I am in need of new tyres soon

I am currently running on General Grabber AT's and only the rears need replacing (rear hub bushes now changed)

I was wondering what are peoples veiws on just replacing the worn ones with 2 Vredestein Wintrac Extreme's

The tyre dealer said its "a no no" as it may damage the diff

It should be fine as the diffs will take the differing rolling radius anyway in everyday use. Its not like acralky car with tight spec diff! Its an LR after all  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

Personally I like to have matching tyres. I have four new general grabbers AT. They look the part!! If mixing tyres i should at least make sure the sizes are the same on all four corners Gone:

Golf GT TDI 150- Still got.
BMW 325TD
Range Rover Classic
Defender 90

I'd never do it

The main reason it's a no no is that the different tyres behave differently under stress - for example, under heavy braking, or cornering, one set will lose grip before the other - it upsets the whole balance of the car.

OK, you might drive like Miss Daisy, but you just never know - you may be able to justify similar tyres, but anything with massively different grip profiles should be avoided.

oliver9627 wrote:

Personally I like to have matching tyres. I have four new general grabbers AT. They look the part!! If mixing tyres i should at least make sure the sizes are the same on all four corners

Tyres will be behaving differently on a car anyway depending in weight on each one, its current condition, pressure, the weather.. Tbh as long as te best ones are on the back you should be fine. FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

kingpleb wrote:

Tyres will be behaving differently on a car anyway depending in weight on each one, its current condition, pressure, the weather.

kingpleb wrote:

Tbh as long as te best ones are on the back you should be fine.

Define "best" ? If there is a tyre that is better than all others, in all conditions, then I'll have 4 of those and be a happy man

Each to their own, I think it's a false economy, but many do it. That said, I've seen vehicles with 1 odd tyre or ever 4 different ones - not for me though.

Alistair, dont you think it is false economy to replace 4 tyres when you only need 2? there is nothing wrong with mixing tyres front to back in my opinion as long as they are the same size. tyres on each axle should preferably be the same though. it will not damage the diffs or anything, i think the tyre dealer was just trying to sell 4 tyres instead of 2. if you were fitting winter tyres then i would have thought it would be best to fit on the front as that is where the majority of your braking is and the steering. '04 td6 se
'63 land rover s2 200tdi
'04 mk indy kitcar bike engine

^^^^

They will sell you 4 tyres and then flog the other 2 part worm ones to boost their profit from you

Front - back mixing won't have any noticeable effect to most drivers even in extreme conditions.

Why do you think tyre places always put the best tyres at the back?????? FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

To be clear - it absolutely does make a difference - but life is about compromises.

I will always run matching good quality tyres & change them at 3mm. I also switch to good quality winter tyres Dec - Mar.

However, I accept that it's a big expense & plenty of other people will make a compromise decision. But it does matter - it is a compromise for the sake of expense.

kingpleb wrote:

They will sell you 4 tyres and then flog the other 2 part worm ones to boost their profit from you

kingpleb wrote:

Front - back mixing won't have any noticeable effect to most drivers even in extreme conditions.

In normal conditions & at slow speed you're right, but not for extremes - we might as well all switch to the cheapest budget tyres we can find on that argument

kingpleb wrote:

Why do you think tyre places always put the best tyres at the back??????

wats39 wrote:

dont you think it is false economy to replace 4 tyres when you only need 2?

wats39 wrote:

If you were fitting winter tyres then i would have thought it would be best to fit on the front as that is where the majority of your braking is and the steering.

Quote:

Mixing of Tyres
The effects of mixing can be unpredictable and the following information is intended as a guide only. It is recommended that for optimum performance cars and light vans should be fitted with a matching set of tyres.
For certain high performance cars, matching sets of vehicle manufacturer approved tyres are recommended to maintain the handling characteristics of the vehicle. We would always recommend consulting the vehicle handbook for this information. (See section “Vehicle Specific Tyres”.)
It is illegal to mix tyre sizes and to mix tyre constructions e.g. radial, cross-ply etc, across an axle. (Note this does not apply in the case of a “Temporary Use” Spare tyre where they are restricted to a maximum speed of 50mph / 80 km/h). It is also illegal to fit radial tyres to the front axle and cross-plies to the rear.
It is inadvisable to mix tyres of different categories on a vehicle, e.g. Summer tyres, winter tyres, on/off road tyres etc and never across an axle. It is also not recommended that tyres with significantly different states of wear be mixed across an axle. Special care should also be taken with 4x4 vehicles where some vehicle manufacturers specify a maximum tread depth difference between axles. Consult the vehicle handbook.

I wonder how the police and insurance companies would react to the different tyres should you be involved in an accident.

Alistair, your not a tyre salesman by any chance are you? pretty much every tyre is a compromise of some sort. if you venture off road, you fit all terrains or mud terrains which compromise on road performance. if you fit bigger rims and wider, lower profile tyres you gain better handling but compromise ride quality. if u fit quality tyres over budget tyres u gain maybe a little extra grip that the majority of owners will never notice. the key is to drive according to your vehicles ability and to the road conditions. i have driven many vehicles with different branded tyres and never noticed any handling issues. personally i wouldnt fit a pair of winter tyres myself as they are very different to the all terrains. would be better to fit another pair of all terrains unless you were planning on eventually having four winters fitted. as for the police and insurance, dont think they can say anything as long as the tyres had legal tread depth and were of the correct rating for the vehicle. '04 td6 se
'63 land rover s2 200tdi
'04 mk indy kitcar bike engine

FYI for info when im not running MTR's i run Scorps at the rear and wranglers at the front.

I'm finding the softer compound at the front helps with a more equal bias as the rears will last a heck of a long time and i will likely go through 2-3 front sets before the rears need replacing  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

ALWAYS run on 4 equal tread same specification/brand tyres.

kingpleb wrote:

FYI for info when im not running MTR's i run Scorps at the rear and wranglers at the front.

I'm finding the softer compound at the front helps with a more equal bias as the rears will last a heck of a long time and i will likely go through 2-3 front sets before the rears need replacing

Kind of ruins the argument that average drivers wouldn't be able to tell the difference.........

I just prefer to have them all the same and rotate them - switching for winter is a good reminder.

If tyres were free what would you do ? Anything else is a compromise