would wear straight.
3) Apparently you have never experienced a loss of traction on the rear on wet pavement on a curve. If you loose front traction on a curve, you tend to go straight, but if you loose rear traction on a curve, the odds of rear end coming around past the front end are pretty high. Once the rear comes past the front, you are pretty well out of control and are along for the ride. You could have a completely different opinion. Gene

Pb ... yur a NAUGHTY BOY! ... going 90 mph !

That was when I was young and indestructible, and besides, you don't know where I may have been driving 90 mph, maybe it was legal there and at that time....

We agree any blow out is not fun.
However, at 90mph, a few seconds is nearly 300' of travel. That is a lot of travel.

The effect on steering by an effectively flat tire on the front is nearly instantaneous (not a few seconds), and results in a change of major front end stagger. My experiences with a truck front tire blow is an immediate unintended full travel lane change. My thinking in hindsight had I tried to immediately correct while the truck and suspension was stabilizing, everything could have quickly gone out of control. My racing instruction taught in a failure its best to diligently ride it out while you recover control, with gentle steering inputs because with a blown front tire, the steering characteristics have changed radically.

Rear tire sudden stagger doesn't have the same immediate steering effects from a blow out, and steering is an immediate useful tool to help regain any needed control.

Not to burst anybody's bubble here, but this discussion seems to assume a tire with more tread is less likely to blow out then one with less. Not sure we should blindly accept that.
Hydro planning is however directly related to tread depth.