Is replacing only 2 tires okay?

[ryanee182]

My front-right tire picked up a nail last week and I brought it to Firestone for repair. I got a call a few hours later saying the bead ripped off the tire when attempting to dismount it! They admitted fault and are ordering me a new tire at no charge, and they put my matching brand-new spare on. Their plan is to put the new tire on the front-left, so I have 2 new tires on the front, and partially worn rears and spare. All tires will be exactly the same except for wear. The rears are at 14/32, and the new tires will be 21/32 tread depth.

The guy assured me that since it is a 4WD (Part Time transfer case) and not AWD, this solution will be okay. He said "If it was AWD, I'd likely be buying you 4 new tires."

Is the difference in tread depth going to cause any issues while in 4WD?

 

[ridenby]

No,it will be OK

 

[J-Thompson]

You will be fine
I rolled out with 2 brand new and 2 worn ,about 50%
LTB's for a year

 

[BIRDMAN]

"technically" replacing 2 tires is only advisable as long as 2 of the tires have 75% + tread, and they would go on the front. New tires go on the rear. Putting anything less than decent tires on the front is really asking for trouble, especially with a 4wd vehicle you will compromise your traction. that's the only real reason is safety...it won't hurt your 4WD either way.

 

[Porkchop]

it not a problem as long as they are the same. you can also do that on your own by taking a few steps on how to replace a wheel. it could save you a lot of time and money rather than going to a shop.

A wheel or a tire?

What about tire rotation or dont you plan to do any.

 

[OleNatesOlds]

Ahh. A debate that has been getting heated up in the last several years: When replacing only two tires, where do the new ones go - front or rear? I've always heard the front because the steering wheels need more traction. Plus they usually wear faster in the front and will "catch up" to the rears. Then I read recently put new on the rear because the majority of weight is towards the front and a spin in wet conditions is more likely with worn rears. And then another monkey wrench in the debate is: FWD vs. RWD vs. AWD...

 

[JeepMaster]

How did this work out for you? I'm concerned about balance and tread as well. Truck repair questions like this pop up alot and are fun to try to figure out.

 

[ryanee182]

So far so good! I haven't noticed any problems in 2 or 4 wheel drive.

 

[lautinjr]

All ways mount new to rear no matter front, rear, or AWD
Install Two New Tires on the Rear Axle - YouTube

Firesone knows this it's there policy to always mount to rear unless a customer insist on front, and then only after the customer has been given appropriate information and a Advisory comment is mad on RO.

 

[tjkj2002]

All ways mount new to rear no matter front, rear, or AWD
Install Two New Tires on the Rear Axle - YouTube

Firesone knows this it's there policy to always mount to rear unless a customer insist on front, and then only after the customer has been given appropriate information and a Advisory comment is mad on RO.

Sad they have to do this since poeple are to cheap to actually buy tires untill they have to.I trash my tires when they get to 10/32" tread depth which is what most passenger car tires start out with brand new.I want to say at least 75% of all vehicles that come through my shop have less then 5/32" tread depth and the owners just don't care.I wish cops would enforce it but almost all states it's actually illegal to drive on the road if your tires have less then 2/32"-3/32" of tread depth.

 

[Dave]

Sad they have to do this since poeple are to cheap to actually buy tires untill they have to.I trash my tires when they get to 10/32" tread depth which is what most passenger car tires start out with brand new.I want to say at least 75% of all vehicles that come through my shop have less then 5/32" tread depth and the owners just don't care.I wish cops would enforce it but almost all states it's actually illegal to drive on the road if your tires have less then 2/32"-3/32" of tread depth.

Not always being "cheap"........Sometimes you are broke with a lot of bills. When my Bronco needed tires and I was hurtin for cash and couldn't afford all 4, I got 2 BFG A/T's and paid cash and put them on the front. Ran like that for 30+ days on and off road too with no issues. Then the following month after I got paid, I got 2 more matching ones and put them on the back. That was a long time ago.



Dave

 

[tjkj2002]

Not always being "cheap"........Sometimes you are broke with a lot of bills. When my Bronco needed tires and I was hurtin for cash and couldn't afford all 4, I got 2 BFG A/T's and paid cash and put them on the front. Ran like that for 30+ days on and off road too with no issues. Then the following month after I got paid, I got 2 more matching ones and put them on the back. That was a long time ago.



Dave

I understand that but most I see wait till they have a blowout,then buy one tire,wait for another to blowout and buy one tire.We are even doing Blizzak changeovers and it's July since the owners can not afford tires.

Can't tell you how many poeple come in looking for cheap used tires,well we can not sell used tires.Or customers bring in there own used tires wanting them installed and they have less then 3/32" tread on them,which by law we can not install.The real good one is when they come in with 15 year old tires,which again by law we can not install any tire that is 10+ years old and they use the excuse they "look brand new".


You want cheap about a year ago I put a set of Primewell PZ900(google,very cheap and terrible tires) on a $120,000 Mercedes SL550 and the owner asked for a discount because he could barely afford those junk tires.

 

[lautinjr]

I understand that but most I see wait till they have a blowout,then buy one tire,wait for another to blowout and buy one tire.We are even doing Blizzak changeovers and it's July since the owners can not afford tires.

Can't tell you how many poeple come in looking for cheap used tires,well we can not sell used tires.Or customers bring in there own used tires wanting them installed and they have less then 3/32" tread on them,which by law we can not install.The real good one is when they come in with 15 year old tires,which again by law we can not install any tire that is 10+ years old and they use the excuse they "look brand new".


You want cheap about a year ago I put a set of Primewell PZ900(google,very cheap and terrible tires) on a $120,000 Mercedes SL550 and the owner asked for a discount because he could barely afford those junk tires.

God those PZ900's are awful. Can't complain my DD has Federal 595's on it, but actually they have been great just after a year the compound no longer grabs just spins. To many heat cycles I guess. Have a set of new wheels with RE-11's going on next.

 

[twack]

haha just do what i do and put the tallest tread on the right rear and do a burn out! problem solved.........you think im joking.....

 

[Outofideas]

I have people come into our dealer for an oil change. Show them there bald tires and they are more concerned if their car got the free wash and vacuum!



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[sota]

my rules with tires...
FWD: "new" on the front, diameters need to be close
RWD: "new" on the back, diameters need to be close
AWD: "matching" all around

I rotate mine every other oil change (oil every 3000, 6000 for the rotation) so I generally never have un-even wear issues on any of my vehicles. when tires get low I start planning when they'll get replaced. driving I'm always paying attention to how well they're gripping. if they're starting to noticably fall off and I feel it's becoming a hazzard, they get replaced. period. if they're approaching the wear bars and winter is coming, they get replaced. the ONLY time we potentially had mis-matched tire sizes on the one car was when my wife was working at this one facility and she was getting a puncture every few weeks, and I had a set of OEM take off wheels and tires from the previous car she wrecked that were an exact match to the tires on her car at the time. that was an annoying year.

 

[Irishguy24]

recently must have P'd someone off pretty good to have 7 nails in one of my rear tires, had a slow leak so i didnt think to much of it, took it in before making an 1800 mile trip up to colorado last month and the tire had to be replaced...no problem they couldnt fix it and road hazard warranty replaced the tire for free....to bad tire kingdom refused to mount the tire for me, saying it would destroy blah blah blah....so 3600 miles later and a few trips to the mountain trails i love so much the tire that i took across the street to have mounted has given me no problems and surprise surprise....no issues with anything on my jeep, my 06 KJ being my 3rd jeep, but i love it when someone tells me what is going to be bad for my vehicle, mounting the new tire is just like driving around on the spare, it's there for a reason

 

[lautinjr]

recently must have P'd someone off pretty good to have 7 nails in one of my rear tires, had a slow leak so i didnt think to much of it, took it in before making an 1800 mile trip up to colorado last month and the tire had to be replaced...no problem they couldnt fix it and road hazard warranty replaced the tire for free....to bad tire kingdom refused to mount the tire for me, saying it would destroy blah blah blah....so 3600 miles later and a few trips to the mountain trails i love so much the tire that i took across the street to have mounted has given me no problems and surprise surprise....no issues with anything on my jeep, my 06 KJ being my 3rd jeep, but i love it when someone tells me what is going to be bad for my vehicle, mounting the new tire is just like driving around on the spare, it's there for a reason

TK has over 1500 locations and is a major player. That means people are law suit crazy with them so the company has to be conservative on anything that could be a bad situation unfortunately.

 

[dude1116]

haha just do what i do and put the tallest tread on the right rear and do a burn out! problem solved.........you think im joking.....

I've done it...

Anyways...what would you guys say is the best way to do a rotation with 4 even tires? (4 tire rotation, not 5)

Scratch that. Tire rack helps out: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=43