Replacing Front tires only?

[NCBee]

Our 2018 GT AWD front Michelins have been wearing almost twice as fast as the rears. We have 14K miles on the car now and it doesn't look like the front tires will last much longer.

I have always understood that AWD cars need to have all 4 tires replaced at once, rather than just replacing the fronts or the backs. Something to do with preventing uneven wear in the AWD system. However, I can't find anything in the Kia owner's manual to corroborate this. There doesn't seem to be anything stating that all 4 tires need to be replaced.

Does anyone know if we can safely replace the front tires only?

 

[JohnH]

Our 2018 GT AWD front Michelins have been wearing almost twice as fast as the rears. We have 14K miles on the car now and it doesn't look like the front tires will last much longer.

I have always understood that AWD cars need to have all 4 tires replaced at once, rather than just replacing the fronts or the backs. Something to do with preventing uneven wear in the AWD system. However, I can't find anything in the Kia owner's manual to corroborate this. There doesn't seem to be anything stating that all 4 tires need to be replaced.

Does anyone know if we can safely replace the front tires only?

I had AWD in my last car, a Q50. With AWD, I was told in all vehicles, not just Stingers, that you SHOULD change ALL four tires if there is uneven wear and a tire goes; this was confirmed by an internet search. A large nail sliced through one of my tires at 20K miles. So, I replaced all four tires. And, you are supposed to get your tires rotated at every normal service appointment.

There is a lot of knowledge on this forum, so you may get a different perspective.

Hope this helps!

 

[Spaceme17]

Not sure if replacing all 4 tires “rule” applies to the Stinger as it has different size tires on the front versus rear (staggered setup

I would think that if you have a tire that needs replacing then you would need to do either both fronts or both rears.

I think it would be fine replacing just the fronts.

A quick search on Google (which sucks as they seem to show more ads than actual pertinent results) shows tons of links and debates that AWD cars should run the same size tires on all 4 wheels. Further there is tons of debate on whether running a staggered setup is safe and/or will damage the AWD system.

But many Stingers come with a staggered setup from the factory so it clearly is okay on the Stinger. In fact, the front wheels are 8.9 inches wide and the rears 10. Diameters are almost identical with only a 0.38% difference.

 

[PBennett18]

Not sure if replacing all 4 tires “rule” applies to the Stinger as it has different size tires on the front versus rear (staggered setup

I would think that if you have a tire that needs replacing then you would need to do either both fronts or both rears.

I think it would be fine replacing just the fronts.

A quick search on Google (which sucks as they seem to show more ads than actual pertinent results) shows tons of links and debates that AWD cars should run the same size tires on all 4 wheels. Further there is tons of debate on whether running a staggered setup is safe and/or will damage the AWD system.

But many Stingers come with a staggered setup from the factory so it clearly is okay on the Stinger. In fact, the front wheels are 8.9 inches wide and the rears 10. Diameters are almost identical with only a 0.38% difference.

The RWD stingers are the only ones that come with a staggered setup. I think that it would be wise to replace all 4 tires for AWD if they have been worn down to the point where it’s severely uneven from old to new. For instance when I had my AWD Gt1 for a few months and came back with a flat, they replaced the flat but left the other 3 while I had put about 3k miles on the car already. I’m no expert by any means just my 2 cents from my experience so far, take it how u will.

 

[Bauser]

The RWD stingers are the only ones that come with a staggered setup. I think that it would be wise to replace all 4 tires for AWD if they have been worn down to the point where it’s severely uneven from old to new. For instance when I had my AWD Gt1 for a few months and came back with a flat, they replaced the flat but left the other 3 while I had put about 3k miles on the car already. I’m no expert by any means just my 2 cents from my experience so far, take it how u will.

This is untrue, the top package AWD stingers come with a staggered 225 front 255 rear setup from factory. Replacing tires should be done in pairs on these setups, both fronts or both rears. There is a tolerance of 1-3% allowable circumference difference between the front and rear tires on the AWD cars (staying within 1% is best). This is to allow for differences in tire wear, inflation and size.

 

[Nasscar]

Replacing just the front will be fine if the rears are still serviceable. I've never heard of having to replace all tyres at the same time. Must be the tyre suppliers motto.

 

[nhcowboy28]

Case in point.

2018 GT2 awd (staggered).

OEM PS4 Rears were down to 1/32. OEM PS4 Fronts were at 5/32.

Replaced rears only with PS4S (not PS4).

Not an issue. Eventually I’ll replace the fronts with PS4S.

Something is wrong if you are chewing up fronts before your rears.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Even an AWD will wear out the rear tires first. So something is working against that on your car. I've replaced my rear tires first with PS4S; then 4K miles later the fronts with PS4S. Mixing PS4 and PS4S is no problem at all.

 

[NCBee]

I checked again and it seems that the rears are wearing more than I thought, so I will probably do all 4 at the same time. Damn, these PS4 tires wear fast. Appreciate everyone's input!

 

[Jayphil]

I would not advice runing a new set of front if your rear are near end of life but I see no harm replacing the front if your rear still have around half their life. All this to be sure the tires are always within max 3% different front / rear.

On my BMW I am getting aournd 2-3 summers out of my rears and around 4-5 out of my front so I am not changing them the same year especially since a new set of good tires in Canada cost me around 1800$

 

[MerlintheMad]

a new set of good tires in Canada cost me around 1800$

That has to be for all four, surely.

 

[Jayphil]

That has to be for all four, surely.

of course that is for 4! The year you have to buy summer and winter tires that is close to 4k CAD$ worth of tires outch.

 

[Spaceme17]

The RWD stingers are the only ones that come with a staggered setup. I think that it would be wise to replace all 4 tires for AWD if they have been worn down to the point where it’s severely uneven from old to new. For instance when I had my AWD Gt1 for a few months and came back with a flat, they replaced the flat but left the other 3 while I had put about 3k miles on the car already. I’m no expert by any means just my 2 cents from my experience so far, take it how u will.

My AWD GT2 2020 Stinger has a staggered setup on the factory wheels.

 

[Brandondrums]

Aside from different wear rates front to rear, anyone getting the fronts themselves to wear unevenly with the AWD? The outer shoulder on my 2019 has worn down significantly more than the rest of the tire which typically indicates an alignment issue but the car only has 16k miles on it. Does the torque vectoring really eat front tires in turns or an alignment issue something people know about?

 

[NCBee]

Yes, we are seeing that wear pattern also.

 

[Brandondrums]

Any insight to the cause? I take my car in next week for a service appt and I'm going to have them check the alignment.

I'm wondering (if it's not alignment) if it's in part to the body roll and not having enough dynamic camber. The higher-end cars the stinger competes with have dual wishbone and even some other bits to maintain even tire patch, we just have a cleverly split lower control arm which can't give quite as much dynamic camber as a dual-wishbone. Combine that with a little more body roll for a car in it's segment and I can see loads building up a bit more on the outer edge of the tire.

Anyone see improved wear with a set of sway bars?

 

[Stingin' Away]

Our 2018 GT AWD front Michelins have been wearing almost twice as fast as the rears. We have 14K miles on the car now and it doesn't look like the front tires will last much longer.

I have always understood that AWD cars need to have all 4 tires replaced at once, rather than just replacing the fronts or the backs. Something to do with preventing uneven wear in the AWD system. However, I can't find anything in the Kia owner's manual to corroborate this. There doesn't seem to be anything stating that all 4 tires need to be replaced.

Does anyone know if we can safely replace the front tires only?

Trade it in for a RWD and don't look back.

This helps none, I am aware. Just my .02.

 

[NCBee]

Any insight to the cause? I take my car in next week for a service appt and I'm going to have them check the alignment.

I'm wondering (if it's not alignment) if it's in part to the body roll and not having enough dynamic camber. The higher-end cars the stinger competes with have dual wishbone and even some other bits to maintain even tire patch, we just have a cleverly split lower control arm which can't give quite as much dynamic camber as a dual-wishbone. Combine that with a little more body roll for a car in it's segment and I can see loads building up a bit more on the outer edge of the tire.

Anyone see improved wear with a set of sway bars?

I had thought it was from the tight radius of our concrete driveway and the tire rub from turning it while not in motion. I think part of the reason is because the Michelins are so soft and any rub. Let us know what you find out.

 

[NCBee]

I had thought it was from the tight radius of our concrete driveway and the tire rub from turning it while not in motion. I think part of the reason is because the Michelins are so soft and any rub causes exaggerated wear. Let us know what you find out.

 

[Aarvix]

Is AWD really that hard on fronts or do you have an alignment issue?

I'm RWD but I'm on my third set of rears and the original fronts still have plenty of tread.