Roddimus Prime

after reading that long-winded post you basically proved my point. Putting new tires on the rear is ONLY beneficial in a hydro-plane situation. It also states that the "average driver" won't know how to respond correctly and control the vehicle. Car enthusiasts (like us) tend to know how to handle their vehicle in most situations. I know how to control my car in a hydroplaning scenario. My wife doesn't. I make sure ALL of her tires are good. I should also mention I haven't had any wrecks in 10 years of driving and have owned over 20 cars with varying conditions of tires.

To sum it up, just do whatever you want to do. Let's see who wrecks their car first in a hydro-planing situation.

Bogie

Long-winded? Absolutely! Afterall, this is a forum, so I thought I'd let the other members read what some of the experts had to say, rather than read what a couple of blowhards had to write. And you're absolutely correct when you write that ALL the tires should be good--I meant to edit my initial post but kept forgetting--but, most people don't think that way. I'd like to mention that in 25 years of driving, but only having driven 15 cars (fwd, rwd, awd...) I've been in only one wreck--the other driver ran a stop sign.

Bogie

I'm sure you have already repaired or replaced your tire, but, this is for anyone else who may wish to repair a flat.

Plug-and-Patch...

Da P-Funk!

Nope. If i have a blow-out at highway speeds i want it to be the rear tire. I have way more control.

Bogie

Either way you may be screwed: you blow-out the front, the car may not want to turn; blow out the rear, the a$$-end may swing out, fishtail. Just watch a Nascar race--or any race-- to see what happens when racers experience flats/blowouts.

I was driving the car on the tire (mounted on the right rear) pictured above while it was deflating due the tire having picked up a screw. As I made a lane change to get off the road I hit a tar strip and experienced a smidge (I stress *smidge*, it was minor, but we were only doing 30 mph) of bumpsteer that normally wouldn't upset the car, but it sure as hell was noticeable.

I speak from experience when I write that I have had more drama from underinflated rear tires than underinflated front tires (awd, fwd, rwd).

Roddimus Prime

I also would rather have a rear tire blow-out in a FWD car. I had a rear tire tread seperation on my 1967 Mustang GT and the fact it was RWD with an open differential caused me to do a 360* and tap a guard rail. I shoud also mention I was on the interstate doing 80+mph so I wasn't going to get away from losing a tire with anything less.

On a FWD vehicle losing a rear tire at highway speed caused my car to tug a little and then start SLOWLY pulling me to the left (left rear went out). Since my drive wheels and steering wheels were still good I was able to continue driving it up another mile or so to the exit.

Roddimus Prime

p.s. Bogie. Do you know what "bumpsteer" is?

Bogie

Is that soft in bump, stiff in rebound or stiff in bump, soft rebound, or hard in head, soft in rump?

The way I wrote it was to mean that traveling over a bump at speed causes a bump direction resulting in oversteer...

I apologize for my views differing from your views, but, it doesn't mean I am "100% incorrect."

Roddimus Prime

no need to be cynical man. I was just pointing out a common misconception about tire wear. I've worked as a mechanic for years and for a while I worked in the largest quicklube/auto care center in the southeast. I had to go through their personal training classes over a period of 6 months and received the highest grades in any of my classes. One of them specifically was tire inspection. The first day of class I was trying to be a hotshot and I "corrected" the teacher exactly like you corrected me by saying that the best tires should go on the rear for more traction. Needless to say I was very humbled when the teacher made an example of me in front of the entire class for the next 3 hours. I do agree with almost everything you said though so don't get bent out of shape. With the amount of tire improvements in the past 10 years a lot of older theories just don't hold up anymore. I understand how poor traction on the rear can cause a hydroplan problem but in a FWD car (like the protege...what we're talking about) a car won't hydroplane from the rear. I have hydroplaned several times and everytime it was because I hit a puddle while coasting...the front tires dragged and the momentum caused the rear end to move a little. I applied a very small amount of gas and the front tires (with most tread) pull the car forward and straightened it out without accident or injury.

I think we're both arguing the same thing here. No need to get upset!