Scenario: You have two fairly good tires on your truck and two not so good.

Do you put the good tires on the front or the rear?

 

Good ones always go to the front.

 

Why on the front?

 

It will be easier to control the pick-up if a rear blows instead of a front.

 

With the backend flopping around, you don't think there is a possibility of over steering? Especially if the roads are wet?

 

I would rather be able to counter steer and try and get the rear end back under me than be buzzing along at 70 and have a steer tire go and suck me into the ditch.

 

1.When the roads wet, you want to be able to steer don't you?
2.All your weight is up front, so you need good tires there.
3.What DB said.
4.The good ones will probably keep in balance longer and not be as inclined to vibrate your steering wheel.

 

I believe on semis they can only retread rear tires, not steer tires. That leads me to believe that the good should go on the front.

 

Good on the front so as to steer in case one of the bad ones on the back blows. You don't want to go end over end if the front ones blow. (That might be extreme, but it's been known to happen.)

 

I have always head the best tirs on the front as well, for the reasons mentioned...

 

I Don't ride on bad tires- except maybe to get to the next exit.........

 

Thats correct, Semis must run Virgin fronts. You ALWAYS run the good ones on the front!

 

Acording to several tire manufaturers (michelene mainly) put your best tires in the rear. The reason is on a wet road if you let off the fuel from a hydroplan lose of traction probly the front will bite almost right away. a understear is much easier to handle. than an overstear created by the rear end on water and braking or getting off the throttle on a loose rear end only makes it worse. i do concure with the thoery of blow outs and all but a worn tire not worn out tire will do better on the front than the rear for the reason of normal driving saftey.

 

You can't compare semi-trucks to little toy pick-up trucks.

A semi has a tandem rear with dual tires on the rear; whereas, there are only single tires on the steer axle.

On a four, or six, wheeled vehicle, it is much easier to control a blown tire on the steer axle, than it is on the rear.

Plain old physics also come into play in this, as the rear will drop down suddenly, in the event of a blown tire, making loss of control much more likely.

It is not such a shock to steering dynamics to have the front drop at speed, especially if loaded, or pulling a trailer.

Also, better tread on the front can lead to the rears losing traction and trying to overtake the front, especially on a front-wheel drive vehicle.

 

Just my .02, as a person who has 1.27 million miles (logged) driving experience, I want the good tires on the front. If I skid, be it hydroplane, ice, hard braking, whatever, I can steer into a skid if the skid starts in the rear. I can't steer into a skid that starts from the front. Ever try to turn your back tires? Kind of hard. And in a blowout, it would depend on how you react, more than tire location. Stomping on the brake is never the right solution. I have blown steer tires on semis running over 70, and never had a problem controlling it to a stop. I have blown rear tires on pickups, and experienced only mild squirming. I also, due to my lack of patience in high school, completely lost a front tire and wheel when I forgot to put the nut on the wheel bearings. That wasn't fun as I had 44 inch tires on. Anyhow, sorry for the long post, just my opinion as to why good tires should be on front. I have seen more instances of wrecks because of bad steer tires and bad reactions than bad drive tires, cars included.