Is It Better To Put New Tires on the Front or Back? -EricTheCarGuy

I waited for some time to make the video "Is It Better To Put New Tires on the Front or Back?".

It all started with a social media post I did in 2015 about the subject. There was a video in that post that showed putting new tires in the back was the best option. Here's a link to that video.

Social media post

I didn't agree with that and wanted to do some testing of my own. This video shows my results.

Some facts about the test vehicle. It's a FWD Acura Vigor with a 60/40 weight distribution. It's been aligned and has a good working suspension.

4 new tires are always the best option, but if you can only afford 2, I say put them on the front.

What are your thoughts?

Camera: Brian Kast
Eric Cook

Thanks for watching!

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[drlelis]

This video is a good demonstration of the benefits of newer tires being up front, however out of personal experience I'm still a firm believer of newer tires in the rear. I drive super defensively so stopping distance and my ability to suddenly turn aren't as big an issue for me as oversteer is. Yes I definitely feel the increased understeer and stopping distance in non-dry conditions, but with the way I drive, I give myself enough room to account for it.

However when I ran more worn tires in the rear, I had multiple instances of oversteer - some of which almost led to accidents. Constantly worrying about oversteering does not justify the benefits of the better traction up front with the way I drive, in my opinion. Since I do a lot of highway and open road driving, I personally value rear stability more. Imagine making a 300 mile road trip with the back constantly kicking out and you might understand my point a little more.

I don't mean to discredit your video at all, just felt like sharing my experience about the subject a little.

[LoganAragon]

I've wondered this same thing for a long time and I really appreciate the testing you did Eric. I am of the opinion that tire and insurance companies tell you to put the best tires on the back for liability reasons. You are more likely to lose traction in the rear with bald tires in the rear than with tires deep in tread and losing traction in the rear is more dangerous than losing it in the front...or at leased that is how the argument goes. I agree with you Eric, the best solution is just buy 4 new tires.

[AKADEMIKparty]

thank you Eric for all the effort you've put into making this video.

[RobertAhrens]

This was very interesting. Just last week I took my car in to have the tires rotated. The rear tires were better and the front tires were wearing unevenly. Back in a former lifetime (1964-1983) I worked at my father's service station. At that time, the rule was, "put the better tires on the front". My tire guy would NOT rotate my tires because, "the better tires must be on the rear." I told him that I was rotating tires before he was born and that was not the rule back then. Could he tell me when the "rule" changed and why? He threw up his hands and said, "you obviously know more about this than I do!" and stalked off in a huff. I have been a customer of that tire store for better than 20 years ... and I am within a millimeter of taking my business elsewhere when I buy new tires in a month or so. BUT, I went home and googled the issue. As others have noted here, the published advice of tire manufacturers does seem to have changed over the years and the "better on back" seems to be the rule today. And the reasoning is about control when hydroplaning. Better to be unable to turn (front skid) than to have the rear swap ends suddenly (rear skid). Makes sense in theory - though your empirical experience seems different. But what has changed since the "old days"? Well, back then, our concern was about control after a blow out. Would you rather blow a front tire or a rear tire? Intuitively, I think we all believed that a car would be more controllable with a blow out on the rear than with one on the front. Remember, for example "Unsafe At Any Speed" - a book which gutted the poor little Corvair because of its tendency to have blow outs when turning ... and then flipping the car when the rim would dig into the asphalt. Maybe tires are better now and blow outs are not the concern that they were then? Anyway, it would seem that the issue is debatable (except to my tire guy). Thanks for the vid Eric. I always enjoy and learn from your videos!

[stupa]

All season tires are shit. Some decent winter tires are the way to go.

[brianludwig]

I grew up and learned how to drive in northern Wisconsin. I completely agree with everything you did and said in this video. If I only get 2 tires, they ALWAYS go on the front. I've worked as a technician for the big tire places, Good Year, Firestone, NTB. They all say put the new ones on the back then try to scare customers into buying 2 more for safety reasons. I actually had a "big wig" from Ohio Firestone office ask me one time if I ever had a blow out on the rear of a car. Yes, I have. In my full size truck doing 70MPH down the freeway. I pulled over and changed it and was on my way. If that would have been on the front I would have lost control and most likely crashed or worse. He had nothing to say. Sorry for the rambling. My experience tells me better tires always go on the front. Great video Eric!

[GRice]

A lot would depend on how worn the older tires are. If they are close to the end of their lives, then probably put the new ones on the rear. But if they have a lot of meat left, then put the new ones on the front. The front tires wear faster because most of the braking is done up front because of the weight shift forward. If you're lucky, the new front and old rear will then need to be replaced about the same time, and you can get all four tires next time. I never had a problem doing this, and if I did in the snow, I'd just drive slower in slippery conditions. It's all about the braking. SLOW DOWN!

[kobayashimaru]

I used to go by the rule of thumb that you put the newer rubber on the drive wheels. I think it depends on the car and the situation but I'm now of the opinion that front wheels are generally the better choice. Reason being that steering and braking are heavily front biased no matter the drive train configuration.

[WTGRacing]

Obviously the front should have more grip because drift car.

DISCLAIMER: TheLeafySpring does not condone mean skids on public roads.

[PotatoeChipz]

Eric, great demonstration. When money was short and I needed snows, I always opted to put them on the front while my half worn all-seasons stayed the back. I took this setup to an extreme (and stupid) test one morning when 2 inches of fresh powder was on a back-country paved road (upstate ny). Took the 60 degree turn quick on purpose and before I knew it I fishtailed, landed in a ditch and knocked out a wooden fence. That entire winter season aside from my dummy test with good tires on front were nothing short of being safe when sudden stops were necessary or going through tricky, day-to-day curvy road situations. The key to good handling is ultimately knowing your vehicle and knowing how to drive. Nonetheless, the tire companies will say "new to back, worn to front". They're strict to the fact that most vehicles have the most weight in the front and that weight will aid in more grip for less treaded tires. The understeer can be corrected easier because the majority of drivers don't know shit about driving safely or how their vehicle handles in different situations. So yeah, for drivers who know what they're doing, new tires on the front. If you don't know how to drive under a variety of diverse conditions, including rain, 4 new tires. In any snowbelt...4 snow tires is the ultimate.

[emiliorescigno]

I think the real lesson here is: 3/32nds is too low to be in the front OR the rear!

[ashzerodude]

Honda putting the horn in front of the signals and windshield controls as buttons is by far my favorite feature and I'm always stoked to see it in other models lol

[nousername]

As a person who does a lot of winter mileage and that tried both, it's always better to have the best tires in the front. That way you have a better change of avoiding something if ever the worst should happen. P.S. We have to have winter tires here in winter and you can get a big ticket if you don't.

[dpwellman]

Note: AWD systems (Subaru symmetrical, Audi quattro, etc) it is fairly crucial to replace all four tires at once. If one cannot or otherwise have to run "outsized" or spare, put the "bad" tires in the rear and pull the fuse/relay to put it into FWD until you can remedy the tire situation.

[Sumpula]

All these people who don't drive their cars in snowy and icy conditions many many months a year telling to put the better tires in the front :D And no-one believes us nordic people who do. Even at our driving license test its mandatory to go to a winter driving course on slippery special test facility to see how the car reacts in different situations and they say to _always_ put the better tires at the rear. So says all the insurance companies and experts on this matter. The better steering input drops dramatically when you go above the snail speed of 20-30mph that eric just did here and it induces snap oversteer which can't be corrected. You just become the passenger.

[trirycheman]

All I can say is, on my old FWD car, I installed new tires on the front, and put the "good" older tires to the rear. I was driving down a 4 lane road in the rain, with a slight curve to the right. A road I had driven in the same conditions for many years. The next thing I know, the rear of my car lifted (hydroplaned) and I went spinning into oncoming traffic. Learned my lesson. Either get 4 new tires, or put the 2 new on the rear. Snow is one thing, but rain is a different animal.

[Michal_]

there is one very important test missing - braking on a curve. This test shows how car really behaves with old tires on the rear wheels.

[Tomcat]

Great idea for a video! Looks like the comments are all over the place, but you demonstrated exactly why YOU like newer tires on front. I agree, and on my 4x4 at low speeds, this has been the best mix for me too... At higher speeds? The rear probably would slide out with a lesser tread depth. Surely everyone knows speed and momentum is the key to driving in bad winter conditions and adjusts properly

[williamcharles]

Eric, thanks for sharing your bone chilling findings. It took a lot of effort for you to go through those life saving experiments. Thanks

[silencer]

Hey Eric, i'm a first year automotive engineer(applied science) in the Netherlands. In class we had a discussion about this.

My teacher said that the reason why you would want to have your good tires on the back is because understeer is easier to compensate for than oversteer. So in most cases it is safer to have understeer.

And since your new tires are on the back, you will be far more likely to experience understeer.
Because the bad front tyres will loose traction before your new rear tyres.

I hope this makes sense to you.

Keep up making these videos!