Tire wear, more front or back?

Bought a set of used tires and wheels to try out on my 09 TRD Sport double cab 4x4. I’m in tx, so it’s 2wd 99% of time as daily driver with no load or tow. 2 of the 4 tires have better treads.

I’ve read plenty that it’s best to use the 2 better tires in the rear for any vehicle as it’s safer to prevent from oversteer. But also read due to front engine weight, braking and steering, it’s best to have the 2 better tires in front.

so question for owners of Tacoma double cab that have bought brand new set of 4 tires, but not tow or haul much, do front or rear wear faster?

 

Always rear as they will always wear faster. Cross rotate for best wear.

If you keep best in front there would never be a rotation needed. You'd just burn rears and replace 2 at a time.

 

i would say that the fronts wear differently than the rears, but not more or less than. on the fronts, the outer edge wears more than the rear from turns

 

Front tires wear faster, they do 100% of the steering and about 75% of the braking and they support more weight most of the time. The outside edges will always wear faster and the more aggressive you drive the greater the difference. That's why we rotate tires.

It depends on how badly they are worn. If the worse 2 tires are close to being near the end of their usable life then put them on the front and the better tires on the rear. When the 2 on the front get to the point of needing replacement buy 4 new tires and keep them rotated so they will wear out at the same time.

If all 4 have plenty of tread left put the better ones on the front and rotate as usual until they are worn out then buy 4 new tires.

On a 4X4 it is important that you have 4 identical tires with very near the same tread remaining. You NEVER want to have 2 different size tires on a 4X4. If you do, then you effectively have different axle ratios with the 2 sizes. And as tires wear down from use you end up roughly one size smaller than you started with when a tire nears the end of it's life. On a 4X4 if you have 40,000 miles on a set of tires and decide to only replace the 2 on the rear axle with new tires you now have a different axle ratio in the rear than in the front. If you operate in 4X4 you risk seriously damaging the truck. Even on a 4X2 it is best for handling if all 4 tires are the same, but at least you won't damage the drive train with different size tires on each axle.

 

In my truck and every rear wheel drive vehicle I've owned and worked on the rear tires wear faster.

 

The fronts will get more wear due to taking turns, it has happened to every vehicle I've owned the past 35 years. Unless of course you do drifting or burnouts all the time. I would say if you're in an area that gets snow, leave the better ones on the rear for winter. Otherwise I would put the better tires on the front and they should even out in time for the next rotation. What do your current tires look like? Are the fronts worn more on the outside or inside compared to the rear tires?

 

I can argue both sides, based on circumstances and vehicle use.

For regular pavement driving I land on 'front', due to steering & braking loads.

I'd put the good ones on the front and rotate at 5k and just keep an eye on them.

 

Fronts wear the outside edges more and tend to cup more on aggressive tires. Rears wear the centers or evenly across depending on inflation. Rotating the tires in a consistent rotation between left, right, front, and back keeps the uneven wear to a minimum. Even better if you can rotate in a full sized spare. I generally try to avoid the wear out two tires at a time and replace just two strategy. I like to keep an even 5 tire rotation so that if one tire dies I have an evenly worn matched replacement to use. Then I'll buy a new tire of the size/model I want to use for my next set of tires and do a 4 tire rotation for the remaining life of the 4 tires (assuming they're significantly worn enough that I can't rotate in a new tire, in which case I'll buy another matching tire to the set of 4).

 

If I had all 4 brand new tires, the keyword for sure is proper rotation to get the most out of the tires.

However, as I had mentioned in my original post, these are 4 tires I bought used. 2 have about 50%, and other 2 have about 25% tread left. I know that I'll need to get better or new tires eventually, but these tires came with the wheels that I really wanted. Thus the reason I thought I would check with the Tacoma owners to see if I should put the better 2 tires up front or in the back as I know the tire wear can be vehicle specific.

I know from reading many reviews and in talking with Discount Tires, the consensus seemed to be rear to minimize oversteer. But from a practical standpoint of trying to even it out with all 4 tires eventually, front seemed to be the logical choice as I don't tow or haul things, and 4x4 is rarely used as this truck is my daily drive in the big city (Dallas metro).

Anyway, I really appreciate everyone's comments as it seemed to be a split still. For now, I think I may swap the better 2 to the front this weekend and go with that for now?

 

1. On a front wheel drive vehicle, the fronts wear faster.
2. On a rear wheel drive vehicle, or 4 wheel drive vehicle, the rears wear faster.
3. On a 4 wheel drive vehicle with a mechanical4 wheel drive, you need to have all 4 tires with a similar amount of wear. Regular rotation works fine, the amount of differential between the front and rear wear won't cause a problem. If you have different size tires, the mechanical system will bind up as a worn out tire is a smaller diameter and will rotate more than the good tires.
4. Different size tires on any position on any vehicle will screw up your ABS as it will think one tire is slipping. Likely will screw up an AWD or anti skid system on newer vehicles, for the same reason.
5. AWD vehicles tend to be front wheel drive for most driving so I'd say the fronts wear faster.
6. On a rear wheel drive, the front tires do wear differently, which is why its good to move them to the rear on a rotation. The edges shouldn't be wearing too much on front if you have your vehicle aligned properly and keep the inflation correct.

If I had 25% tires and 50% tires and 4WD or rear wheel drive, I'd put the good ones on the back and rotate them once the wear was the same front and rear, or replace them.

I've driven about 1.5 million miles and worn out a lot of tires.