Traditional automotive maintenance recommendations suggest changing all four tires at once when they reach the end of their useful life. And that makes perfect sense when tires have been rotated carefully and have worn evenly throughout their lifespan.
But sometimes, a driver may only be able to change two: maybe because poor alignment or improper inflation has caused two tires to wear dramatically differently from the other two, or because an unrepairable flat in one tire requires replacing a pair to keep the vehicle stable. And when that happens, where do you install the better pair? Do new tires go in the front or rear?
flat_tires“First of all,” you might ask, “Why, would I need to replace two, and not just the one bad tire?” Think about it like this: if you broke a heel on a worn pair of shoes, would you just buy one new shoe and wobble around wearing two shoes with different heel heights? Your car has similar needs: Just as you want every step you take to be stable, your car needs to have four good contact patches in order to handle, steer, and stop at its very best performance. Having a difference in the traction capabilities at each corner can lead to a dangerous loss of control, turning your car into a rolling disaster waiting to happen.
When installing two new tires instead of four, you first want to be sure that your new tires are the same size and tire type as the ones you are replacing. Next, you want to be sure that your dealer always installs the new tires on the rear axle of your vehicle. It doesn’t matter whether your vehicle is a front-, rear-, or all-wheel-drive car: if you can only replace two tires, they should ALWAYS go on the rear axle.