Are new tires best in front or back?

true, but 25 plus years ago a tire store in California insisted on putting the new tires on the front of a girlfriend's VW beetle. When I told them they were WRONG, they inferred I didn't know what I was talking about. Thare are probably still some idiots who think new tires should go on the front, but, thanks to your good efforts, there are probably fewer of the automotively ignorant.

true, but 25 plus years ago a tire store in California insisted on putting the new tires on the front of a girlfriend's VW beetle. When I told them they were WRONG, they inferred I didn't know what I was talking about. Thare are probably still some idiots who think new tires should go on the front, but, thanks to your good efforts, there are probably fewer of the automotively ignorant.

FINALLY SOMEONE SAYS IT RIGHT. I WORK FOR MERCEDS BENZ AND IT HAS BEEN A PRACTICE TO PUT NEW TIRES ON THE REAR FOR THIS RESON, YOU CAN STEER OUT OF TROUBLE BUT IF THE REAR END STARTS TO SLIDE ITS TO LATE TO RECOVER. CASE IN POINT, MY BROTHER IN LAW ALMOST DIED DRIVING HIS SLK WITH BAD TIRE IN THE REAR, TIRE COMPANY SOLD HIM NEW TIRES AND PUT THEM IN THE FRONT ONLY. HE LOST CONTROL ON A TURN IN THE RAIN AND TOTALLED THE CAR, LUCKILY HE WAS IN A BENZ ,

They are correct. Look at NASCAR drivers....probably the best drivers in the world for negotiating out of a blown tire. Almost EVERYTIME a rear tire blows,the car goes into the infield or causes a multicar wreck. When a front one blows.....they usually steeer out of it. Not always,but most of the time.

As an auto mechanic myself, I can't agree with this. Apologies.

Before I move on, I will note that yes, it is EASIER to stop understeer resulting from lack of front end grip, but that does not necessarily make it SAFER. If you are an unskilled driver its likely the better option, but if you have a reasonable amount of skill, you'll be less likely to crash by putting the good tires on the front and taking on the potential for oversteer.

I live in northern Ohio, and every year I repair crash damage that resulted from worn tires on one end or another, and nine times out of ten its when the tires in the FRONT were worn that something went wrong. The sole exceptions are when the rear tires were worn to near-baldness and could not provide any natural grip on a road that was not bone dry. I've always found that a reasonably competent driver can control an oversteering car better than and understeering one, and I've several times personally shattered people's notions to the contrary.

Perhaps the incidents which occur in my area are because of idiot out-of-towners who have never driven through anything close to a northern Ohio winter, but we nonetheless advise new tires go on the front to ALL of our custoemrs, and we have been thanked for it on MANY occasions when a customer has told us a story of saving an oversteering car in a situation where if they'd UNDERsteered it would have been impossible to recover ad complete their turn(left into a parking lot, usually) before oncoming cars would have hit them. Most recently we were told this by a 71-year-old woman who had always put the good tires on the back before coming to us, and had a few times in the past been in a crash because of it.

I've been in this situation myself. I've ALWAYS had a safer outcome to an incident with the good tires on the front. Nowadays I make enough money that I never have to replace just two tires, but our customers continually inform us that putting them there turns out to be better for them.

Experience out here says the experts are wrong. They can talk about the general behavior of the car all they want, but the skill of the driver does a whole lot more than positioning of the tires ever will. And because of that, anytime someone tries to challenge my stance on this, I am personally capable of climbing into virtually any car and proving it.

The "experts" are simply try to protect the company from idiots who would sue them over their own stupidity, regardless of where the tires were put. The information only helps people who probably shouldn't actually be allowed to drive in less-than-perfect weather.

I completely agree with Formula Fox. I have driven FWD drive cars in Minneapolis, KC & Omaha for the past 16 winters and I've always done better in bad weather with the better tires in front.

Once you start to understeer in the snow, that's it - you're going in that direction and there's very little you can do to change it. I simply don't understand how one can say "you have a better chance of maintaining control of the car if the front wheels slide than if the rear wheels slide". No. That just isn't true. You're not in control - you're going in a straight line whether you like it or not. If you oversteer, and you have good tires in front, a quick flick of the wheel towards where your back-end is going will lock it back in and you can go on your merry way.

As an Alaskan, I drove this whole last winter with the better studded tires on the rear and older worn summer tires on the front.
I have a 1986 VW Vanagon with rear engine/rear wheel drive, “Detroit” locking differential.
I figure that the condition of the front tires dictates my speed. If I had the traction up front, the rear would be over taking me all the time! Provided I could get the van moving to begin with.
If I drive fast enough that the front would fail to take a corner, then I am going too fast for conditions!
This is first year that I haven’t had studs all the way around. When I did, I’ve always had the more worn tires/studs in the front.
This strategy has worked well for me for the last 24 1/2 years and the 345,000 miles I’ve clocked on the odometer.
As I see it, from ice on the ground all winter perspective, new tires should go on the rear on a rear wheel drive.
The debate over front wheel drive rages on….. In early 80’s I had a VW rabbit with studded front and non-studded rear and what excitement I had taking a corner and having the rear end wrap 360 around the front.
Tough decision over needing traction in front so that you can even get going! vrs traction on the rear so you don’t spin out. With studs on all 4, the Rabbit was much less likely to spin out. But when it did, it was still the rear racing the front down the road! It is probably right to have better traction in rear to head off a spin out, but with more worn tires/studs in front, one risks likelihood of being stuck spinning front tires on ice more often. Many people in Alaska chance the better tire up front in order to keep from getting stuck.
I understand that in the trucking industry, they put new tires on the front, for sake that the tire is new and uninjured from hitting any road hazards. The front tire is rotated into the back joining 3 other tires. If a rear tire blows, 3 others are there to cover. If the front tire blows, heaven help you!

LeEric, the problem is that you don't HAVE to be going too fast for conditions for something to happen. I would expect that as an Alaskan you would know this(I have family in Alaska, all of whom agree with me on this matter). You can be driving in a perfectly safe manner for the conditions, and all you have to do is hit the brakes in a way that shouldn't cause a problem, and BAM! all of a sudden you're sliding. Remember, we're dealing with WORN TIRES, they will NOT behave the same way a proper tire will. Even the most safe driving habits guarantee nothing at all. Its better to favor some level of potential control over going straight on into another car or a guardrail.

gotta agree with formula fox on this one. every time i hear the "goods on the rear" argument they NEVER talk about driver skill/training. after 36 years of driving both fwd and rwd cars on both public roads and racetracks, i've never had a fwd car lose the rear end unless i was trying to make it happen. rwd...different story. most drivers simply have not been trained well enough and don't know what to do when experiencing either understeer or overstreer conditions.

I had an argument with my boss today on a car that came in. She wanted two tires but needed all 4. Policy says better on the rear but with the way her alignment was wearing the tires it would be hard to go from Nashville TN back home to Memphis TN. How do i know this well the two tires we replaced blew out as she was on her way to Nashville. I said that the tires wouldn't make the drive. He said in a very insulting manor that the industry standard is that the better go on the rear. For fear of insulting his lack of knowledge i did as i was told. i just hope she got home safely.