Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire studded snow tires

No I sure don't. Not to long ago there was (may still ? ) a company that did retreaded mud/snow tire with something in the rubber that was "rough" to help improve traction on ice. If I can find the name I'll post it

timely thread, we live on a hill in a place known for a bit of winter

I don't mind winter at all, it's this chit we're experiencing now, rain turning to ice. but I'm no stranger to the phenomena, we used to get some doozy ice storms in SW MO when I lived there as a kid.

studded tires work, used to run them on mom's front wheel drive van.

but I'm a big fan of the blizzak's currently run those on her Toyota

folks that say they don't make a difference are just blowin air out their pie holes.

knowing beats guessing, and I know a lil about getting around on glare ice on a hillside.

studded tires are probably better for our current conditions, but the trouble with them ime is the studs wear out pretty fast when you hit dry pavement.

8 years on the current set of Blizzaks, told her last night as we were driving home from North Pole passing folks off in the ditch, they don't owe us a thing, and if she wants new ones, we just go buy them, simple as that.

they make a huge difference when driving on very slick roads.


after that, break out the tire chains, in fact gonna go put a set on my truck and run up and down our hillside driveway and tear some of that slick surface up

Just took the studs off the Anchorage to Kenai 4x4 Expedition a month early. No snow in SC Alaska this year. No sense in wearing them out.

Got 4 chains waiting in the wings - they will fit the Expedition , the Ram Tonner, or the Chevy Tonner PU's , neither of which have studded sets.

If you are going to run studs and summers, invest in a second set of rims. Them changeovers are not only more expensive but wreck your tire rims in short order. 2 sets of rims are way cheaper!!!

By tire rims I mean on the tires, not the metal rims. Those changeover goons don't give a chit about your stuff - they are slam/bang get er done -onto the next one .. They really rip up the sealing portion of the tires!

Craig's list or the like, buy a extra set of rims that will pay for themselves in mounting and balance costs in two seasons or less is what we have been doing.
Then let the rims go with car when you sell it, or sell them and get your money back.

I run them on ONE car each winter.... if a time occurs that they are needed, then we take that car.... but that has been a while since they were needed, with the 'drought' the west coast has had over the last 5 years...

I think the one negative thing about them, is that on icy roads, they give way too many drivers over confidence, and they don't slow down.... same as 4 WD in places that don't get a lot of snow...or just like FWD cars and All Season Tires first came out in the early 1980s....

car salesmen were telling people in MN that a FWD car with All Season tires would go thru anything...each snow fall, there sure were a lot of them in the ditches and buried in a snow bank in the median on I 35 and I 94....

Too true, Seafire.

I sorta miss those ditches, in a perverse sort of way....

The new studs starting this year are softer and won't last. It's a government thing.

Besides all of this winter tires vs winter tires with studs debates..... just plain old slowing down also really works wonders...


but in the spirit of this topic...

did you know St Peter was a Norwegian?

Yeah, one year these two guys died, and when they got to the Pearly Gates, Jesus came over to St Peter and told him that were sort of full and heaven was going thru a remodel.... so these two guys were going to be given a reprieve and sent back to earth.

and for their inconveniences, they were to granted all the wishes they wanted for their return to earth.


The first guy told St Peter, he wanted to go back to earth as a billionaire, and to be the most successful gambler to ever hit the Vegas strip, and desired all the cars, women and fanfare to fit his status. So St Peter waved his hand and Pooof, the guy found himself in a Vegas Penthouse Hotel room in bed with a girl on each side of his, stark naked.

The Second Guy was from Minnesota. He sure was impressed with all the stuff the other guy got... but he had no need for all that money and stuff.... he just liked the concept of being able to have all the women he wanted.

So he tells St Peter, my vish is dat I vant to go home to Minnesota, and be the biggest STUD duh State of Minnesoda has ever seen!

St Peter was puzzled and asked him was he sure?

oh ya, I'm really really sure...

So St Peter shrungs his shoulders and waves his hand and poof, the guy is headed back to Minnesota to be the biggest Stud the State of Minnesota ever saw.

A year later Jesus comes up to St Peter, and asks him "do you remember those two guys we sent back down to earth, and granted whatever wish they wanted?"

Ya Chur says St Peter...

Well, I found that first guy in Vegas, so we finally brought him home. He didn't want to leave, but a deals a deal. But for the life of me, neither me or Dad can find that other guy from Minnesota... we've combed the entire planet and found no hide nor head of him. So do you remember what his wish was?

Oh Ya, he wanted to go home and be the Biggest Stud ever seen in the State of Minnesota...

Well yeah Says Jesus, that's what we thought... but we've looked in every loose woman's bedroom in the entire state of Minnesota and Wisconsin to boot, and still can't locate him....

Bedroom? Vhat vould ya be lookin in der for? Right now he is on a snow tire mounted on a Buick in Duluth....

Yep, 48 Chevy with high ground clearance, sawdust recapped snow tires with a set of chains and 2 bags of salt in the trunk for weight and off we went to hunt not knowing that you just can't do that now. We never had any problems. We have just finished going through 6 weeks of snow and ice and the DMV never salted or plowed the roads at all. WV is broke so we can use the potholes for traction also.

Over the years I've had a set of studded tires on a rwd sports car, and a 4wd truck. And we've run blizzaks on awd sedan, wagon and suv.

With our milder winters I've had more than my share of black ice and my personal favorite, water on top of ice. True winter tires make a huge difference in these conditions, but I'm not sure how much of a benefit studs are vs. a studless winter tire. I can assure you that in the nastiest water on top of ice conditions you can spin your tires, lock up the breaks and slide, get understear when going to fast when coming into a turn or get overstear by adding just a tad too much gas.

The thing with studs is unless you're in area where you will have ice on the road all winter, you'll be running the studs on bare pavement some or most of the time. And in my experience if that is your case, they studs are going to work well for about the first 5-10k miles on the tire or one season for me, and then they'll start wobbling in the tire, the carbide tips get bent over in their steel body etc to the point that you're running noisy winter tires wit the studs providing little benefit.

The studs are shot on my truck and I'm not sure if I'm going to replace them with another set of studs or studless winter tires, I'm leaning towards studless. And even with winter tires I'm going to get two sets of v-bar chains as we now have a nice 2 mile windy mountain road to get to the freeway and after feeling the front and back of the truck simultaneously drifting through the hairpins when going 15 mph I'm thinking I'd rather have the chains and not need them then be in a position where I can't get down the hill or more likely can't get back up the hill.