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