I am needing tires in the front of my van and was wondering if I could possibly my put 195 70 15 infeont with the original tire size being 215 70 15s or would they be better in the back?due to lack of resources this is my only option pleaae help!

 

You will lose approx 1" in width and diameter. Should not be an issue unless you are AWD, then all tire sizes need to be the same. Popular opinion these days is the tires with the best tread goes on the rear of the vehicle. Reason being is the rear tires provide stability, and without stability, steering or braking on a wet or even damp surface might cause a spin. If you have new tires up front, they will easily disperse water while the half-worn rears will go surfing: The water will literally lift the worn rear tires off the road. If you're in a slight corner or on a crowned road, the car will spin out so fast you won't be able to say, "Oh, cr@p!" Welcome to the forum.

 

Speaking as a redneck from the woods of Missouri (Miz-er-uh) you need to lift the van and put 35 inch mud tires on all four corners.

 

This is a fact not popular opinion any pro tire shop will not put the best tires on the front of any FWD vehicle for safety reasons.

 

true...skid school has proven that. Problem is front tires wear out 3x faster than rear tires on fwd so you completely wear down the fronts to nothing and can't drive out of your driveway in the winter.

I prefer running matched tires for operation of the abs, stability control system.

 

Likewise, you need grip on the front to control what the rear is doing. IMO it's far easier to use the front to control the rear via steering/throttle inputs than it is to control without grip up front.
I'd rather the rear wash out in a corner or on slick roads, I can control that with steering/throttle input. When you can't turn/brake because you have **** tires up front, that's just a dangerous situation all around.

 

That's why they got treadwear indicators built in the tires if your tires are at the treadwear bar they need to be replaced. According to driving experts while doing track testing safety manoeuvres on FWD vehicles with different tread depth tires. Test results where lesser tread on the front and better tires on the rear will cause the vehicle to understeer while having the opposite better tires on the front and the lesser tread on the rear will cause the vehicle to oversteer. Conclusion the oversteer is far more difficult to control accompanied with less favorable tires on the rear could cause a total lost of control of the vehicle.

 

Maybe for the average person. For someone used to handling vehicles and driving RWD, the sudden lack of turning ability is far worse than having the rear end kick out.
For me, oversteer is far easier to control on a FWD than understeer. I can control oversteer by simply applying more or less throttle and countersteering. Once understeer is started, you're going straight. I tend to question a "driving expert" who can't handle oversteer.

 

These test were conducted by professional drivers on a track with different type of conditions wet, dry and they came to same conclusion other than having 4 new tires the best scenario for safety is the better tires on rear. You can't even get a tire shop to do any different they won't put the lesser tread tires on the front they rather have you leave than to be sued in case of an accident.

 

lock up the ebrake on ice and see how fast you drive....the back end steers the vehicle.