[SupraOzzie]

Is it ok to run different brands, different sizes and different speed ratings from front to rear?

I currently have 255/40/17 Yokahama Avid H4's on the rear and 235/45/17 Yokahama Avid H4's on the front but they need replacing and I'm having a hard time locating some good used ones ( for the front ).

I have a line on a pair of Hankook 245/45/17's but they're Z Rated could this pose a problem as I have anti-lock and I've heard that they should be the same size and speed rating at least. Obviously I can't go 255 on the front but what about the speed rating?

Any thoughts on this matter?

 

[C44]

I have the same setup as you have right now, (only have 225 in the front on a 9" wheel and the speedratings in the front and in the back are the same). Sofar it's no problem, the size difference (40-45) is no big deal, it's matched to your tires. Heck you could run 10" wheels in the front and 22 in the back. It wouldn't fit i know, but our car's aren't AWD/4WD. When you have a AWD/4WD car the travel distance of one revolution of the tires should be the same cause you'd fuckup the centre diff.

The speedratings are important though. Never drive faster then the lowest speedrating on your tires. The other tires might cope with it, but the one with the lower rating might not and explode.

 

[SupraOzzie]

That makes sense to me, I don't plan on going that fast even for the "H" rated tire which is something like 130 mph = 210 kmh. Thanks for the quick reply! I'm still curious about the anti- lock braking issue a tire shop told me about.

Not sure what to think of it, I can't see why it would be a problem? This may sound silly but if the tire loses traction the anti lock braking system doesn't know the speed rating of the tires! Maybe he's just trying to sell me on some new tires.

 

[C44]

It's not recommended to run different speedratings, but doesn't mean it's not possible. The ABS feature has nothing to do with making speed, it's all about slowing down. So that part sounds a bit fishy to me.

 

[Poodles]

front and rear is no problem, people have been running different types of tires in the front and back for years in racing...

side to side on the other hand...

 

[flubyux2]

yeah, dont worry too much about front to back differences as much as side to side. different MFR's have different physical sizes associated w/ numerical sizing. one company's 265/40/18 will have a different/larger/smaller carcass than the next company's tire of the same numerical sizing. so make sure that the tires at least match if they are on the same "axle"

 

[SupraOzzie]

Thanks for all your input! I was mostly concerned about the speed rating factor, I'm having the hankooks put on today and if there are any issues I'll let you know.