Who plugs tires?

[paulsharvey]

So, better tires on front vs back? 2wd, front wheel drive, 100%, best go on front. Rear wheel drive; its more up for debate; bald tires steer fine, but bald drive tires dont. Also, ive heard both arguments, if you have a blow out, do you want a front or rear? Ive heard you want a rear, ive also heard the argument, if you blow one, better a front cause you can still steer to counter the blow out?

Given the choice, I still go good on back

 

[Eagle1]

So, better tires on front vs back? 2wd, front wheel drive, 100%, best go on front. Rear wheel drive; its more up for debate; bald tires steer fine, but bald drive tires dont. Also, ive heard both arguments, if you have a blow out, do you want a front or rear? Ive heard you want a rear, ive also heard the argument, if you blow one, better a front cause you can still steer to counter the blow out?

Given the choice, I still go good on back

Bald tires suck in the wet.... on either end but I can control the rear with throttle but the front will go straight as soon as brake is applied or you need to navigate a 90+ degree downhill turn under hard braking.

I guess it makes a lot difference on the terrain, constant steep hills and twisty roads or flat straight roads. Gravel or pavement
All are factors... I just do not see being able to make a blanket statement.
Rare to have a 100 yard straight section here, all former cattle tracks.

 

[ray66v]

Being that most vehicles are FWD these days it makes even less sense.
Putting new tires on the axle that does not steer, brake or drive is a not a winner.

Guess I have mounted my own tires for so long I'm out of touch with the insanity of people

It didn't make sense to me either at first. Then, I did some reading.

If the rear wheels don't have traction, it's much harder to keep them behind you. Put bald tires on the back in the winter, and see an extreme demonstration of this principal. Every time you go around a corner, you are going to lose the back end, and spin out.

When you are an experienced driver, and the tires all have tread on them, this is a lot less of an issue. Because you react before it gets out of shape.

Since there are new drivers every year, and some people never learn how to drive, it can be an issue though.

 

[Runner]

I can't remember ever buying less than 4 tires at a time. I rotate my tires on all vehicles every 5,000 miles so they all wear out at the same time. Have been fortunate enough to not have a catastrophic failure on just one tire (except on the tractor) due to damage.

 

[WinterDeere]

I can't remember ever buying less than 4 tires at a time. I rotate my tires on all vehicles every 5,000 miles so they all wear out at the same time. Have been fortunate enough to not have a catastrophic failure on just one tire (except on the tractor) due to damage.

You haven't done much drag racing.

I do remember replacing only two tires on two occasions. Once was over 30 years ago, so I can't remember the reason anymore, but the other was when my wife hit a wheelbarrow-sized pothole coming off the PA turnpike at Quakertown in a Jaguar with 30% profile tires. She not only broke a wheel and bent a second, but also damaged two tires. All four tires were essentially brand new, so I only replaced the two damaged.

The funny thing about that story is that she had seen the pothole on her way to work that morning, and made special mental note of it, to remember its location driving home from work in the dark. But just as she was re-approaching that location that evening, an A-hole in a PA state police cruiser pulled an illegal pass forcing her over, right into that hole.

Not sure what the cop was doing, he never turned on his lights or pulled anyone over. He just kept going, oblivious to the damage he had caused.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

If the rear wheels don't have traction, it's much harder to keep them behind you. Put bald tires on the back in the winter, and see an extreme demonstration of this principal. Every time you go around a corner, you are going to lose the back end, and spin out.

Had a hard time getting up some hills in the winter with my first car, so I got two much more snow oriented tires and put them on the rear.

Learned real quick that while going up hills wasn't much of an issue, going around curves sure was. Predictably (in retrospect) now I couldn't just apply a bit more gas when the front started to loose grip since the rear wouldn't step out.

Understeer is no fun, so those rear tires came off within a few days and the car could be driven faster again.

 

[DarkBlack]

It didn't make sense to me either at first. Then, I did some reading.

If the rear wheels don't have traction, it's much harder to keep them behind you. Put bald tires on the back in the winter, and see an extreme demonstration of this principal. Every time you go around a corner, you are going to lose the back end, and spin out.

When you are an experienced driver, and the tires all have tread on them, this is a lot less of an issue. Because you react before it gets out of shape.

Since there are new drivers every year, and some people never learn how to drive, it can be an issue though.

Safely wise… you want your best tires up front. The front tires handle about 70% of the braking, plus steering. Slowing down is more important than speeding up in snow.
Having good grip in the rear on a rear wheel drive, with bald up front, just gives a false sense of confidence , when the driver accelerates, thinking they’re all right. Braking and steering will be severely diminished, and that far outweighs the benefits of better rear traction.
I’ve been driving on snowy/icy roads since 15-1/2 years old. Overconfident drivers are a menace in winter.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Braking and steering will be severely diminished, and that far outweighs the benefits of better rear traction.

If the front tires remain the same, there should be no reason for them to not deal with stopping and steering the same as before changing the rear tires.

But as mentioned above, for someone who likes to steer with the throttle, putting the better ones in the rear was not a good idea.

And if I'm not mistaken, doesn't tire chains generally go on the drive tires?

 

[ray66v]

Safely wise… you want your best tires up front. The front tires handle about 70% of the braking, plus steering. Slowing down is more important than speeding up in snow.
Having good grip in the rear on a rear wheel drive, with bald up front, just gives a false sense of confidence , when the driver accelerates, thinking they’re all right. Braking and steering will be severely diminished, and that far outweighs the benefits of better rear traction.
I’ve been driving on snowy/icy roads since 15-1/2 years old. Overconfident drivers are a menace in winter.

I am only explaining the tire industry's position.

I don't abide by their rule on my vehicle.