New tires installed on the rear end of a FWD vehicle

If the tires in the back are better than the front. You want the better tires in the front. If the tires blow out, the car won't spin out of control. Now if the tires blew out if they were up front, good luck. Replace them all.

 

The logic is this, rear tires don't wear out on a FWD car, but they get old. If you never rotate your tires, you will end up with old tires on the back with 80K miles on them waiting to blow out.

 

There are two schools of thought with this one.

1 - A blowout in the rear is the worst possible place to have one. The car becomes much harder to control than a blowout in the front. Regardless of the car's drivetrain alignment, the best tires should always go in the rear to prevent this.

2 - On a front-wheel drive vehicle, all of the car's rotational force is coming from the front. On any vehicle, all of the steering is done from the front. Both of these wear factors will lead to the front tires wearing out quicker. Always keep (and rotate) the best tires in the front.



Like you, I'm of opinion 2. Keep the best ones up front at all times. Because on a FWD car, that's where all the wear is occurring, and (hence) where you're most likely to develop a blowout - which in any case, is not good. This one comes with the added benefit of the best steering traction and road grip when accelerating. Failure in either of these categories can be just as dangerous as a blowout.

 

I was thinking that newer tires should be in front too.

But... Why New Front Tires on Your Back Wheels Are a Good Idea

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/4243992

 

It's Discounts way of getting you to buy tires sooner. They place the older tires on front wich in turn will wear faster wich will make you have to get new front tires. When it's all done you'll have bought all four tires within weeks.

BTW discount claims to price match but go to Onlinetires.com find your tires call them to see if they will. In my case they wouldn't. Even after shipping and paying install I came out $150 less thatn Discount Tires.

 

I think everybody has answered your question. Funny that they're doing this on their own. When we've put replaced tires on our FWD cars, we've always had to specifically request for this to be done. It might save some money on tires, but the ride quality most definitely suffers.

 

I agree with DT. There are different theories out there.

This has always been Discount Tires policy.

I was in there a few months ago and explained that the 2 new tires I was buying for my wife's car were to be put on the front. The salesman basically told me that I was putting my wife and kid's life in danger by putting worn tires on the back (never mind the fact these tires were less than a year old and still had 8/32 on them). Didn't have the heart to tell the guy that I had much more knowledge, experience and training than he had with regards to tires, steering/suspension and alignments.

 

The better tires should always be in front on a FWD vehicle.

 

Except, my mom actually called Discount Tire today to ask to get my brother's car tires rotated, and they do it for free. I don't think it's a ploy, probably the logic others have mentioned.