Best Tires on the Front or Rear?

My girlfriend went to get new tires today. I called her and to my surprise she only got two new ones as recommended by the tire shop. Ok, but then she said they put them one the rear, I always thought the best tires went on the front for better control.

 

I'm with you on this one.

 

edited for misinformation...

 

The 2 new tires should always go in the rear regardless of which are the drive wheels. It's not intuitive I know.

Hydroplaning or otherwise losing traction up front will cause understeer which is relatively easy to control. Losing traction in the rear will induce oversteer which is much more dangerous and difficult to control. To compound the problem, when braking weight is transfered to the front which increases traction on the the front tires but reduces traction on the rear tires. Therefore even a minor emergency braking can induce oversteer in standing water with worn rear tires.

https://youtu.be/HdSf0KJie_E



For more reading

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52

 

I agree with the above statement. A person can control the front tires by steering. A person cannot control the rear.

 

Thanks for posting this and the information. She was kind of stressed out about it and wanted to go back there. Me, I was wondering about why only two new tires? considering the time and hassle to get just two installed, not to mentioned on the future rotations, at some point the two worn ones will be on the back.

 

Thankfully you live in SD so rain isn't an issue for 3/4 of the year. I'd try and rotate them to the front during the summer to help even out the wear. It's annoying to have to think about such things which is why I generally just buy 4 new tires but sometimes 2 just makes financial sense.