I've been having a dispute with some guys at work about rotating tires. Do you want the tires with more tread on the front or the back? I always heard that no matter where the driving axle is, the more tread tires should be in the rear. Any opinions?

 

Lot of people on here don't even rotate their tires, but i think the more tread should be on the front but, oh well.


Primary rig is:
95' F-150 EB 300/6 5 spd with 4" Superlift, MSD, Ram Air, Gibson Exhaust, and coming are some BFG MEATS

Then theres:
88' F-250 Superduty 351 + c6
92' Thunderbird 3.8L V-6 FOR SALE!
95' Mercury Cougar 4.6L V-8
80' E-350 300/6 and a
3 spd column shifter baby.

The newest addition to the Ford family is a 99' Mustang GT 4.6L

 

i dont rotate my tires, i put the more tread up front, my dad just said so that the front will have a less of a chance of having a blow out. thats just what he said so i did it, and thats probably how it will be from here on out.

 

My take?

From being in the car and service biz for quite some time, front wheel drive vehicles get the more-tread tires in the front.

With rear wheel drive vehicles the common owner just wants the traction to get somewhere (like, say, in a snowstorm). Typically the tires with more tread get put on the rear even though in theory the two important functions the front tires do in rear-wheel drive vehicles (75% of the stopping power and the steering) seem more important (most would probably agree they'd want other drives to be able to stop and steer more than drive fast in bad conditions, but then they probably wouldn't follow their own advice).

So the indutsry standard is front on front wheel drives and rear on rear wheel drives.

All wheel drive or for more constant 4-wheeling? I'd put the good tires on the front for stopping and steering I think. (but i'd like to test that theory out on all wheel drive cars and 4x4 trucks in mud and snowy conditions).

 

My Dad swears by more tread up front on trucks 2 or 4 wheel drive, but for me I would prefer more tread on back excpet some how the tires on the rear end up with less tread after a while.

 

As far as rotating goes you do it the way your owner manual recommends.

But when you only buy 2 new tires instead of a set of 4 the new tires ALWAYS go to the front. It does not matter if you have RWD or FWD. The reason being you are less likely to have a blow out on the front with newer tires and if by chance you have a blow out, vehicles are harder to control with flat tires in the front than in the rear..........


>I've been having a dispute with some guys at work about
>rotating tires. Do you want the tires with more tread on
>the front or the back? I always heard that no matter where
>the driving axle is, the more tread tires should be in the
>rear. Any opinions?

 

Do yourself a favor and rotate. Most Ford trucks have Twin-I-Beam front axles that change camber. The outside or inside edges of the tires wear out quickly depending on the amount of load you carry in your truck. Running an unevenly worn tire on the rear tends to clean it up.

If you think that a blow-out on the rear is no big deal, what about those Explorers that flipped over after rear-mounted Firestone's came apart?

 

The normal explanation is to put them on the drive axle. The drive axle is the one that will brake loose while driving in slick conditions, ice, rain, whatever as it has to keep traction during acceleration and maintaining speed. The non-driving axle will not break loose unless you brake or corner hard. Put them on the rear of a 4wd truck, if you drive it around without a load in the bed. The rear end of an empty pickup needs all the help it can get as far as traction goes. It is much worse to lose traction in the rear, as it leads to spinouts and fishtails rather than sliding in a straight line like losing traction in the front. Try using the emergency brake to lock up the rear wheels on a vehicle while driving down the road, this is easier to do on a dirt road than paved. As the rear wheels lock up the vehicle will try to spin around. This is why you don't want to lose traction in the rear of a vehicle, and why two-wheel anti-lock brakes are on the rear axle. Since the front axle gets all the weight transferred to it during braking, you can apply much more braking force to the front wheels before they lock up. The rear wheels see almost none of the vehicle's weight and thus break loose much more easily. If you are only driving on pavement that doesn't see more than rain, it doesn't really matter where you put the new tires so long as you keep them rotated.

 

I don't get it? why would anyone NOT rotate their tires? Unless you have differnat sizes front to rear, you should always rotate. May I suggest every 5k as ideal, every 10k as a minimum.

I have heard it both ways for years. Best tires on front because they do 75% of your braking and ALL of your steering. Pretty imporatant stuff there! Then the otherside says traction, non-issue really. But then the bigger issue of blow outs. I speak from experiance of 9 rear wheel blowouts (Michelin LTX, All) on on Ford E-250 vans, you DO NOT want a rear wheel blow out, your hands will become full VERY quickly, wereas a front blowout, while not without difficulties, is far easier to handle.

The BEST advice by far is to:

1. Check & Keep them Inflated properly, even a couple PSI can make a big differance in ride, handling and wear.

2. Rotate them

3. REPLACE THEM BEFORE they are wornout.

You only have four small patches of contact with the road and one life.

I can't believe that folks who sweat out the details of milking a couple extra horse power out of their engine, improving their sound system, spend extra time detailing or even spend time chating up at an entusiasts website about their beloved truck would not take care of one of the most important performance and safety issues.

Petrol

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 13-Mar-02 AT 06:03 PM (EST)]First of all, if you are "rotating" your tires, the amount of tread should have nothing to do with it. There is a rotation pattern that applies... depending on the vehicle type (FWD, RWD, AWD, 4x4, etc.).

For those that don't rotate their tires? Well, some of us don't do that because:

1 -- we are experiencing good and uniform tread-wear
2 -- the ride is smooth
3 -- the handling is accurate
4 -- basically don't want to 'break' something that 'works'

Sometimes rotating tires can suddenly result in vibrations and different handling caracteristics because of uneven wear in the tires. This should eventually work itself out as the tires wear, but some don't want to deal with it.

If you rotate your tires on schedule, you shouldn't have any issues mentioned above. But some of us drive A LOT and don't have time to rotate our tires every couple of months. Plus, if we are having good, even wear on our tires, we will not lose many miles by not rotating them. To me, only saving a couple thousands miles by religiously (sp?) rotating tires is not worth it. That is, as long as the other problems do not exist.

The very reason to rotate your tires is meant to expose each and every tire to every location on your vehicle. The tire gets moved to a different location based on the rotation pattern (dictated by your vehicle type), not by amount of rubber on it.

If the amount of rubber on your tire is dictating where it goes in the rotation, you probably need a new tire(s).

 

The other reason not to rotate ur tires is because, the rear tires experience very little wear. My dad has an 88 f-250 and he just replaced the STOCK rear tires with about 105,000 miles on them. That way, you get much more use out of the two tires. Also, you just replace the two front tires when they are worn, and only have to replace two tires at one time rather hten all 4.


Primary rig is:
95' F-150 EB 300/6 5 spd with 4" Superlift, MSD, Ram Air, Gibson Exhaust, and coming are some BFG MEATS

Then theres:
88' F-250 Superduty 351 + c6
92' Thunderbird 3.8L V-6 FOR SALE!
95' Mercury Cougar 4.6L V-8
80' E-350 300/6 and a
3 spd column shifter baby.

The newest addition to the Ford family is a 99' Mustang GT 4.6L

 

you don't have time to rotate be cause you drive alot. . . I average 2,000+ miles a week, work full time, have a wife and kid (help with homework), have a house (plenty of chores), workout at the gym, etc. etc. etc. yet I still find the time.

I do agree with you completly, rotation is to expose all tires to all postions to even out wear. Therefor if you want to try to get 100k on your rears while replacing the fronts every 30k, well, do so. And if, when it's time to replace those fronts you chose a differant brand / tread design / style, or just would like to upgrade the size to a larger tire, your truck may just look a little funny.

The point I was really trying to get across is that a lot of folks drive around on under inflated tires on some times overloaded vehicals, I think it makes good $ & cents to include tire care in you preventive maintenace program. Rotation will allow you to inspect your brake pad wear and suspension componants at the same time.eh, you do have a preventitive maintenance program right?

Petrol

 

> you don't have time to rotate be cause you drive alot.
>. . I average 2,000+ miles a week, work full time, have a
>wife and kid (help with homework), have a house (plenty of
>chores), workout at the gym, etc. etc. etc. yet I still find
>the time.

Congratulations, Petrol... were all proud of you. Of course, this statement does not change the fact that your life has nothing to do with anyone elses.

I just presented reasons why some do not rotate. You don't have to agree and/or like it.

 

 

Well thanks ROB it's my pleasure to be of service when I can, though I don't chose to do it in hopes of making you proud. While I know my busy life has little to do with you and yours, I as you, were trying to relate on the subject matter of the topic.

While I am sorry that I have appearantly offended you, I could not help but be struck by the sorry excuse that someone (you?) might drive too much and be to busy to spend 15 minutes twice a year to at LEAST inspect what for many is the most neglected part of their (your?) truck.

I guess that means that most (you again Rob?) would rather drive it till it breaks (leaving you where it sits) then to spend a few relaxing weekend afternoons a year taking care of their truck.

Drive on Rob just keep that triple A membership current.

Oh, and please remind me of this thread if I ever happen to respond to any ads you might post in the classified section of this site.

Petrol