I think I should put a couple of tires on my 2010 F150 before winter. My dilemma revolves around the fact that one of my tires had been replaced before I purchased it in 2012 (27k). A couple of years ago, I decided to have the spare mounted, to more closely match up with the tread wear of the newer tire. So now, at 52,000 miles, 2 tires are getting kind of iffy, mostly due to a bad alinement I had done. All this background to say that some of the tire dealers I've talked with tell me that I'll need 4 new tires, because of the 4WD. But at the same time, they say it's okay to purchase 2 tires that match the original tires. I am satisfied with the wear and quietness of the Hancook that came on it, but would like to explore my options for different tires. It does not really make sense, because 2 new tires would obviously be a larger circumference, same brand or not. I would keep the matching tires on the same axles to avoid problems with the differentials. Am I being tricked into buying additional tires?

 

I don't think slight differences in the diameter of new vs older tires is a huge deal. It won't matter at all in 2WD (as long as the tires on each axle match), and you won't be using 4WD unless you're on a slipperier surface, so it won't be a big deal there either.

Changing tire brands / models could be a bigger difference that just tire wear (tires that are marked with the same size aren't always the same size in reality). But again the difference probably won't be noticeable. You might be able to improve your odds by checking the actual size of the tires you are considering to try to make sure they aren't too far off.

On average the front tires go farther than the rear since the rear tracks inside of the front on corners, which might be an argument for putting the newer / bigger tires on the front. But the tire shops insurance companies make them put new tires on the rear for safety reasons (it seems counter-intuitive to me, I'd think it would be safer to have the worse tires on the rear, but insurance companies are really good at figuring out liability). So pick your poison there.

 

I totally agree about the 4WD. I wont be using it often, so in that respect, it's no different that a 2WD. I do some snow plowing for me and my neighbors, but no more than a couple of hours per day when it snows.

I have a friend that is retired Goodyear employee and could get me a 35% discount on online prices, so I'm thinking about seeing what they have to offer. Any recommendations for a similar tire to stock in the Goodyear line? I believe it currently has the Dynapro Ht series on it.

 

replacing all 4 is only important if you have AWD because the offset in tire size will mess up the transfer case and differentials. for a 2wd or 4wd vehicle having the same size tires on the vehicle with matching tread depth on the same axle is all that matters.

 

I have an update on my tire question. I ended up buying 4 tires, in order to take advantage of a rebate. I guess it turned out for the better, because for several years, I've been anouyed because my FWD would not completely disengage until I made a turn, or stopped and backed up. The dealer assured me it was normal and nothing was wrong. Now that I have 4 brand new matching tires, the FWD works much better. All I have to do is to let off the gas pedal (after returning to 2WD), and you hear the the gears are no longer turning. I guess a slight difference in the tires was making the gears bind just enough to want to keep them engaged. The only down side is that the dealer ruined one to the good tires I was hoping to resell. Somehow, they took a huge chunk out of the bead and took no responsibility for it. I was hinting for them to compensate me with an some type of credit or free service. They basically said "stuff happens".

 

dealer is correct.
tires quite often will rip a chunk out of the bead area when dismounting.
i do not worry about it though, and will reuse the tire if the tread is still good.
i usually only get one dismount out of twenty that does not chunk the bead.

 

In my case, I could tell it was unusable, but I took it back to the dealer to verify. Most of the bead was missing, about 1" long. It most likely would not hold air.