Just had a pair of new 235/45/19 Bridgestone Dueler D Sports fitted this afternoon on the rear of the 4007. We had a new pair fitted to the front in October last year. Front's are worn very slightly down to 6mm. Would be possible to swap the fronts with the backs so the new ones are on the front as almost all of the time the car is driven in 2WD mode, in order to even the wear rate up and get more usable life out of the fronts/give them slightly less of a hard time on the rear?. Have read online about doing this and opinion appears to be divided especially when it comes to 4WD drive trains. Some folk are saying that the best idea even for a 2WD car is to have any new tyres on the back, citing reasons of grip from the front compared to the rear and saying that if the front gets the new ones fitted which result in less grip to the front and more to the rear, the rear can 'break away' unexpectedly under severe steering/braking conditions. This was news to me, I always thought it was better to have new tyres on the front on a 2WD car. Apparently not.
Also, a few opinions mention that on a 4WD vehicle if you swap the fronts to the back then the difference in wear rates which affects circumference can upset the diff. But surely if that is the case and the wear rates are different as are the circumferences then the diff must already be getting 'upset' whether they are on the front or the back???. That bit in particular confuzzles me. I'm thinking if the difference is 3mm or less then it shouldn't make that much difference to the diff and 4WD system?. Even the owners manual recommends swapping tyres between axles, front to rear. But then my 4007 has manually switchable 4WD modes and not a full time/permanent system.
I'm off to get a Hunter Laser alignment carried out on the car as the rears were wearing badly on the outside edges compared to the fronts which on the last set were wearing badly on the inside edges so there's quite obviously something wrong with camber and toe-in there that needs addressed. I'll seek advice on the front to rear issue from the guy at my local place as he has a reputation for knowing what he is doing unlike some alignment outfits where the end result is only as good as the operators skill level.
So - any of you lot swap tyres front to rear?.
Also, a few opinions mention that on a 4WD vehicle if you swap the fronts to the back then the difference in wear rates which affects circumference can upset the diff. But surely if that is the case and the wear rates are different as are the circumferences then the diff must already be getting 'upset' whether they are on the front or the back???. That bit in particular confuzzles me. I'm thinking if the difference is 3mm or less then it shouldn't make that much difference to the diff and 4WD system?. Even the owners manual recommends swapping tyres between axles, front to rear. But then my 4007 has manually switchable 4WD modes and not a full time/permanent system.
I'm off to get a Hunter Laser alignment carried out on the car as the rears were wearing badly on the outside edges compared to the fronts which on the last set were wearing badly on the inside edges so there's quite obviously something wrong with camber and toe-in there that needs addressed. I'll seek advice on the front to rear issue from the guy at my local place as he has a reputation for knowing what he is doing unlike some alignment outfits where the end result is only as good as the operators skill level.
So - any of you lot swap tyres front to rear?.
