Can You Put R Front tires on the rear wheels?

[tomd]

Am sure I'll hear no on this question but am getting pretty tick off about not finding rear tires! :censor:

Can we use our front tires on our rear wheels? :confused: In other words run 235/50-18(Front) on all 4 corners? Should the answer be yes any downside by doing it?

Thanks for your help guys it is very much appreciated!



PLEASE NOTE! After talking to my guy about putting on and ordering three (1 in the trunk) 235/50-18 for me he also check on the rears again, (he had ordered 2 for me) he was told the rears are now being push back another 2 or 3 months!!! If it’s true this sucks big time!

I’ve also written Ford/Mercury about this problem to see if they could put pressure on BF Goodrich to start producing the rear tires ASAP, the rest of you may also want to do the same thing. The pain the car manufactures are now feeling, the last thing they need is an upset customer who may buy someone else cars cuz of crap like this.

RESPONSE from FORD From: crcfmc@ford.com

Thank you for contacting the Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center regarding the rear tire concern on your 2003 Mercury Marauder.

We apologize for the inconvenience this situation has caused you. However, we recommend that you contact BF Goodrich directly, to provide feedback or comments regarding their products. In addition, you may also contact your local Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealership for parts availability and pricing information.

Thank you for contacting Ford.

Sometimes e-mail communication does not allow us to gain additional information that may be helpful in responding to your inquiry. Should you feel that we have not adequately addressed your questions, please feel free to contact us via telephone at (800)392-3673 between the hours of 8am and 5pm, local time, Monday through Friday. Hearing-impaired callers with access to a TDD may contact 1-800-232-5952. Please provide your 10 digit reference number - 1793690989.

Sincerely,
Rosallie
Customer Relationship Center
Ford Motor Company

For online support visit us at: www.customersaskford.com which contains answers to frequently asked questions and links to other key product and service information.

[Egon Spengler]

I see you have a 300A... If you do not have traction control on your MM you can use the fronts on the rear... takes away from the look and aggressive stance of the car, but it is do-able... I bought my car from the dealer (also 300A) with same size all around

[Dragcity]

Yeah, you can do it, You do not have traction control, correct?

(Even if you did have T/C, you just have to turn it off all the time)

The downside is you loose the raked look, Speedo will show a higher MPH than you are actually traveling, space between wheel well and tire will be greater (unless you lower the suspension in back with the adjuster).

Shouldn't be a really big deal, mostly looks for you....

FYI: Front and rear wheels are exactly the same, only the tires differ.

[SC Cheesehead]

Why not just go to aftermarket tires on the rear? There are a bunch of us running 255/55/18's on the rear, be they Nittos, Falkens, Generals, etc. with good results,

Cheaper, better wear, same or better performance than the OEM BFG's.

[FordNut]

You may get ABS errors

[Marauder]

For that, you could run 255/45-18 in the rear. There are tons of choices and it would be roughly the same height as a 235/50-18.

In theory, you could do 245/45-18 in the front and 255/45-18 in the rear to keep an ever so slight rake.

[mrjones]

I ran the 235s all the way around for a while, and rotating every 5000 miles really helped with the wear, but with 4.10s, it was just too much gear. Works fine on a 300a without traction control though.

[4rgone]

yes you can... I found out yesterday that I have 235's on all my tires going to buy the Nitto's once mine go bold

[LilCop2002]

I had Kumho Ecsta ASX in the 235/50/18s all the way around. I got 35K miles out of them and just replaced them with the Riken Raptors in 255/45/18s all the way around.

It did lose the rake when I went with the Kumhos but it didn't bug me. When I went with the Raptors, I lowered it all the way around and she looks quite nice.

[tomd]

Am going to go with the fronts on all 4 corners, I’ll let you guys know what I think. I figure I’ve got one of those stinking BF Goodrich’s in the trunk so am going to put it to good use and turn one of the fronts into the new spare. Should BF Goodrich not get their heads out of there *********s :flamer: when it comes time for new tires I’ll go with some other setup.
:thanks: Guys!

[tomd]

I now have the front tires on all 4 corners and can't tell the difference. Yes I did loose the rake look but I was never to thrilled with that anyway. If I have any future problems I’ll update you guys. Total price for the 3 new tires (used spare) and having 4 installed was $501.00

[LilCop2002]

Did you lower it any or do you have the wheel well gap? (Not dogging you, just asking.)

[tomd]

Nope left it the way it was. The owner of the repair shop said if you monkey with lowering the rear you'd have to work on the front end also. If I find time and the sun comes out again I'll post a picture.

[rayjay]

Nope left it the way it was. The owner of the repair shop said if you monkey with lowering the rear you'd have to work on the front end also. If I find time and the sun comes out again I'll post a picture.

I call :bs: plenty here have adjusted their rear ride height without any problem. Can I assume you can light up those 235's easier than the OEM rears?

[LilCop2002]

I call :bs: plenty here have adjusted their rear ride height without any problem. Can I assume you can light up those 235's easier than the OEM rears?



I also call BS on the ride height problem. That's exactly how I lowered my rear.


To answer your question, I was NOT able to light up the 235s on my rear.

[tomd]

Just in case some of you didn't find them. Here's what she looks like with fronts all the way around
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=53458