Replace just two tires?

A reasonable idea. You are supposed to put the new tires on the rear axle so that in the event that the tires offer mismatched handling, the car will understeer.

 

*bump*

Is this still true? I've read elsewhere (non-Prius sources) to put the higher tread tires on the front axle. Also, would the difference say in a pair of Michelin Defender T+H and the OEM Yokohama Avid S33D on the same vehicle cause any issues (assuming the Yokohama are 6/32", Defender's are 10/32" new)?

 

Too serious for plug-repair?

 

2009 hello

 

Original Post was 2009...I suspect the situation has been dealt with.

Everything I still read today and can find on the issue STILL says put the better tires on the rear axle. I can't find an opposite recommendation anywhere.

 

Ah, ok.

 

Why is that the recommendation? Which side tends to wear out faster?

 

Better tires should be at rear axle because then the car is much less likely to oversteer and spin around.

On front wheel drive car front tires wear faster.

That gives you two choices (if you don’t want to change the tires early). Either rotate the tires around often enough to keep all of them in basically the same condition. Or always just buy new tires for rear axle and put old tires on front axle.

 

I bought one cheap replacement tire for the Prius v, same or higher speed rating, and higher treadwear rating, and put it on the rear, nervous about how the different tread depths might affect things. It was rotated to the front, so far no ill effects but we’re a low mileage family, about 22k miles on it to date.

 

Someone living in Canada/near Mendel please buy him a cup of coffee, or something....

 

I'd be curious as to where you found that alternative suggestion.
Since if you simply google "Best Tread Tires Rear or Back"....
You get a unanimous return of never ending "hits" all recommending that you put the best tread on the rear axle.

It's a TIDAL WAVE of this is what you want to do in that situation.- I'm not swimming against that.

 

Just remember that once you put a pair of new tires on rear, you are NOT TO DO TIRE ROTATION every 5k, unless new tires purchased are inferior to the older front tires and wears faster than front pair. With mismatched pair and tires with more tread on the rear scheme, doing tire rotation will defeat the purpose of having better tires on rear for safety reason. This means your front tires ALWAYS wears faster than rear tires. When your front tires are down to tread you need new tires, you have to buy TWO new tires and put that on the REAR and bring the existing rear tires up to front. Since you are not rotating tires, you will likely void your tire tread wear warranty and maybe other warranty such as road huzzard as well. At some point in future, you decide to purchase set of 4 new tires again, then you will need to start doing tire rotation again if you want even wear on all four.

 

Note tire expiration....verify if the tires are not expired......Just like service says mileage or time same for tires...

 

IMHO, this is a case of insurance companies and large tire companies influencing common sense.

The front tires should have the best tread for turning, especially front wheel drive cars where traction and control are combined.

The rumor that having better tread on the rear in case of a slide.....(keep the best rubber on the front to prevent lightning as of control) is moot with abs.

The front tires wear out at three times the rate as the rear tires, putting new tires on the rear means the front tires are already used, and will wear much faster than the rears, so it will be more dangerous and cost more overall, the tire jobbers sell more tires, the car isn’t as safe and the insurance company is making up needless rules.

It’s almost like the medical industry, insurance companies dictate what gets taught in medical school, and they dictate what procedures are used by hospitals, and they have no form of oversight, all they want is the most profit.

 

I stand corrected. I think I misread / misinterpreted what I found about replacing tires to the back. Thanks, everybody.

If Costco is having the 1¢ tire installation, and I buy the set of 4 for the discount, but I only install 2 now - would I be saving any money by installing a set of 2 now and installing the other 2 later when my current good pair of tires wears out? My good pair are Yokohama S33D, about 4/32-6/32 left. I'd have to pay the $15/tire installation at the later time, and I'm assuming disposal fee. I have a feeling it's negligible savings and would probably prefer the better overall handling and traction.

Your insights are much appreciated!

 

Tires have a manufacture date, typically two digits representing the week of the year (1 through 52) followed by two digits for the year. There is no expiration date, and opinions vary, it could be anywhere between 6 and 10 years from first use, how long they were in storage before use "may" be a factor. Ten years is pretty much the maximum?

I'm closing in on that with our low mileage Pilots.

 

Can go many many more years from experience. The key is checking them, once every two (mostly) or three weeks (at the most) like I do. I can tell a nail has gotten into one just by checking pressures because it will be down 1 PSI or more from the other side.....

More tread depth can help in a turn in water/bad weather, and less likely for a hazard to penetrate. Once a tire has failed control is easier if the failure is a front tire.

Still a good point is what happens when they are rotated as I think was alluded to....

 

The last mechanic I went to said they are rotated left/right and not front/back. Which seems to be the case, since after rotating, my fronts are more worn than the backs.

 

Yeah, I agree with you. If you are set to purchase 4 tires, it might be best to just change all 4 tires now. Especially your good tires only have 4/32-6/32 inch of tread left. I don't know what new tires your are thinking of getting, but most new tires comes with ~10/32 inch tread to start. Rule of thumb for having mismatched pair of tires is that there are at most 3/32 inch of tread difference between mismatched tires. Anything bigger difference, you might be compromising your safety and comfort. If you put a brand new tires in front there may be too much tread depth differences in front and rear. For purely economical reason, you decide to save two tires for later use, you will be spending $30 for installation of two tires every time front pair goes bad from now on. I would think by 3rd tire changes you would loose all the saving you got in first place by buying a set of 4 (usually $50 to $100 rebate). In any case, if your good tires are only 1-2 years old and have at least 2/3 of original tread left, you might save some by purchasing two tires, but in your case I think the saving is negligible, IMHO. I don't know how many miles you have on the OEM Yoko, but 4 years and more than half tread gone (Yokohama S33D has 11/32" tread when new), I think you got good use out of OEM tires.