Car Parts Faqs

Is it bad to have 2 different sets of tires on your car?

My car has ultra performance summer tires and my rear tires aren't as bald as the front. Would it be bad to replace them with a different pair of tires or is it recommended that all of the 4 tires be the same rating and brand?

Public Comments

1. if it isn't all wheel drive you should be fine, keep the rears the same and the fronts the same...
2. Your tires should match in brand and rating. You can replace the front with the same brand and rating and type and not have a problem
3. Depends on the type of vehicle you drive. If it is a 4 wheel drive (especially all wheel drive or automatic 4wd) the tires need to be the same size and tread to prevent drive line damage. If it's two wheel drive, then it is only critical to have the same tires on each axle, i.e. fronts the same and rears the same. In this case the worst that will happen is that you may turn on the ABS light from the wheel speed sensors spinning at different speeds.
4. braking and steering is at risk if the tread pattern is different by a whole bunch pair the front with simular tread and the rear paired the same its ok if the fronts and the rear s are the same tire size is the most inportant
5. It's better to have 4 matching, and if it's AWD, you MUST have four matching tires. If you're more than a thousand miles or so off on one or two of the tires, you're going to slowly kill your differentials. The same applies to matching left and right tires on ANY car. The tires on either side of a differential should be very close in size and tread wear, and should be the same in tread pattern. But no, you should be okay like that. Just so long as the tires match left to right, it doesn't make too much difference whether they match front to back...at least not in normal driving on dry surfaces. You should also make sure that the newer/better tires are on the front of the car. Even if it's rear-wheel drive, you ALWAYS want the better tires on the front. A rear tire blowing out is an annoyance. A front tire blowing out could be fatal. Assuming these all started out the same and you just wore the fronts down, it sounds like it's time for you to rotate the tires. Just switching them front to back should be okay, but most people will tell you to go side to side, as well...UNLESS you have directional tires...tires that are meant to have the tread pattern point a particular direction (and performance tires might be) in which case you can't interchange the left and right hand side.
6. Brand doesnt matter as long as the rating is the same. You can have the two on front or the two on back matching and have no problem as long as the size is the same. Make sure to put the best tires on the front as this is where most of the action is. @ steering, etc.