Worn tires on front or rear?

jesterbomb · Oct 31, 2009

What is the general concensus here, to put the two most worn tires on the front of the vehicle, or the rear? And when i say "the vehicle", I mean my 91 4wd XJ 5 speed 4.0L.

I'm asking because my buddy is letting me use any of the tires he has kicking around, to replace my worn out and scary Toyo's. I'm doing a lot of highway driving in the coming months and righ now it is three or four inches of slush, combined with freezing rain. But soon enough, it's going to be powder and ice.

So, which end should I put the better two on, the front or the rear?

Also, I made another post asking about wide versus narrow, feel free to comment on that thread as well. Just wanted to keep them seperate for future searchers.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?p=244638378#post244638378

joe_peters · Oct 31, 2009

Always put your best tires on the rear, even in a FWD.

Copytech · Oct 31, 2009

joe_peters said:
Always put your best tires on the rear, even in a FWD.

I have to disagree. What good is forward traction if you can't steer?

DansGreyMj · Oct 31, 2009

I have always put the best in the front and never had any problems.

srimes · Oct 31, 2009

usually understeer is safer than oversteer, so put the better tires on the back.

joe_peters · Oct 31, 2009

srimes said:
usually understeer is safer than oversteer, so put the better tires on the back.

And we have a winner!

If you lose traction in the front, the steering will enable you too attempt to regain control.

When the a**end of your vehicle is passing you, you are screwed.

orange · Oct 31, 2009

Then again, which is the worse end to have a tire go bad? (sudden deflation)

camarors8992 · Oct 31, 2009

I put my best tires on the front, and if they are so worn that it actually makes the vehicle unsafe then don't drive it.

vt98xj · Oct 31, 2009

I would rather be able to stop and steer then get moving fast, Good tires on the front

stewie · Oct 31, 2009

vt98xj said:
I would rather be able to stop and steer then get moving fast, Good tires on the front

x2. that what i have always been told.

RenegadeStang · Nov 1, 2009

I'm with the consensus of better tires in the front. A sudden blowout at 70mph on a more worn tire in the front can cause some troubles!

bjoehandley · Nov 1, 2009

I'm just trying to save money to buy new tires.

Saudade · Nov 1, 2009

I hope that answers your question.

thebrick · Nov 1, 2009

but isn't a blow out tire in the front still better than a blown out tire in the rear? remember that whole explorer/firestone fiasco???

JJacobs · Nov 1, 2009

Huh? Blow out in the front on a soccer mom Explorer- crash and burn. Blow out in the rear, dang, gotta pull over.

I could see it either way, more traction for turning=good, but oversteer=bad. I guess it comes down to worn tires are usually chopped and cupped, which equals poor ride quality in the front, so the better ones go on the front. But the xj I'm driving at the moment has the better tires in the rear as the fronts aren't cupped.

thebrick · Nov 1, 2009

Well, wasn't the explorer/firestone fiasco where the rear tire blew out and the driver panic, slammed on the brakes and caused the vehicle to spin (oversteer) which lead to vehicle flipping over...it was on the rear tires that Ford recommended the lower (less than 30psi) pressures...

JJacobs · Nov 1, 2009

I should know.. Ford tech, but got into it after the tire fiasco. I'll do some digging but you might be right.

bjoehandley · Nov 1, 2009

JJacobs said:
Huh? Blow out in the front on a soccer mom Explorer- crash and burn. Blow out in the rear, dang, gotta pull over.

I could see it either way, more traction for turning=good, but oversteer=bad. I guess it comes down to worn tires are usually chopped and cupped, which equals poor ride quality in the front, so the better ones go on the front. But the xj I'm driving at the moment has the better tires in the rear as the fronts aren't cupped.

SAme here, and mine's also got a Selec-Trac for that ugly white stuff

bjoehandley · Nov 1, 2009

thebrick said:
Well, wasn't the explorer/firestone fiasco where the rear tire blew out and the driver panic, slammed on the brakes and caused the vehicle to spin (oversteer) which lead to vehicle flipping over...it was on the rear tires that Ford recommended the lower (less than 30psi) pressures...

IIRC it was also more top heavy and had a "softer" suspension on top of all that.

jesterbomb · Nov 1, 2009

None of the tires are cupped or in danger of blowing. It's just that two of the set are newer than the other three. So I would have the worst one as a spare, and I'm just trying to figure out where to put the ones with the most tread.

Seems like opinions are pretty strong on this issue. Compelling arguments on both sides though. I'm going to keep checking this thread, this is looking to be a motherlode of information.

Or at least entertaining.

Worn tires on front or rear?

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