A/T P tires in front, Highway LT's in back, any problem?

[hertfordnc]

My 2002 excursion had an OK set of All terrain tires i was hoping to get another year out of. The fronts were new, rears were in good shape but then i had a blowout.

I want to migrate to Michelin LTX but i can only afford two this month.

Maybe get the other two in the Fall after camping season.

Is there any problem with this other than my truck not looking cool?

[Mike134]

JRscooby wrote:
Does nobody remember "snow tires"? Back in the day most people, on most vehicles, ran rear tires that did not match the front for about half the year.
(On my pickups, snow tires in winter, then spring I would name them "Mud Grips")
As for different size F/R. 2 wheel drive, this is not a issue. 4 Wheel drive, can be a problem unless on surfaces you need 4 WD, and tires can slip

X2!! Plus in the early days they always recommended keeping radial tires and bias tires on the same axle, lots of mix and matching back in the old days.

You'll be fine don't listen to the online negative Nellies.

[JRscooby]

fj12ryder wrote:
Yeah, but when people were running "snow tires" nearly everyone was doing that with bias ply tires. IMO the difference between LT tires and "P" rated tires could be noticeable. I would imagine the "P" rated sidewalls would have a lot more flex than LT tires. I don't know that it would be extremely noticeable, but maybe a bit.

Just checking; We are talking about pickups, right? And more exactly, pickups pulling trailers? Not high performance vehicles expected to preform at optimum?
From what I see (and a very small percentage of my driving did I have same size/number tires on both ends of vehicle) the best handling and ride is with tires loaded near but below their weight rating. If the P rated tires likely will have plenty of capacity on the front of pickup. And even when loaded to GVWR, not much of that load is on the front tires. And if the load is on the hitch, even with WDH, the front is likely to weigh less than MT. OTOH, it would be EZ to overload the same tires on the rear, so a heavier rated tire makes sense to me.
As for ride, a stiffer tire transfers more road shock to vehicle to be absorbed by shocks an springs. Half the tires stiffer than needed will make for a rough ride.

[pitch]

fj12ryder wrote:
Yeah, but when people were running "snow tires" nearly everyone was doing that with bias ply tires. IMO the difference between LT tires and "P" rated tires could be noticeable. I would imagine the "P" rated sidewalls would have a lot more flex than LT tires. I don't know that it would be extremely noticeable, but maybe a bit.

What do you mean,"when everyone was running snowtires" everyone runs snow tires today. They are more important than ever.
If you liveany where snow covers the roads most of the time in the wine it is only good sense to run snows. I and most folks around me keep a set of mounted snows,too switch twice a year.
If your truck is all wheel drive or full time drive, measure the rolling differenc in the tires, it don't take much to screw things up.

[hertfordnc]

FordMastertech wrote:
P rated tires should not be on any Ford Excursion's they can't handle the weight load. Ford recalled the OEM LT D rated tires and had us install LT E rated tires. Mixing P rated tires and LT E rated tires on the same vehicle is a accident waiting to happen.

Yeah i don't love it. But they're in front, rated at 2600 lb.

[FordMastertech]

P rated tires should not be on any Ford Excursion's they can't handle the weight load. Ford recalled the OEM LT D rated tires and had us install LT E rated tires. Mixing P rated tires and LT E rated tires on the same vehicle is a accident waiting to happen.

[fj12ryder]

Yeah, but when people were running "snow tires" nearly everyone was doing that with bias ply tires. IMO the difference between LT tires and "P" rated tires could be noticeable. I would imagine the "P" rated sidewalls would have a lot more flex than LT tires. I don't know that it would be extremely noticeable, but maybe a bit.

[hertfordnc]

I currently have LT all terrains on the back. and a matching set (Firestone Destination) but the fronts are P.
So,i assume the rears are stiffer. It handles like a 4 ton truck.

I'm thinking
replacing the rear with highway tread Michelins will have the same stiffness but better grip on asphalt.

[JRscooby]

Does nobody remember "snow tires"? Back in the day most people, on most vehicles, ran rear tires that did not match the front for about half the year.
(On my pickups, snow tires in winter, then spring I would name them "Mud Grips")
As for different size F/R. 2 wheel drive, this is not a issue. 4 Wheel drive, can be a problem unless on surfaces you need 4 WD, and tires can slip

[Cummins12V98]

Stability will be effected. I am betting the Tire store has a credit offer of some sort. Do it right.

[BenK]

think of wearing different brand/size/type/etc shoes. Tennis shoes to hiking boots

Walking around the house would be fine...but...then try running as fast as you can to then 'maneuver' around things.

Those difference will affect during extreme conditions. Like braking & swerving trying to avoid something.

I'd not do it

[jdc1]

Since we are not driving high performance cars at LeMans, I'd think you are okay.

[BobsYourUncle]

Different tires have different characteristics of handling properties.
One caution I can offer is to check that out.
Example if one tire has a much more flexible sidewall that the other, it could cause it to handle differently than you are used to.

But basically should be ok.

[hertfordnc]

THanks, that's what i thought. i figure i'll buy the other two by the time i'm due t rotate them.

[Terryallan]

As long as they are the same circumference. there should be no problem.. The problems come in when all tires aren't the same size

[Lwiddis]

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/catalog/owner_guides/02hdwog4e.pdf

Page 252 says “no” twice. Page 253 says it two more times.