Tire rotation - what's best for towing?
Have 15,000 miles on a set of Firestone Transforce ATs. Rotated them at 7,500 miles and thought it time to do it again. Rear tires have more tread left than the front. I tow a 36' 5th wheel. Would it ...
Forum Discussion
If you have a blow out, you want that to occur on a rear tire and be able to steer and maintain control with functioning tires on the front. For cars especially the weight of the engine is on the front tires and that causes more wear and stress. Cornering also wears and stresses tires. So for many reasons it makes sense to put the best and newest tires on the front axle.....for a car. If you are towing heavy loads that might not make sense. My rear tires are at about maximum load capacity and the fronts are carrying only about 75 percent load. I want my newest and best tires on the rear.
I have also reconsidered the wisdom of tire rotation. Years ago it seems that cars were always going out of front end alignment. That is no longer the case. I have driven cars for hundreds of thousands of miles and not needed to have the front end aligned. Now if there is a problem that causes uneven tire wear, rotation of tires only covers up the basic problem. For my tow vehicle, I run the rear tires until about half the tread or lifetime by years has been used up. I move those tires to the front and replace the rear tires.
I have also reconsidered the wisdom of tire rotation. Years ago it seems that cars were always going out of front end alignment. That is no longer the case. I have driven cars for hundreds of thousands of miles and not needed to have the front end aligned. Now if there is a problem that causes uneven tire wear, rotation of tires only covers up the basic problem. For my tow vehicle, I run the rear tires until about half the tread or lifetime by years has been used up. I move those tires to the front and replace the rear tires.
