If a person puts radial tires on, should a person buy a bias tire for a spare?
At least I think it is a new question I have never seen anything written on it.

 

Call me crazy, but why would you want to do that?

 

Aren't radial tires directional?

 

Don't think so. I know there are some radial AT's that can be mounted white letters out or white letters in.

 

Some are,

Most are not, at least the ones you will run on your Jeep. None of the Tires that come standard on the JK are directional.

 

I would think there are more bias tires that are directional than there are radial tires that're directional.

 

No. A tire is not directional because it's a radial. A tire is considered directional when it has a directional tread pattern. Most tire retailers do still consider it a good idea not to swap sides with radial tires, though. It's just a practice that's hung on since the 70s when there was some trouble with tire separation due to switching sides. It is rare now, though.

 

I think it is a very bad idea to run one bias, and one radial at the same time. Your spare should be of the same type (radial or bias), and diameter as your others.

From Michelin....Also, DO NOT mix radial and non-radial tires on a vehicle. If mixing tires is unavoidable, NEVER mix radial and non-radial tires on the same axle. If two radial and two non-radial tires are installed on a vehicle, the two radials MUST be installed on the rear axle and the two non-radials on the front axle.

From Dunlop....When radial tires are used with bias or bias belted tires on the same car, the radials must always be placed on the rear axle. Never mix radial and bias-ply tires on the same axle. When you select a pair of replacement tires in the same size and construction as those on the car, we recommend you put them on the rear axle. A single new tire should be paired on the rear axle with the tire having the most tread depth of the other three.

 

Can anyone make sense of the difference between putting bias on back with radials on front and vice versa?

 

That is interesting to learn. Thanks. It is not a big deal now as when I change tires I change them all but when I was younger and on more of a tight budget I always put my best tires on the front thinking that if I had a blow out I would rather have it on the back feeling a blow out on the front would cause more loss of control of the vehicle. Well, we learn something new every day. Thanks again for the imput.
As for my original post I had the missunderstanding that radial tires were directional. I guess I was wrong which is nothing new. Thinking that I thought which ever tire you got there would be a fifty percent chance you would be wrong and rotating 5 tires would be out of the question. And bias are cheaper than radial. You see where I was going. The tire I was thing about was the Irok Radial and after just looking at them they don't look directional.
Thanks everyone for setting me straight. Have a great day, GRIZZ