[FC] Put Best Tires on Rear

[lechevrier at earthlink.net]

> ... i ALWAYS want the best on  front. i want nothing but 
> safe tires and brake systems on my cars ...

Technically, if all you paranoid folks want to be safe,  one wants to put the best pair of tires on the rear axle. Yeah, I know, this is contrary to normal intuition, but after a fatal wintertime accident in central Oregon involving children, new snow tires, a fwd minivan, and the subsequent lawsuit against the tire shop, there has been a reasonable amount of publicity over this -- one sure doesn't want to expect to pull into any tire shop in the pacific northwest and expect to get just two new snow tires mounted on the front of any front wheel drive.

"When tires are replaced in pairs in situations like these, the new tires should always be installed on the rear axle and the partially worn tires moved to the front. The reason is because new tires on the rear axle help the driver more easily maintain control on wet [and slippery] roads since deeper treaded tires are better at resisting hydroplaning. ... Ideally tires should be replaced in complete sets. However when tires are replaced in pairs, the new pair of tires (assuming the vehicle is equipped with the same size tires all of the way around) should always be installed on the rear axle and the existing partially worn tires moved to the front axle." And, if the tires are worn out, replace them!

The logic here is that one has little control over the rear tires (even less on a fwd), and at least there is a steering wheel hooked to the fronts.  See the rest of the above article at one of your favorite internet tire purveyors' websites, http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52

Some of this 'Best on Front' talk comes from the days before tubeless tires, when tire blow outs were much more common, and one on the front was often catastrophic. Since this wisdom is often handed down father-to-son, you know it has to be true -- just not anymore!  If you are still running bias ply tires with tubes on the front of your 1950's Chrysler New Yorker wagon, maybe it still applies, but since you aren't, it doesn't! 

Bill Strickland