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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158
Campfire Oracle
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OP
Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158 |
Anyone swapped them yet? I'm tempted.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
--Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice.
--ironbender
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,627
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,627 |
Didn't use them this year and did fine.
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158 |
More snow/ less ice than the previous two winters. Mostly thinking about tires on my Taco. It's a one wheel wonder.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
--Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice.
--ironbender
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 7,955
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 7,955 |
Love them cant get into a fender bender for less than 1K.
Studded tires are less than that.
kk alaska
Alaska 7 months of winter then 5 months of tourists
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,066
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,066 |
Swapping out after the 24th. Came in handy last weekend in Turnagain Pass.  Up here, it looks like I'm going to have to move that snowban covering the 4-wheeler. Finally getting some melt on some asphault and gravel road sections, tho it hasn't broken 32 yet. Bravo no like for going to work. Countryside is good yet.
The only true cost of having a dog is its death.
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158 |
Took the plunge and changed them.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
--Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice.
--ironbender
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,055
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,055 |
Haven't ran em in 13 years.
"243/85TSX It's as if the HAMMER OF THOR were wielded by CHUCK NORRIS himself, and a roundhouse kick thrown in for good measure."
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158 |
I never saw a need for them while living in Fbx. We get enough ice, intersections mostly and Cooper Landing black ice, that it's worth it to me.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
--Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice.
--ironbender
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 21,765
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 21,765 |
Can't use them after April 15 here, our conditions are a lot different though.
Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 21,317
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 21,317 |
We run studless winter tires on all but one of our cars. Studs may have an advantage over the blizzak, nokkian etc when brand new, but it seems after about a 1/2 season of mostly highway driving the studs get worn down and bent over and aren't any better than the studless winter tires. Need to get the what few studs are left removed from my son's truck's tires.
We're still going to have some spots of black ice on our hill while the snow melts, flows across the road and freezes up in the morning so I'm in no rush to remove the winter tires. We had a stream running through our driveway with all the snow up the hill melting yesterday.
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,499
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,499 |
We run studless winter tires on all but one of our cars. Studs may have an advantage over the blizzak, nokkian etc when brand new, but it seems after about a 1/2 season of mostly highway driving the studs get worn down and bent over and aren't any better than the studless winter tires. Need to get the what few studs are left removed from my son's truck's tires.
We're still going to have some spots of black ice on our hill while the snow melts, flows across the road and freezes up in the morning so I'm in no rush to remove the winter tires. We had a stream running through our driveway with all the snow up the hill melting yesterday. My wife's Rav4 wears Blizzak tires, and so a FWD car I drive to work. My truck keeps the same all-season tires year long. I will be replacing the winter tires any time now. Earlier this week we got a couple of inches of sort of wet and heavy snow that turned to ice on the road. It was early in the morning, and I was glad I had Blizzaks on my car, because there were cars sliding off the road all over the place. I saw three off the road on the Richardson near the Army post, and four on the Parks near the airport. I made it to work ok
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158 |
Stud life is less than tire life. After a few seasons I pull the studs and run those tires in the summer.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
--Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice.
--ironbender
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158 |
How many miles do you get on a set of Blizzak tires?
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
--Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice.
--ironbender
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,158 |
Can't use them after April 15 here, our conditions are a lot different though. Unless it's a slow spring or late large snowfall, south of 60* deadline is April 15. North of that is April 30.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
--Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice.
--ironbender
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 21,765
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 21,765 |
Would really think your date would have been later then that. Few people here use them anymore, weather is not as bad and plows do a better job then the past. Wife had a 92 Tbird, without studs I was leery of that car, with them it was fine.
Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,499
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2001
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How many miles do you get on a set of Blizzak tires? The grit material embedded in the rubber last around 12,000, I believe, then the tires are just winter tires without the metallic or whatever particles are used for traction. So far the ones on my wife's car have gone through four seasons, and the ones on my car five. But I leave them for a week or two after the snow and ice on the roads melt, then replace them with the summer tires. The 8 tires (4 for each vehicle) are mounted on their own wheels with TPM sensors. I take the cars to Alyaska Tires in Fairbanks, and they reset the TPM sensors free of charge. I would think that the grip on the Blizzak tires lasts around 6 seasons in Fairbanks if you don't have to drive long distances on bare pavement, and as long as you replace them with the summer tires once winter has ended. As you mentioned before, metallic studs don't last but a season or two (maybe three) before they wear out. The rubber lasts a long time, but not the carbide or steel tips on the studs.
Last edited by Ray; 04/09/17.
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 17,491
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 17,491 |
Wife had a 92 Tbird, without studs I was leery of that car, with them it was fine. Seems like much depends on the vehicle in question. When I was a youth, my dad ran station wagons and they handled well without winter tires (compared to with), so he didn't bother. And I was running a 4000 pound vehicle without last year. But, while Fbx road crews keep the roads in generally good driving condition, sometimes the turn lanes get a bit greasy. After a couple of scary close-calls with zero control this winter with a featherweight Corolla, I figured I'd rather invest in 'ice tires' than to pay for higher insurance rates after a rear-ender or worse. It was worth it.
Sometimes, the air you 'let in'matters less than the air you 'let out'.
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Joined: Feb 2001
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 7,955 |
New studded tires are great but after 1 season not as great, but best option on ice.
If you get tires re studded they generally get studs to tall and then they are like skates.
kk alaska
Alaska 7 months of winter then 5 months of tourists
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 29,820
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 29,820 |
We drive on packed snow and ice from about late-Nov throught mid-Feb. Did studs one season and now just run 4-wheel drive and good radials. If I ever have to chain up, it will be to go home.
1Minute
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 21,317
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 21,317 |
How many miles do you get on a set of Blizzak tires? The grit material embedded in the rubber last around 12,000, I believe, then the tires are just winter tires without the metallic or whatever particles are used for traction. So far the ones on my wife's car have gone through four seasons, and the ones on my car five. But I leave them for a week or two after the snow and ice on the roads melt, then replace them with the summer tires. The 8 tires (4 for each vehicle) are mounted on their own wheels with TPM sensors. I take the cars to Alyaska Tires in Fairbanks, and they reset the TPM sensors free of charge. I would think that the grip on the Blizzak tires lasts around 6 seasons in Fairbanks if you don't have to drive long distances on bare pavement, and as long as you replace them with the summer tires once winter has ended. As you mentioned before, metallic studs don't last but a season or two (maybe three) before they wear out. The rubber lasts a long time, but not the carbide or steel tips on the studs. I know you shouldn't run the studless tires year round but we've done it for nearly 2 decades it here's what I've found. The tires have good winter grip for two winters, or ~25k. By the third winter you can tell the same grip isn't there. I figure we could either have two sets of rims, summer winter tires and get roughly six seasons out of both, or run the blizzaks year round and replace them every three years.
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