So wish I could afford all 4 rite now but,,,, rear tires with 70% tread remaining, fronts are toast from torsion lift without allignment. I am getting the allignment done when I get the 2 new tires installed, however, should the new tires go front or back? And why?

 

Usually they recommend that the newest tires go on the steering wheels for stability and control. Being that this vehicle is full-time 4WD with a rear biased 60/40 split I would put the newer tires on the rear and the 70% tires on the front. I don't think the tread wear differences will be all that bad. What would that be, about 11/32 or 12/32 tread depth up front vs. 16/32 in the back?

 

My concern is that the fronts wear so quickly that if I put the already worn tires up there I will changing them very soon. If the new ones go up front maybe front and back will reach the end of their lives at about the same time? Btw they are Cooper Discoverers 265-75-16, which is a 55,000 mile tire. I have put 20,000 on my H3 since I bought it in late January.

 

From what I've noticed, the edges of the tread wear quickly up front (of course) and when I swap them to the rear they wear down the center to make up for the edge wear. If I keep up with rotations (and even if I didn't as long as nothing was out of alignment or worn), the front and rear seem to wear pretty evenly in tread depth. I can't definitively say that the front or rear gets more wear, but I would guess that the rear might as it has the 60% split.

 

Most reputable tire shops will only install them on the front no matter what kind of drive configuration you have, as a safety issue. I'd rather steer than maybe have a tire break loose on traction. It's the same reason why semi trucks can't have retreads on the steering wheels, while most of the time the rest are.