Swapping tyres front to back

Relentless81

Relentless81

Relentless81

Soldato
Joined
18 May 2010
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My two front tyres have less than 1mm of legal tread, the rears have plenty.

I've just bought my first place and have other things to spend money on right now (no unwanted financial advice from the predictables please I live in the real world) so I'm wondering with winter coming if its a good idea to swap them round, what I really dont want is a twitchy back end as I like to enjoy my car and it currently feels planted apart from a loss of grip at the front in the damp

The car is FWD

The other idea is to buy one tyre and fit the spare which has never been used and just use one of the old tyres tyres as a spare for now

Any helpful comments?
 
Minimum tyre depth of tread is 1.6mm you need to replace both as you cannot have a spare that is below the legal limit.
 
Out of those options, I'd go for swapping the spare for a worn tyre and getting a new tyre to replace the existing one.

From the sound of it, you enjoy driving your car at some speed? Don't skimp out, that £100 that you might save wont look so good when you're shelling out £££ to fix your car after you've stuck it through a hedge backwards.
 
Relentless81 said:
The spare wont be below the legal limit as both front tyres have just under 1mm of legal tread.
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So your tyres have 2.6mm on them or 1mm?

If you replace tyres they should be replaced as identical pairs on the same axle so if your spare is new and you decide to use that (as one of your fronts has 2.6mm on it) use the same new tyre as the spare that is going on the car.
 
Just buy two new front tyres and bin the old ones. 2.6mm of overall tread depth isn't a lot, that depth won't inspire confidence when conditions worsen.
 
Relentless81 said:
(no unwanted financial advice from the predictables please I live in the real world)
Click to expand...

As opposed to the land of the fairies and gumdrops everyone else lives in?

Put the rears on the front and buy two new rear tyres would be my preferred option. Not sure how confident I would be in using the spare, depends on the age of the vehicle/tyre. Pretty sure the spare in mine is the one the car came with 10 years ago, whilst i'd be happy enough to drive it for a few miles to a tyre place, I wouldn't want to rely on it as a permanent tyre after it has been sat for 10 years.

Unless you have massive wheels a pair of semi decent tyres shouldn't be that expensive really.
 
Kenai said:
As opposed to the land of the fairies and gumdrops everyone else lives in?
Click to expand...

Its nice here, dont ruin it for me.

The spare seems fine even if it has been in there for over 5 years (This is also an assumption I've only owned the car for 15 months) I dont see or recall any warnings that state the spare has a shelf life?
 
wrong wrong wrong . always have the best tread depth on the rear . (regardless if its front or rear wheel drive . ) get 2 new tyres and then move the new tyres to the rear and the worn to the front
 
Relentless81 said:
Its nice here, dont ruin it for me.

The spare seems fine even if it has been in there for over 5 years (This is also an assumption I've only owned the car for 15 months) I dont see or recall any warnings that state the spare has a shelf life?
Click to expand...

I know various tyre companies recommend changing a tyre once it hits a certain age, though obviously a tyre on the car will be subject to a lot of UV light that a spare won't be.

Either way, i'd much rather just buy two new tyres than try and match up to the spare.
 
Relentless81 said:
They had 2.6mm just 2k miles ago
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2k miles is a lot for a fwd car, I would be they are barely legal now.

Swap rears to front and replace worn ones with 2 new tyres, get the best you can afford. An accident is a lot more expensive than tyres, and winter is coming.
 
-westy- said:
Stop skimping on running a car, fit 2 new tyres and be done with it.
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I really cant stand people like you on this forum, you posted for a reaction you got one, I dont have the money and I dont use credit cards and if I'm skimping then why does the car have full main dealer history regardless of mileage, why did I create the thread in the first place instead of just thinking "oh stuff it I'll leave it until they're bald"

:rolleyes:

I'm going to buy one tyre for now and replace the spare next year.

Anyone know if you can still get the following tyre?

Dunlop SP Sport 3000 195/55/16 87V
 
Rotating tyres is usually done when the driven tyres reach 3mm or 4mm, giving more even wear.

All you are doing is delaying the enevitable of having to buy 2 new tyres.
 
Relentless81 said:
I really cant stand people like you on this forum, you posted for a reaction you got one, I dont have the money and I dont use credit cards and if I'm skimping then why does the car have full main dealer history regardless of mileage, why did I create the thread in the first place instead of just thinking "oh stuff it I'll leave it until they're bald"

:rolleyes:

I'm going to buy one tyre for now and replace the spare next year.

Anyone know if you can still get the following tyre?

Dunlop SP Sport 3000 195/55/16 87V
Click to expand...

www.camskill.co.uk would be a good place to try

EDIT: This? http://www.camskill.co.uk/m62b0s460...OP_SP_3000_A_-_195_55R16_87V_TL_Nissan_Almera
 
I did that swapped the back to the front and the front to the back and I'm never going to do that again !!

I had the worst road noise.
 
If you really are that skint, buy some of the cheapest, nastiest tyres on the market to keep you legal and drive sensibly perhaps.

If you cannot afford to maintain the thing legally then park it up and forget about it until you can.
 
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