Change two or all four?

[skinnywhippet]

Hi, we have Vector 4 Season tyres which were fitted when the van was new four and a half years ago. 30,000 miles later the fronts are 3mm in the centre, so I plan to change those. The rears are 5-6mm in the centre so I'm undecided whether to change those as well and be done with it for another few years, or save a few ££ now and just change the fronts.

I know some sources say tyres should be changed at five years regardless of wear, is that actually the case?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Alan Andrews]

5-6 mm is a lot of tread. New tyres are generally only 8mm. As long as you change tyres on the same axle it is not an issue. So change the fronts and leave the backs.

 

[westfalia]

I´d just do the fronts.

 

[GrannyJen]

Just the fronts. If the tyres have been rotated frequently then 5 years can be flexible.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Tyre manufacturers do not say you should change your tyres after five years, only that you should have them inspected annually once they get to about that age.

Eg:
Michelin: https://www.michelin.co.uk/tyres/learn-share/buying-guide/when-should-i-change-my-tyres
Goodyear (Us RV page): https://www.goodyearrvtires.com/tire-replacement-guidelines.aspx

As I understand it, the main ageing problem is tyre wall cracking and deterioration, mainly caused by sunlight. So it will depend where your van is parked/stored and how often the vehicle is moved during the 'off season'.

A lot of people with classic cars (myself included) that do low mileages may keep a set of tyres on for many years, but that's with a car that is garaged for most of its life. I had a set of tyres on one such car for more than 15 years and they didn't appear to have deteriorated at all, although I did change them at that point.

Any sensible person will be checking their tyres regularly from new, although of course it's hard to see the inner sides but you can certainly see any significant cracking starting on the outer sides and that should ring alarm bells.

 

[WelshGas]

Change the Fronts, But best practice is to put the newest tyres on the back.

Why? Because it is easier to control a front wheel skid than a rear wheel skid. But your decision in the end.

 

[skinnywhippet]

I've just actually got underneath the van for a proper inspection based on comments above and I discovered the rear tyres are worn to 3mm or even a bit less on the inside section of the tread, so I think it'll have to be all of them. It's a big difference in wear from the centre to the inside of the rear tyres. The outside edge is fine. Phoning around for quotes tomorrow I guess!

 

[Sandyvan]

I've just actually got underneath the van for a proper inspection based on comments above and I discovered the rear tyres are worn to 3mm or even a bit less on the inside section of the tread, so I think it'll have to be all of them. It's a big difference in wear from the centre to the inside of the rear tyres. The outside edge is fine. Phoning around for quotes tomorrow I guess!

Tracking or tyre pressures ?

 

[skinnywhippet]

Tracking or tyre pressures ?

I’m pretty good with tyre pressures, so I’ll get tracking checked when I have the tyres done. As would be common I guess a large part of the 30,000 miles would have been motorway cruising.



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[westfalia]

the rear tyres are worn to 3mm

I´d just do the fronts and the rears.

 

[skinnywhippet]

I´d just do the fronts and the rears.

That’s a good idea . I suppose I can’t complain at 30,000 miles.


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[westfalia]

That’s a good idea . I suppose I can’t complain at 30,000 miles.


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Yeah. Thats good going on one set.

 

[WelshGas]

For those that question why new tyres should go on the rear when changing front tyres on a FWD vehicle, an explanation.

https://kumhotyre.co.uk/kumho-news/should-you-fit-new-tyres-to-the-front-or-rear/

Most other tyre manufacturers agree or make no comment.

I would like to hear a counter argument.

 

[westfalia]

For those that question why new tyres should go on the rear when changing front tyres on a FWD vehicle, an explanation.

https://kumhotyre.co.uk/kumho-news/should-you-fit-new-tyres-to-the-front-or-rear/

Most other tyre manufacturers agree or make no comment.

I would like to hear a counter argument.

But if the rears had 6mm tread depth the new front ones will wear down
soon enough to match.

 

[Velma's Dad]

For those that question why new tyres should go on the rear when changing front tyres on a FWD vehicle, an explanation.

https://kumhotyre.co.uk/kumho-news/should-you-fit-new-tyres-to-the-front-or-rear/

Most other tyre manufacturers agree or make no comment.

I would like to hear a counter argument.

It used to be argued that under braking the front wheels needed the grip due to weighting up the front axle, so put best tyres on front.

These days the ''understeer better than oversteer" argument has won out I think. But some tyre shops seem to still just swap the fronts as obviously it's less work for them.

 

[WelshGas]

But if the rears had 6mm tread depth the new front ones will wear down
soon enough to match.

Mmmm, so 8 yr old tyres on the back and 4 yr old on the front, on a 3 ton vehicle. Never mind arguments about under/over steer, not convinced i’m afraid.

 

[Wongo]

Change all 4 and get 4 wheel laser tracking.

Stopping a loaded Cali in the wet, you’ll need every help you can get.

 

[bvddobb]

For those that question why new tyres should go on the rear when changing front tyres on a FWD vehicle, an explanation.

I would like to hear a counter argument.

Agree wholly for a FWD. Think the case is different for a 4Motion: in principle you want tyres to be 'equal' all around, so we change them round every 6 months (at the summer/winter change).

 

[AlanC]

I suppose it comes down to how well you have been taught or what your experience is.

For me, I would much prefer to steer into a skid that had occurred with the rear swinging wide.
Rally drivers drive like this in competition for control on corners, not that I am advising we should drive like that!

As the fronts wear very much quicker than the rears, so the tread depth will match after a while, doesn't the 'new on the rear' argument becomes invalid over time anyway?

The Kumho Tyre article does ends with "it is advisable to fit the new tyres to the rear axle." so this is the current view and I suspect may change over time.

Alan

 

[bvddobb]

Yeah. Thats good going on one set.

Hmm.... tend to disagree. We do about 60.000 km (40.000 miles) on a set, and we do a lot of bad gravel roads, etc, certainly not primarily highway cruising....

 

[MattBW]

I changed just the front two because my rears still had over 7mm on them however I also gained the intermittant noise that has been discussed on here. The tyres on the rear had started to get a sawing effect as the fronts got low.

The recommendation from the other thread was to swap back to front and put the new ones on the back. I may do that later. Ill let you know if it gets rid of the noise, if not all 4 may be the way to go if you are happy to spend that replacing tyres that aren't worn out.

 

[AlanC]

Mmmm, so 8 yr old tyres on the back and 4 yr old on the front, on a 3 ton vehicle. Never mind arguments about under/over steer, not convinced i’m afraid.

You can't make a general assumption like that. It depends on many factors, including the use you put your van to and how it is parked up (eg. in the sun, or static for a long time), As bvddobb says, he changes them around regularly, but then he changes over to winter tyres, each year which have presumably been stored under cover during the summer sun. Plus he likes to go off road.

My van is 8 years old and has had 3 complete sets of same make road tyres and one front/back mixed set. It has done 110K now and I found decent tyres will do around 28+k miles on the front (e.g. Michelin Primacy 3) with my driving, but the only budget tyres I bought, which went on the back, only did 15k miles.

My guiding principle is to get the tracking laser aligned, check the pressures, any wear and tread depth regularly.

Alan

 

[westfalia]

Hmm.... tend to disagree. We do about 60.000 km (40.000 miles) on a set, and we do a lot of bad gravel roads, etc, certainly not primarily highway cruising....

You can disagree, but i still think 30k miles is good for a set of tyres, and only half a set
in the OPs case.
If you´ve got 40k miles out of a set its excellent, for me that would be
mission impossible.

Maybe if the OP had rotated the wheels, front to back he too would be heading for the
40k mark.

 

[EddieEagle]

Agree with the ‘rotation’ approach. Swapped front to back over 3 1/2 years and have just changed all four at 32k with 2-3mm all ‘round’ .
Given the improvements in road noise and ride etc wouldn’t want to go for just 2 and always swap front to back to get even wear.

 

[briwy]

Agree wholly for a FWD. Think the case is different for a 4Motion: in principle you want tyres to be 'equal' all around, so we change them round every 6 months (at the summer/winter change).

I agree. I have found that a 4Motion can be "driven" round a bend much better than a fwd.
It's possibly an age thing as well. I, like many others, learnt to drive in a rear wheel car and pretty quickly learnt to control a rear wheel skid by applying power and steering into it. This becomes instictive after a while but doesn't apply to fwd. Most peoples instinct on running wide is to lift off, this works to some extent on fwd as the tyres get more grip and can be turned in more. All comes down to personal preference.
I agree with WG though, eight year old tyres are not good news.