What does NT mean on car tires?

[Craig D Peltier]

wife has BF Good Rich 265/40 ZR18 TA KDW NT on backs. Looking for fronts now but they dont have the same tire with NT after it. I heard it stood for NEW TREAD ? Does anyone know? google didnt help.


Can I mix non NTs on the front? Costco guy told my wife no?

[Nate Carey]

Tread Pattern Keyword Definitions:
DT = Different
TT = Traditional
NT = New
...from here you'll need manufacturer's nomenclature

[Don Abele]

Craig, you already got the answer for the NT. Here's your answer for mixing tires.

You can use different tires front to back. You can even use two different back tires (same size though). But the two front tires must be identical.

Be well,

Doc

[Frank Hagan]

Costco uses an "abundance of caution" and won't replace just two tires. At least they won't here (may have something to do with California, where common sense isn't).

[Greg Cuetara]

You can use different tires front to back. You can even use two different back tires (same size though). But the two front tires must be identical.


Doc,
Is that due to front wheel drive or is it for steering? What if I have a rear wheel drive vehicle? I have Subaru and they say the tires have to be the same and have to be within 4mm of each other front to back or the all wheel drive won't work properly. Kinda sucks when you get one flat and have to replace all 4. Has happened to me twice.

Greg

[Mike Henderson]

Costco uses an "abundance of caution" and won't replace just two tires. At least they won't here (may have something to do with California, where common sense isn't).
My local Costco will replace two tires but they insist on putting them on the rear. And don't think that's some law. The tire guys at Costco will tell you all kinds of things in order to sell you higher cost tires - or more tires.

For example, my car came with "VR" (I think that's the rating) tires which says the tire will operate at high speeds - up to 140MPH if I recall. When I went to replace the tires, they insisted that I had to buy VR replacements. I just kept telling them that I don't drive the car at those speeds and I don't want to pay extra for something that has no value to me. Eventually, they agreed to sell me the non-VR tires - but it took a lot of time and effort to get to that.

I've had those tires for a long time and have not noticed one iota of difference.

Another time, I wanted two tires for the front of the car. They absolutely would not put them on the front - they insisted on putting them on the rear, even though the rear tires were new (I bought them somewhere else while on a trip). I finally gave up, let them put the tires on the rear, and when I got home, I switched them to the front.

It seems like every time I go there it's a fight.

Mike

[Randal Stevenson]

Craig, you already got the answer for the NT. Here's your answer for mixing tires.

You can use different tires front to back. You can even use two different back tires (same size though). But the two front tires must be identical.

Be well,

Doc


Doc,
Is that due to front wheel drive or is it for steering? What if I have a rear wheel drive vehicle? I have Subaru and they say the tires have to be the same and have to be within 4mm of each other front to back or the all wheel drive won't work properly. Kinda sucks when you get one flat and have to replace all 4. Has happened to me twice.

Greg

I don't think Don's advice is completely correct, as I don't believe the two mismatched back tires advice works with 4wd/AWD vehicles. But I also didn't see a vehicle listed so I don't know all the specs.

As to the tires, the BF Goodrich site, shows both tread patterns (new and tradional), so you could see the difference. Place www first, since they aren't a sponser:
bfgoodrichtires.com/specs/g-force-t-a-kdw/22.html

Now, one more point of note, Tire companies do make tires with minor differences (including lettering) for businesses like Costco, Sam's, Sears, etc. That way they basically don't have to price match.

[Paul Atkins]

I got a model A once that had 3 different size tires and rims. Two 16", one 17" and one 19". The 19 and 17 were at opposite corners. No 140 mph here!

[Tim Wagner]

let me clarify something for you all. One reason for having the newer tires on the back of a frt wheel drive is due to the fact that there is a considerable weight difference from the frt to the back. If you have a good set (new) tires put on a FRWD car you should mount them on the back. Reason being is the car is lighter in the rear, and therefor you need more traction in the rear as possible. the another side of the argument is that your frt tires are tracking, or displacing water or snow first and since these are your steering wheels it would make since to have the good tires on the frt to move water/snow out of the way and there will be less for your rear tires to plow through.

any body ever have new/good tires up frt and hand make a turn and have the rear kick out do to low traction and reduced weight. I have. so in my 22 years in the automotive field you should have the good ones in the back.

you can also mismatch tires bet the rear should be the same tire and traction rating, and the frt can be a different tire, what you never want to do is mismatch tires from side to side as with a different traction rating on one side and a different traction rating on the other side could cause a spin out (when braking) one side may grab better than the other side causing a pin out. I.e good tires on the left Will grab and stick better than another tire on the right side making one side grab better than the other. causing one side of you car grab better that the other and not letting the car stop evenly from side to side. Keep a matched set on the rear and a matched set on the front and all will be OK.

HTH, Tim.

[Chuck Saunders]

And when you rotate your tires what happens?

[mike holden]

"And when you rotate your tires what happens?"

Ummm, the car goes forward?

G,D,&R - Mike

[Don Abele]

I guess I should of clarified my post.

This recommendation came from my Uncle who has been in the tire business for 30 some years.

He always puts new tires (if only replacing two) on the rear for the same reason that Tom mentioned. When the new tires get to the point of needing to be replaced, the rear (now worn down some) come forward and the new ones go on the rear, repeating the cycle.

As for mismatched types on 4WD or AWD, I don't know. I have always owned a 4WD truck and I've had four different types/widths of tires on some of my early ones (when I didn't have money) and didn't see any appreciable problems. But with modern anti-slip sensors on AWD cars, I can see that mismatched tires might be a problem. I don't know for certain though.

As for the comment about rotating tires - I don't do it on my car or minivan. Why rotate them? In the past it was to ensure even wearing of the tires. This wearing was because the front end was not aligned properly and the tires would wear unevenly. Rotating tires was cheaper than a front end alignment. But it doesn't fix the problem (the front end being out of alignment), it only hides it. If you notice uneven wearing, get an alignment done.

I do rotate the tires on my truck though (it's a dually) because that's the recommendation from Goodyear and the tires came with a warranty. If I don't rotate, it voids the warranty. And since the tires cost $2500 to replace two years ago I really want to keep the warranty intact.

Be well,

Doc

[Rob Damon]

If you can do it and you only need one tire. Put the spare on the car at home and just take the rim/tire into Costco or Sam's have them replace the one tire and when/if they give you grief, tell them it is a spare for your car.

We had one vehicle that was given to us that had sat for several years that had two new tires on the front and two older tires on the back and no spare. We took in one tire at a time for replacement with no problems.

Rob

[Craig D Peltier]

Thanks for all the fun advice. Good to learn.

The link for Bf Goodrich explained the New to Traditional tread when you run the mouse over the words near the tire.

Thanks

[Craig D Peltier]

Thanks for the help. I had a friend who at one time did a comparison on local places and online for cheapest tires. He steered me towards Discount Tires. Costco wanted 430 , discount tires was 351. In and out in 30 minutes. Got BF Good rich again.

THANKS

[Anthony Whitesell]

I guess I should of clarified my post.

This recommendation came from my Uncle who has been in the tire business for 30 some years.

He always puts new tires (if only replacing two) on the rear for the same reason that Tom mentioned. When the new tires get to the point of needing to be replaced, the rear (now worn down some) come forward and the new ones go on the rear, repeating the cycle.

As for mismatched types on 4WD or AWD, I don't know. I have always owned a 4WD truck and I've had four different types/widths of tires on some of my early ones (when I didn't have money) and didn't see any appreciable problems. But with modern anti-slip sensors on AWD cars, I can see that mismatched tires might be a problem. I don't know for certain though.

As for the comment about rotating tires - I don't do it on my car or minivan. Why rotate them? In the past it was to ensure even wearing of the tires. This wearing was because the front end was not aligned properly and the tires would wear unevenly. Rotating tires was cheaper than a front end alignment. But it doesn't fix the problem (the front end being out of alignment), it only hides it. If you notice uneven wearing, get an alignment done.

I do rotate the tires on my truck though (it's a dually) because that's the recommendation from Goodyear and the tires came with a warranty. If I don't rotate, it voids the warranty. And since the tires cost $2500 to replace two years ago I really want to keep the warranty intact.

Be well,

Doc

Doc- I agree wholeheartedly with you about the front end alignments, but I still stay that rotating the tires will help them last longer.

I have a 2004 Nissan Altima 2.5 and found that rotating the tires in a cross-over pattern is absolutely essential . In fact I'm due to visit wally-world for another rotation. Hey, at 7.50/tire $30 per set for lifetime mount and balance you can't beat it. Plus tires are too simple for them to screw up. That "goofy" little car has enough power that at even the easiest acceleration in the rain, the right front tire (the high torque in terms of the differential) lights right the heck up and spins.

The first set of tires I had on the car were a set of Continentals and rotated in the standard front-to-back/back-to-front method and wore out the RIGHT side tires. Not the fronts, not the rears, but the rights. The lefts were good for atleast another 15K (I changed them when they got tpp iffy ofr my liking when winter got near). I ended up buying one pair of tires and moved the left front to the right rear and threw out the right rear tire and put the NEW TIRES ON THE FRONT of the front wheel drive car. The new set was rotated in a crossover pattern (either fronts crossed to the rear and the rears come straight forward; or the rears tires are crossed and the fronts move straight to the rear. I personally use the Cross-Rear pattern, crossing the rears to the front and moving the fronts straight back). The set was a 40K tire (Yokohama Avid TRZs I believe) and I barely got 45K from them. Again they just weren't that good in the rain on that car. My newest set is a set of Goodyear Assurance. I have ~60K on them already and still look nearly new. I think the difference being is these tires are much better in the rain and low traction situations.

If you're keeping track, that's a '04 with 3 sets of tires with 40K, 45K, and 60K eachfor a total of 145K in 5 years, or about 29k/yr. I am aware of all the stories about changing rotation by moving the tires from side to side and all the other "urban legends", but this is what works for me and I have the mileage to prove it.

[Don Abele]

Anthony, sometimes that which works for us defies all other logic. So stick with it :D My '03 Kia Spectra commuter car has 150,000 miles on it (I bought it new) and I've only changed the tires on it once - at about 80,000 miles :eek:. The current tires have plenty of tread left on them, go figure.

I understand what you mean about the urban legend on tire rotation pattern. From what I know, the big one had to do with the cross rotation because you are changing the direction that the tire is spinning. My understanding is that this is only an issue with tires that have a unidirection tread pattern. The six tires on my dually truck get rotated in some highly complex mathematical formula that takes calculus to figure out :p but I do know that each tire will eventually be in all positions.

Be well,

Doc