Only Two New Tires - front or rear?

[capnblinski]

Just wandering..

Say your Camry has a set of tires on that are worn down to the tune of 7/8 of the way in the front, 3/4 in the back. If you were to only have one pair of these tires as new, would you put the new ones on the front end or place the new pair on the back end?

[JohnGD]

According to Michelin:

"If you’re replacing only two tires, be sure to have the new tires installed on your vehicle’s rear axle. Here’s why:

• New tires will provide better wet grip than your half-worn tires.
• When new tires are installed on the rear, it helps reduce the potential for your vehicle to fishtail or hydroplane in wet conditions."

Check out this video:

http://www.michelinman.com/tire-care...artire-change/

[Yuko]

^+1

Before, if I needed just two tires, I installed them up front because the front dose most of the braking and steering. Right? But a while back, I put the baldest on the back and the okay tires up front on the family minivan and on a light rainy day, I spun out twice. Switch it around and was able to drive a few more months fine. Then I installed four new tires. But if the tires are rotated regularly; it shouldn’t be a problem of one pair wearing faster.

[carsrus]

Just drive them till you have the money for all 4 tires. The only way the 2 tire trick works is if you put new tires on the front when they are about half worn and rotate the front to the rear.

That way you have full tread on the front and half tread on the back. Since the front wears out faster they'll even up but the rear will be gone way before the front.

[capnblinski]

According to Michelin:

"If you’re replacing only two tires, be sure to have the new tires installed on your vehicle’s rear axle. Here’s why:

I concur - that's exactly what I've done before on other cars - the front tires are sometimes are bit more worn than the back ones at a point in the set of four's 'life span', and I've always tossed the old front ones, brought the still-at-25-percent-usable-rear-pair-to the front, and the brand new pair goes on the rear. Then, after another five or six thousand miles, the front set is ready to be tossed so a brand new pair replaces those on the front thus getting the most life out of the tires w/out compromising safety. Love the way a good car rides with new tires..

[fenixus]

yeah that's usually what I do since I can't really rotate tires (I keep bad rims on rear axle).

never had a problem with installing new tires in front axle while rear was at least half thread left.

Originally Posted by carsrus

Just drive them till you have the money for all 4 tires. The only way the 2 tire trick works is if you put new tires on the front when they are about half worn and rotate the front to the rear.

That way you have full tread on the front and half tread on the back. Since the front wears out faster they'll even up but the rear will be gone way before the front.

[capnblinski]

Thanks again for all your replies - you folks have been very helpful!