[g11hoonigan]

Originally Posted by bouchy

A saying (for 2WD cars only...) is that better tyres (tyre thread) should be in the rear. Who knows why... especially when a vast majority of cars is FWD, so traction and also braking (it is well known fact that many FWD have only "cosmetic" rear brakes.)

...

So I've heard a few stories. The funny one was they said since most of the cars are FWD, these tire shops were sort of colluding, asking people to put old tires out front so they get worn out quicker, hence would be back sooner for tire replacement. Maybe there's some truth to that at some level.

But I think the real reason is worn out tires would have lesser traction on wet / slippery roads. When put on front, the car would tend to understeer during turns which is easier to control (for most ppl) than when put on the rear where car would tend to oversteer (harder to control for most ppl). This is exactly the situation on my G12 right now as I drove thru heavy rains in TX earlier today. But no biggie, my drift skills and reflexes are still excellent and I don't care if the worn out tires are either on the rear or front axle

[rob175]

I change my car's oil every 6,000 miles and EVERY OTHER oil change I rotate the tires. I typically get about 48,000 to 51,000 miles out of a set. But then again I'm an "easy" driver.

[Jason73]

Just replace one. How many dealers replace in pairs or all 4 when they sale used cars. If only one tire is bad I am sure they just do the one.

[glennbk]

And if there is a drastic difference, the tire shop can shave off some of the tread to bring it in line with the other tires. Tires with an extensive difference can affect rotational speed causing extra wear on the systems as a attempt to compensate. If your unaffected tires are at 5/32" or less then I recommend replacement of all tires. Most shops will give you cash back for used tires as long as they have 5/32" tread.

[dmanb2b]

replacing 2 is perfectly fine

[doug_999]

Originally Posted by bouchy

A saying (for 2WD cars only...) is that better tyres (tyre thread) should be in the rear. Who knows why...

Best tires ALWAYS go on the rears. See note above - having rear end come around is much harder to deal with than understeer.

And for the people talking “minimum legal tread depth” - something is wrong with you if you change your tires at the bare minimum. Welcome to hydroplane city.