I voted for "hold out" because, in the long term, no good comes from replacing tires two at a time. But it depends on how bad your tires are right now. If two are at or near the wear bars (2/32" of tread depth), or worse, cord showing, they need to go right now. In that case, if your other two are passable, replace the worst tires no matter their position, put them on the front and the others on the rear. Try to get the other two within a month or two.

I've always gone with fronts best on FWD, but have had a number of tire "experts" and stores recommend the exact opposite. Theory is more worn rears will be at risk of coming around on you in a panic stop in wet, slush, etc.

While I get that, I've still gambled that this will be less likely or frequent than the times I need to reduce hydroplaning and keep steering control on the front end.

Why not replace the right side tires only.

You get good traction up front and some traction on the rear for braking, handling.

Next pit stop do the left.....

This is what credit cards are for.

As long as you have a decent interest rate.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
This is what credit cards are for.

As long as you have a decent interest rate.

I see local shops advertising 0% for 6 months or etc if you apply and charge to their store credit... Just be absolutely certain you pay it off or you get jacked on interest.

I had a local shop tell me one time years ago that they HAD to put the new tires on the front, had a pamphlet explaining it and everything. Too long ago to remember but it was either a government advisory or from the tire Mfg. IIRC new went on the front even if rear wheel drive because that was the steering axle.
There has to be someone with some official input on this here. Like I said, it was years ago and my memory ain't what I remember it to be.

I've found used tires that were almost new. There's no harm in looking around, you might get lucky. I've seen several articles from tire manufacturers that said to put your best tires on the rear.

If it's down to that then you might have a serious conversation with yourself.
Do something to get out of your rut.
A couple tires shouldn't be all that hard.

Fronts. Drive and steering wheels. Also consider used tire places. Especially if you have one that takes tires from CarMax or similar high volume outfits. CarMax will put new cheap tires on a car with acceptable better tires just to say it has new tires.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
This is what credit cards are for.

As long as you have a decent interest rate.

It's possible that might be part of the initial problem. A debit card will do anything he needs to do with a credit card and it mentally keeps you from being frivolous and could possibly help keep you out of such a hole.

The worst thing is getting another credit card to add new tires that you can't afford because it's on plastic. Like others have mentioned buy two used tires and go back when you have the money to get two more. With so many AWD cars on the market it's pretty easy to get two used tires in great shape from someone who had a blowout and had to replace all of theirs.

I'll chime in on the used crowd. I bought 4 used tires two years ago and they were about one third the price of new installed. They are still going strong and should last me at least one more year.
About 25k miles on them since I bought them.

Cheers~

I agree with what others have said but there are a couple of other options,

1)Around here we have discount tire. It is possible to get a charge card with them and order the tires. In some cases you can have the tires sent to someone local and installation is covered. Usually cheaper than other places.

2) Cheapest option is to mount them yourself if you're able. I needed 4 new tires on my truck a while back. Even though I had to purchase a manual tire changer, balancer, and some wheel weights plus the tires, it all came out less than 4 new tires installed elsewhere. Bonus, the savings have only increased with the tires I have changed now for my wife's car and my daughter's car as well. Extra bonus, when I balanced the tires myself, I found that the last place I had "professionally" install new tires never actually pulled the old wheel weights and just added more to make it kinda work out.

On FWD I put better tires in back. Front end has weight on engine on it and the rear tires generally carry less weight. Putting the more worn tires in the back makes it much more likely the rear end will slide out. Imagine powering through a turn and you suddenly loose the rear end.

Replace the 2 worst ones. Put the 2 left on the back and 2 new on the front.

I used to run retread snow tires in the winter in the Midwest. Worked out ok short term. If you have more time than money used tires can work out ok. Just follow the tips above.

New always on the rear, regardless of drivetrain. Worn tires at the rear are more likely to lose traction.

Yeah, I know, Walmart, but they have a "house brand" called Douglas (if available in your size). Yeah, I know, they're cheap tires, but they beat the hell out of bald tires.

Check out Falken Zeix ZE950 tires. We use the same size you require on old Porsches quite often. Last ones I bought were $70 each delivered and they are great tires for the money.

Wish you were closer, I have a good set of tires in that size we just took off a car to install expensive rally tires.

New tires on the back. I’m sure there are professional YouTube videos explaining it.

I'd put the two new tires on the front. I'd put the best pair of the remaining 4 on the rear. Then get an alignment.

Sitting in Discount Tire right now getting new rears on the MBZ.
Fronts still have some life & they're staggered fitment.