Two wheel drive changing over only 2 rear winter tirers.
 

Went over to Canadian tire and wanted to buy only two rear tires
only for the rear of my 3/4 tone two wheel drive.
They were goodyear M/S very high grippers like the BFgoodrich mudders,I was going to have them studded all so.
Salesmen guided me over to the Motormaster winter ice tires and said this is the way to go.
But would not sell me Two ! Had to buy four, or truck will pull all over the place.
Back in the day this was normal to do. Have the tires changed this much.

Would like some feed back from some one that has changed only the back two.

Canadian tire insists on 4 every time.
I have never had issues with other vendors only providing 2 winters.
Then come summer I have just swapped my winter (fronts) to the back where I had good all seasons.

4 is common now because of the abs brakes, anti slide and skid. They will sell you 2 tires if your vehicle is old enough and doesn't have any of the new driving electronics. You have to let them know that because the vast majority of the people walking in have all that on their vehicles.

When this was first put to me by a shop (Kal), I thought "horse-hockey"! With some persuasion, they sold them to me and I put 2 blizzacks on my Mustang and it was close to dangerous with performance rubber up front. The sipes in the winter tires are "slushy" (can't think of a better adjective) and wiggle on the road surface. Combine that with the positive grip of the fronts and the resulting handling is hazardous. It kind of felt like the rear was constantly on a slippery surface.

You would think that 4 "slushy" tires would be worse but when I put on 4, the improvement was significant.

The advice is sound, IMO. Anecdotally proven to me. I will never go with mismatched tires again.

Ya...I got the same story from Costco one time. It's not a bad thing, but if you only need two...

Take a couple minutes to think about the purpose and design of winter tires.. (true winter tires have ton of sipes and are a very soft compound made to grip the ice, all seasons are made very hard to get the best mileage for 75% of the time, and they throw some sipes.)

Only using two winter tires puts you in a situation where (if you put them on the rear), you will have a ton of grip for accelerating, but none on the steering wheels.

Now you'll say, why not just put them on the front, well, it's the same reason, you'll have tons of steering traction, but the rear will be skidding all over the place, making it down right dangerous.

Being able to steer and accelerate is very important when sliding/driving on ice.

A+ for the tire shop..

YES, the tires HAVE changed that much. An all season, is an average tire for ALL seasons.

Trust me, get all 4 winters, you'll wonder why you didn't earlier.

And if you want to pick it up another notch, get studded all around, have them on the wife's Escalade, unbelievable difference.

You're getting good advice here.
Good steering is a nice feature to have in winter...

I used to run winters only in the rear back in the day when I had 2wd truck.
I recall it being a bit sketchy at times...

Check out your Kijiji. Sometimes there's good deals on tires.

Definitely a 'nice feature'. :) If I were to do only two, I would put them on the front. In winter driving conditions I prefer steering and braking over acceleration.

ARG

I agree with this advice 100%

I learned that lesson from the time I put the "good" tires on the front of my Front Wheel Drive car, figuring the rear axle of the car was just along for the ride.

Odd thing was, the rear of the car kept on trying to pass the front of the car whenever I was on ice... :sign0068:

Since then, I always replace the tires four at a time.

One set all the time
 

One of the strange things I see all the time is people buying two sets of tires. One set for all seasons is what I do. I buy really good M&S tires. I run them all over the country. The M stands for mud. They grab good and stand up quite well. Coming up to three winters on this set.
Considering how costly tires are, why spend an extra $750 on a set of tires for a few months. Buy the right tires and look after them.

As for Canadian Tire tires, I found a set at the auto wreckers that were no good. Took them in and got warranty on them. Put the replacement tires on a vehicle I was selling. Come out good for me.

I used to just put two on when I was young and had no money. But winter tires aren't just for the transmission of power to the road. They are for grip on ice and snow, which all 4 tires need. I'd buy 4.

Hankooks
 

I agree with the idea of four the same. On my Passat I ran a high end Hankooks twice, [all weather kind] and at 35% left went to Vancouver down the Hills out there at safe speeds where others were crawling along. They stuck to the road and ice and snow and I ran them to 90.000km, each set.
I did put a set of Ice and snow tires on, and yes they are even better, now I need a diesel engine that will do over 220,000km without throwing up the oil pump and cam and other important parts...don't get me started there.
cheers

Having only two winter tires on in the winter is pretty old-school, by today's standards ... regardless of what vehicle you have. The last time I used only two winter tires was well over 20 years ago. The first time I had a set of all 4 winters, I was blown away by the big improvement (much better control, ride, safety, stopping distance, etc.). I'll never go back to just two again ... never!

See post #6 (JB_AOL) for the details.

Mac

-JR-, i suggest you get all 4 new tires and have them studded as well. i'll be the one pushing if we get stuck ice fishing. lol.

You have obviously never ran good winter tires. M&S are good for mud and snow, ice is another story.

depends on vehicle
 

i have a ford ranger and I put studs on the back and use reg tires on front. lots of highway miles and no issues. two wheel drive have always done this with pick ups no problems My VW jetta on the other hand I change all four handles better and also lots of highway miles blizzak in winter(usually after first big snow)

Because winter are for winter and ice, softer compond and more sips, m and s tires are just all season, not even a comparsion..Put on 4 winter and you will definitly see a diffrence...Mud tires dont have the siping as winter tires do..

You have to remember that while your winter tires are on your vehicle, your other set of tires aren't getting worn down. So it's not like it's an "extra" 750 bucks really. You get just as many km's out of each set of tires. You're just getting specialized tires for a particular season.

And I remember the first set of Blizzaks I ran on my truck. The difference was amazing.

missing the point
 

I think the point is if he only wants 2 he should be able to get that. When did Comedian Tire start dictating what or how much of anything a consumer can buy? It's not against any law that I know of to only purchase and place 2 tires on a vehicle.
Before you guys get too excited... yes having 4 is better but again I don't think that's the point.

i used to think that 2 tires would be the way to go, old school thinking, it took one ditch and numerous close calls to change my mind, put 4 good winters on and never had an issue, with all this anti slip and abs and ect.., i'm now sold on buying 4 winters.

X2^!

So obvious, yet so many people miss (or choose to ignore) that ^ fact.

Some days, ya just gotta wonder :rolleye2:

Mac

I always run 2 sets with separate rims for summer and winter as well. A set of 4 winters on steel wheels new, studded, mounted balanced with tps sensors is 1800 bucks (18 inch) versus the replacement cost for a front bumper is 3000, summer billet rims 650 a piece, insurance rates are high enough, the list goes on and on.

And the overall wear and tear caused by spinning tires, cold weather on harder rubber compound etc...

In the end the savings are fairly obvious.

For winter tires I havent done that since the late 90s, so my feedback would be a bit dated :lol:

Best to introduce yourself to modern winter tires [snow& ice]. And only a fool would not put them on all four.

Ok, here is my opinion, based on a lot of experience working as a mechanic for over 18 years at the dealership level. Yes, two new tires on the rear of a rear wheel drive truck will give you more traction to get moving, but that's where the benefits end. 80%of your braking, and all of your steering comes from the front... Hence your worst tires. Putting two tires on the front of a vehicle (usually people with font wheel drive) poses a different, but equally dangerous situation. You have acceleration and decent braking, but with worn tires in the rear, the rear end, as already commented on, will want to keep coming around on you, and put you in the ditch, or sideways into a curb, or another obstacle. Another consideration, different tire treads will cause these same conditions, so mixing and matching tires gets you all the same risks.
All this brings me to my point. With the average curb impact repair hovering between $1000 and $5000, with $2500 being very common it adds up quickly. You could always go through insurance, but what is the deductible, and how about the increased premiums? And you can't drive your vehicle now until it's fixed, so you have lost the option to try and budget for the expense.
IMO, get 4 half decent tires and go with that. You won't regret the decision. And if you can afford the extra, get 4 premium tires. With some research, you can get 4 tires that are made to be driven year round, and will also last as well.

Wrong.

I was just going to type this out this morning - and here it is.
Buy 4 tires.

put on all four studded winter only tires...not mud and snow, not all seasons.
and you'll be confidently overdriving faster than the conditions allow in no time flat.
just watch my wife in her Subaru forester

I cannot understand why anyone would just put winters on the driving wheels of a truck... It's an all-or-nothing deal, in my opinion. You can have all the grip in the world, but if you can't stop or steer, you're hooped!