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Is there any advantage/ disadvantage to having all terrain tires on the back of a rear wheel drive truck and a less aggressive tread on the front? Noticed a SUV set up like this today and was wondering if this was intentional or perhaps they just chose to only replace two tires.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Either they did it for looks (unique taste) or they couldn't afford 4 new tires. There is no advantage and really no disadvantage other than wasting 1-2 mpg (increased rolling resistance) by having the ATs on the back when they are not needed.
Yeah, there's an advantage. You're in the Houston area and the soil over there is a clay gumbo. An aggressive type tire will get a grip a normal hiway tred won't even begin to go in. With a good lug on it the tire can be kept reasonably clean with a little extra gas in the muck. It's a regional kinda thing.
Why would you want your back tires to grip but your front tires to slip In adverse conditions? A setup like that means loss of steering capability if the front wheels lose traction.
Yeah, there's an advantage. You're in the Houston area and the soil over there is a clay gumbo. An aggressive type tire will get a grip a normal hiway tred won't even begin to go in. With a good lug on it the tire can be kept reasonably clean with a little extra gas in the muck. It's a regional kinda thing.
On a 2wd? The front tires are just along for the ride. There is no reason to have mud lug tread on the back and a AT on the front on a 2wd.
Yeah, there's an advantage. You're in the Houston area and the soil over there is a clay gumbo. An aggressive type tire will get a grip a normal hiway tred won't even begin to go in. With a good lug on it the tire can be kept reasonably clean with a little extra gas in the muck. It's a regional kinda thing.
On a 2wd? The front tires are just along for the ride. There us no reason to gave lug tread on the back and a AT on the front on a 2wd.
On a 4x4 it makes no sense either because the front tires work on a 4x4 system to provide grip/traction off road
The premise is similar to putting snow chains on the drive wheels. More aggressive tread will gain better traction in adverse conditions, so putting them on the drive wheels makes sense.
On a 2wd? The front tires are just along for the ride. There is no reason to have mud lug tread on the back and a AT on the front on a 2wd.
This. I have RWD trucks and in the winter I run dedicated snow tires on the rear and all season on the front. Snow time is over and the snow tires get taken off and there are all seasons all around.
That was the way things were done for decades until the recent popularity of AWD and 4WD took hold, which the vast majority of people don't need.
SoHoVe, you can obviously tell who on this thread would be walking versus the guy that gets to ride home. One thing I've learned, an opinion is just that that and has absolutely nothing to do with fact. If you want to get out in the muck, you better have an off road tire in and around any part of South Texas. A good traction lock axle is a major advantage and with a driver that has a clue can go any where a 4x4 can go with an aggressive tire on the back......fact, not an opinion.
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