I am posting this as the question came up in a thread I started in the Alaska section. I am driving from Arizona to Fairbanks the middle of April. I will need new tires for my truck anyway. Are real metal studs in the tires important or will I be better off with a set of dedication winter snow/ice tires without studs?
Any of you tried both styles? I have never run studs before as I rarely encounter those driving conditions that would suggest it. I put Falken Wildpeaks on my newer F150 and they seemed to do pretty well on some snowy icy roads but I really don't have a good feel for comparing them to something else. I thought about buying a set of winter tires and switching them over somewhere in Alberta as I get to areas with more chance of ice.
I would lean away from them, the Alcan has pretty good late winter conditions for the most part. You may have to slow down (and I don't mean slow down from 75 to 60, lol) for some stretches; but you will find the salting of the road really helps reduce the icing. I would not recommend heading into a known snow storm, try to be holed up at a safe place if it gets bad.
I bought a high quality pair of studded snow tires for my F-150 just to use as necessary,...got 'em mounted on some spare wheels. It's just a 2WD. But with the studded tires and about 500 lbs of sand bags in the back placed over the rear axel, It will handle a lot more snow than people would expect.
I learned that trick from my dad many years ago. He had a short bed, step side '56 GMC. He'd put a bunch of concrete blocks in the back and put the studded tires on when it snowed and we'd go driving around when there was hardly anybody else on the road.
Bought a set long ago because I thought I needed them. Couldn’t tell a difference other than the prickly hum they produce on the highway. Now I run siped tires they are much quieter and hold just as good. I drive over Pipestone and Homestake passes frequently all winter on some absolutely terrible road conditions.
Now I run siped tires they are much quieter and hold just as good.
I've seen some pretty impressive downhill breaking test done with siped tires, doubt I'd have another set of tires studded.
Anyone who does much winter driving is aware that breaking and having your front tires hold while cornering is more important than having traction to get off the line quicker.
90%+ of the time I'm running on dry roads, so I wouldn't want a dedicated snow tire. For those of us who only have to cope with snow a couple of times a winter, (or not even that) a pair of studded tires mounted on rims and sitting in the garage is a good solution.
I haven't tried the new siped tires. But I seriously doubt if they will dig into ice or packed snow the way studs will.
I don’t waste my money on studded tires.. as others said get a good set of all season tires. I ran coopers on my truck when I drove up the Alcan November 2016..
If you are not going to be running the tires during winter up here (or in other icy/snowy country) just stick with the non-studded.
Wife's Expedition has dedicated, mounted studs for winter use (Sept-May), and 300lb of sand bags in back (less damaging to interior than block). My Ram 3500 Quad cab runs non-studded year round. Don't see that much diff, but then often the 3,000 lb camper is on it year-round. Right now not, and I need to put 500 lbs of weight in it if I winter use it much. I don't - that's what the Exp. is for. Studs for her car last 2-3 winters, but then they can be pulled to use the tires for a summer or two that way.
If you do buy studs, as said, get them mounted on rims. Those tire-changer-overs are hell on beads - they are into production and not care, and the tires will be ruined before they are worn out. Over the life of the tire, one is probably ahead $-wise to have them on their own rims- quicker change over, and less $ if you don't do it yourself.
We will be taking the PU camper Outside in late September, coming back end of Oct, early Nov. I'll be running the non-studded Michelins M&S that are on it now (new in July, just some local travel - maybe 3K miles right now, probably 8K by then) , and as said, go as slow as conditions warrant, or stop and wait them out if necessary.
I do have a set of chains that will go along. I do not expect to have to use them, but a helluva lot cheaper than a full set of studded tires and rims.
Dedicated snows are made from a softer rubber that grips better. As a result, they don't last as long so it's a compromise. I have studded real snows on my van and the traction is great, or at least as great as any tire can be on ice. Here in ID, they're only legal Oct 1 - April 30. It's very rare to need them that early but we can have some last spring snow storms.
I suggest you mount real snow & ice tires for winter seasonal use, but not mud and snow "all season" tires which are marketed to people who don't have a serious need for winter tires. Studs are nice, and are necessary if you are constantly driving on ice but come with their own limitations - more noise, more damage to roads and more expensive. I use a set of 4 studded ice tires here in Saskatchewan from November to April because I'm driving on ice as often as not. You are not likely to be driving on ice most of the time on your way to Alaska on paved roads. If you have a 4 wheel drive, you'll be Ok with ice radials all around. If you are driving a 2 wheel drive, put studs on the back set and weight in the box as already mentioned.
Jag has a very valid point, if you are not used to driving on snow pack and clear ice.
I have been on roads in S West Idaho where the car slid off of the pavement onto the shoulder after I had stopped and put it in Park. And yes, that is a state hiway. Hiway 95 to be specific.
Once you get up into Idaho or Washington, the local dealers sell some very good snow/ice tires. Blizzak comes to mind.
Do not substitute with mud/snow. There is no comparison on ice roads.
I keep two sets of rims for my commuter 4x4 vehicle with studded snow/ice tires for the winter. Studs are an advantage in bringing the nose around in extremely slick conditions, and in braking on ice. But really good snow tires with thousands of tiny sipes are about 95% as good.
And carry chains, IF you can fit them onto your vehicle. Cable chains can be used in limited clearance situations. But they have a short life expectancy compared to real chain. Cables must be kept VERY tight. Flexing of the side cables will cause them to fatigue and break. I went through 3 sets in a month on a 6 cylinder Nova I was driving to work 25 mi each way.
Many of our local tire dealers sell "quick chains" which go on very easily and quickly without having to drive onto the chain or jack up the car. I used them many times on our 99 Blazer. They made the difference between getting to work or taking an unexcused absence.
Many of today's cars do not have clearance for a set of chains. But if you are driving a pick-up you should have clearance for real chains, at least on the back. I highly recommend heavy duty chains with cam tighteners on the side chain. They are a smaller version of the chains used by interstate truckers. They are the only way to really tighten a set of chains on the tire.
Fly, dont drive, Dennis. Southerners cant drive on snow like Yanks can.
the opening of that video posted by Doc there was here in Oregon up on i 84 in NE Oregon.. we get iced roads here east of the Cascades....
having done a lot of winter driving all over the country, if I was making the trip Dennis, I'd put a set of studded tires on rims for the rear, and carry them as spares... if you need them, you can put them on...
if weight needed in the back... you can buy 70lb tubes of sand up in this latitudes all over the place...2 x 4 behind the wheel wells in the box, and they won't go sliding forward...
whether you do studs on tires or not...a set of chains, both link and cable are available, and are even more traction, but you have to drive slower with them installed... in bad weather in my younger days, I would move my snow tires to the front of my rear wheel drive car for steering, and put the regular tires from up front on the back of the vehicle and put chains on them...car would go thru heavy snow like a tank... 15 inch rims.. not those little 13 inch buggers used back in the 70s and 80s...
for putting on chains without having to jack your truck up, and makes it a lot easier... block of wood ( thick preferrably).. or one piece on top of the other.. it should be the size to fit in between links in the chains or cables....put in front of the tire you'll be changing.. someone with you to drive the vehicle is a plus.. but run the tire up on the block of wood, with the chain laid out in front of the tire already about half way.. raises the tire off the ground, and makes wrapping the chain around the rest of it real easy...
before that, in my travels, I just had two summer tires as spares, that I had already put chains on....small jack for lifting heavy weight ( bottle jack) set on top of a block of wood... took off the rear tire, slapped on the spare tire with chains already mounted and off ya go...
if the truck has 4 WD, a good set of tires with hydrophilic rubber compound ( I use Hankook Winter Peaks, I get from Discount Tire Direct shipped to me from right there out of Phoenix).. that and a set of winter cables or chains to put on if needed and off ya go...if 4WD, i doubt if your F 150 would need any weight in the back either... but a 70lb bag of sand at Home Depot is $5 or $7 or less...
When I put chains on two spare tire and rready to go, jacking up the truck for me is easier than wrestling them in the snow on a road side, out in the middle of nowhere... and there is a lot of nowhere between Phoenix and Fairbanks...
I suggest you mount real snow & ice tires for winter seasonal use, but not mud and snow "all season" tires which are marketed to people who don't have a serious need for winter tires. Studs are nice, and are necessary if you are constantly driving on ice but come with their own limitations - more noise, more damage to roads and more expensive. I use a set of 4 studded ice tires here in Saskatchewan from November to April because I'm driving on ice as often as not. You are not likely to be driving on ice most of the time on your way to Alaska on paved roads. If you have a 4 wheel drive, you'll be Ok with ice radials all around. If you are driving a 2 wheel drive, put studs on the back set and weight in the box as already mentioned.
Tests have shown that the so-called 'all season's aren't any better than highway tires on slick stuff. They're made for high mileage and high speed. The rubber's too hard for a good grip and the so-so tread doesn't make any difference.
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Many of today's cars do not have clearance for a set of chains. But if you are driving a pick-up you should have clearance for real chains, at least on the back. I highly recommend heavy duty chains with cam tighteners on the side chain. They are a smaller version of the chains used by interstate truckers. They are the only way to really tighten a set of chains on the tire.
Some of the newer pickups don't have clearance for chains, either. At best, they'll tell you to use the light weight car chains. My Dodge 2500 is like that with stock tires but I run narrower ones that give me extra clearance.
I wouldn't use the studs and I would say they might be illegal in some of the states you will be driving through. I put some Folkon Wildpeaks AT3 on my Ford F150 4X4 and they were good in snow and ice. I think the Nokian tires are the best as far as snow and ice tires. They are soft rubber and have a lot of grip but will wear out in about a year and a half if you keep them on after the snow season. A set of chains is a good thing to have stored in the back if traveling in real snow country.
Fly, dont drive, Dennis. Southerners cant drive on snow like Yanks can.
most of that video is in Russia... where you think they would know how to drive in snow..
most common denominator of accidents in winter... too much excessive speed for the conditions..
I worry more about the other guy than I do the road conditions...
too many people see someone going faster than every one else on the freeway, and is doing okay, so they will speed up and follow him instead of just being patient and aware...right up until the minute that he looses traction and so do they...
I see more of that on interstates than anything else...
you also want to avoid a lot of idiots on the highways Dennis, if you have to drive in bad weather.. do so at night, where there is a lot less traffic on the roads.. and most of the traffic is usually professional drivers out at those times...good winter tires and traction, you'd be surprised how 40 to 45 mph can be maintained... but if conditions are worse, just SLOW DOWN....it ain't rocket science...
I drive 40 to 60 K a year on our highways... and have done that since the early 70s.... I've had ONE winter wreck in all that time.. it was on a two lane road, my side had been plowed and the other not... so lady in a Volvo was driving on my side the road and refused to slow down or yield, she expected me to...at the end, on a curve, I had to jerk off the road to avoid a head on collision....and as I went off the road at 25 mph, I had 6 oak trees in someone's front lawn to dodge....I missed 5 of them, but at the last moment I had to decide to try and dodge it and hit it on the drivers side if I failed, or just ride it in and let the car hit it on the passenger side... I chose the latter...
as I climbed out of the car, there standing in the road was Mrs Volvo, with her hands over her mouth.. when I climbed out, she realized she had caused it, and it was her fault... so she jumped in her Volvo and took off....welcome to Massachusetts...
I think it was mentioned already but some areas may not allow studded tires after April 1, BC included. Personally I would get a set of all weather all terrain tires. BF Goodrige TA KO2 are an example that I like. Go for tires with the mountain symbol (winter rating) and not just mud and snow rating. These IMO are like 90% as good as dedicated winters but you run them all year. Very good in deep snow, good on ice. Dedicated winters would be slightly better on ice. I've never bothered with studded tires I recognise them as an advantage on ice all right, but not much compared to todays tested and stamped mountain symbol tires be they dedicated winters or not.
Spent 40+ years in a little Idaho town that nearly doubles Anchorages yearly snow fall at 138" and 300" a tad out of town at the ski hill..I think half the town had nothing more than 2WD and a good set of tires,studded or not..People rarely chained up..It was the flatlanders coming for the weekend that were always in the ditch in there new 4X4's..Tires are everything on the snow and ice and ofcourse,experience doing so..
Spent 40+ years in a little Idaho town that nearly doubles Anchorages yearly snow fall at 138" and 300" a tad out of town at the ski hill..I think half the town had nothing more than 2WD and a good set of tires,studded or not..People rarely chained up..It was the flatlanders coming for the weekend that were always in the ditch in there new 4X4's..Tires are everything on the snow and ice and ofcourse,experience doing so..
Problem is, it doesnt matter how good you drive. When someone else loses it you can be in for a world of schiett.
Dennis; Good afternoon to you sir, I hope that this final Sunday before Christmas finds you and yours well and warm.
On another thread I made the observation that like chainsaw and moose rifle threads, there's a grand chasm of difference between some snow and other snow isn't there?
For example, my cyber friend Salty303 lives on the other side of the pass from us now made famous by that "Highway through Hell" show. It's not all Hollywood either by the way - for instance for the last two days we couldn't get out of the valley here other than go south and cross the medicine line as all roads were closed.
The Coquihalla Pass between Salty and I got a bit less than a meter of snow and the alternate route Hope Princeton got a bit more than a meter - in 24 hours....
Anyway there's snow and then there's snow, you know?
My good wife has the famous made in Finland Nokian tires - studded - on her '19 Rav4 and I must say on ice they're pretty fantastic. They're not that much better in deeper snow than a good set of snowflake rated winters, but on ice they shine. On dry pavement they're less shiny for sure though Dennis.....
Mostly we run snowflake rated winters on all our rigs from October to April. On the pickups anymore, I've gone to just putting on the best snowflake/mountain rated tires I can find - 10 ply on the current Cummins Ram - and just burn them up year round. When they get tired I have a spare set of rims which gets fresh snowflake tires for the winter again.
As always, there's more than one road to Mecca - or Fairbanks too perhaps - and that's just how one BC Canuck handles the winter driving challenges and not much more.
Merry Christmas to you and yours sir, good luck whichever way you decide and safe journey when the time comes.
I can't fly, I'm hauling too much stuff- weight in the back won't be a problem (toolbox along weighs 750#). Yes, my truck is 4 WD. I was planning on taking a spare set of 4 tires already mounted and change them out as I got to where it is still winter. I was just trying to decide between the Nokian studded or non-studded. Looks like I might as well get the non-studded. I have, as mentioned, Falken Wildpeaks on my other F150. They seem pretty good but I would rather have really good straight-up winter tires than try and compromise with an All terrain or all season tire. I have BF Goodrich All terrains on it now as that is what it came with. Not a fan but they do the job here.
Just need to find some wheels that I can actually buy tires for- terrible selection of 31-10.50-15 winter tires. I am going to have to get 16 or 17" wheels to find decent tires. I don't need to push it. I can leave as early as I need to to get up. Only deadline is the Homer-Kodiak ferry on the 25th.
Your decision both on the tire brand and going with larger rims is eminently logical in my view.
As you likely know since it's not your first rodeo, there's provincial websites in both Alberta and BC which give up to the minute updates on road conditions. Forecasting is way, way better than it was even 5 years ago too, so your plan to carry and install if needed should work fine.
If you ever get our way on Highway 97 either way, feel free to give me a shout and I'll do my best to get some food, beverages or both into you.
Gee Dwayne, if there is a class guy around here, you gotta be it!
Dennis, didn't see it mentioned elsewhere so I'll post it...
in deep snow, contrary to modern tires available.. the skinnier the tire is, the better it is in deep snow...
tires like 31 x 10.50 suck in heavy wet snow like you'll encounter... they provide the same flotation on snow, like they would on sand... flotation on sand is good... not so good on heavy wet snow...they will turn into a pair of skis like my brother sadly found out when he moved to Minnesota for a couple of years....
wiped out his F 150 in about 3 weeks into snow season.... he moved there coming back to the mainland after living in Hawaii for about 10 years so he had no winter driving experience....
You would be well served with a top tier studless winter tire and you won’t wear out the studs with thousands of miles of hard bare pavement.
The difference between the top studless winter tires and all seasons is huge. The best studded winter tires are better than the best of the studless, mostly around 32 degrees, but the difference is much less than between a top tier studless and a typical all season, all terrain snowflake, or m+s snowflake tires.
Good winter tires have a different rubber compound that stays softer and has lots of siping, whether they are studded or not. Adding studs in a typical all season or all terrain/traction light truck tire doesn’t make it perform like a winter tire.
Studded versions of light truck traction tires are very common, sold as winter tires by the local shops, and most folks don’t know the difference. Studs are most helpful on ice, especially around 32 degrees. But they don’t do crap for snow, a studless winter tire is way better for snow than a typical studded traction tire.
Dennis; Good afternoon to you sir, I hope that this final Sunday before Christmas finds you and yours well and warm.
On another thread I made the observation that like chainsaw and moose rifle threads, there's a grand chasm of difference between some snow and other snow isn't there?
For example, my cyber friend Salty303 lives on the other side of the pass from us now made famous by that "Highway through Hell" show. It's not all Hollywood either by the way - for instance for the last two days we couldn't get out of the valley here other than go south and cross the medicine line as all roads were closed.
The Coquihalla Pass between Salty and I got a bit less than a meter of snow and the alternate route Hope Princeton got a bit more than a meter - in 24 hours....
Anyway there's snow and then there's snow, you know?
My good wife has the famous made in Finland Nokian tires - studded - on her '19 Rav4 and I must say on ice they're pretty fantastic. They're not that much better in deeper snow than a good set of snowflake rated winters, but on ice they shine. On dry pavement they're less shiny for sure though Dennis.....
Mostly we run snowflake rated winters on all our rigs from October to April. On the pickups anymore, I've gone to just putting on the best snowflake/mountain rated tires I can find - 10 ply on the current Cummins Ram - and just burn them up year round. When they get tired I have a spare set of rims which gets fresh snowflake tires for the winter again.
As always, there's more than one road to Mecca - or Fairbanks too perhaps - and that's just how one BC Canuck handles the winter driving challenges and not much more.
Merry Christmas to you and yours sir, good luck whichever way you decide and safe journey when the time comes.
Dwayne
Well my cyber friend Dwayne it sounds like you as well as I did our part on the recent storms and cheered them all on from a more sensible locale - home!! A good day not to be on the Coq or the Crowsnest for sure. Little old Hope was bulging at the seams the other day when not just those two mountain passes but the usual safe plan B of taking the low elevation Fraser Canyon and highway 1 was closed as well. Not for snow but a hellish amount of rain which loosened up the mountainside at one of the usual spots round about Boston Bar and a rock slide blocked the road. There was no way up country what so ever for a time. The rock slide was cleaned up fairly quickly and today everything's wide open although the view may be limited due to some pretty impressive snow banks on highway 3 and 5 I'm sure.
Glad to hear from you on the other side of the hump. I see you're another fan of Nokian tires put me on that list we've had several pairs through the years on my wife's cars, those Fins know a thing or two about winter Having said all that I wish all the best to you and your loved ones and I hope you have a safe and fabulous Christmas. cheers
All I can say is I have the rims with studded Nokians on for the winter and I've not had any bad issues by using them. Icy parking lots I still have grip. Snow on roads I have grip. Clear roads I have grip.
We didn't have studs on the way up in April and though we had brand new mud/snow on it was just slippery enough and going into a tough part of the highway, that we sat on the side for 3 days till the ice thawed again. Tried the chains but it wasn't so bad that the chains were the idea, IE I wasn't eager to drive that flipping slow with chains on... for hours and hours per day.
Re: the topic at hand, two of our vehicles have dedicated studded tires for the winter. Packed snow and ice is common on our drives in winter. No salt used in our area, so any packed snow turns into ice overnight after a warmish day. And we have 3.5 -4 hour drives a couple of times over the Cascades to my retinal doc. These kind of road conditions are not uncommon, and usually not as well cindered :
The other vehicle, our 2004 2wd Matrix has studless winter tires on it and I left them on all summer this year. It doesn't get used much once it gets really dicey, as I prefer studs on ice. Seems to do fine if there's only a few inches of fresh snow on the roads, and it handles quite nicely during the summer too. And even with the softer, more grippy compound I'm still getting 36+ MPG. It was going to get dedicated tires on a separate set of rims but my tire guys and I didn't find a set nearby.
Dennis, good luck with your travels. A lot of good advice here.
Drive on ice and snow here from about mid-Nov into late Feb. Four wheel drive with good radials and carry chains. The chains are only used to dig out and head home. We don't do city stuff, and our locals can handle themselves. In 30 years here the school has only done one snow day and that came about because they needed to plow out about 18" of packed snow and ice in the parking lot.
Your decision both on the tire brand and going with larger rims is eminently logical in my view.
As you likely know since it's not your first rodeo, there's provincial websites in both Alberta and BC which give up to the minute updates on road conditions. Forecasting is way, way better than it was even 5 years ago too, so your plan to carry and install if needed should work fine.
If you ever get our way on Highway 97 either way, feel free to give me a shout and I'll do my best to get some food, beverages or both into you.
Merry Christmas to you folks once again Dennis.
Dwayne
Merry Christmas, Dwayne to you and yours. You too, Jeff.
Gee Dwayne, if there is a class guy around here, you gotta be it!
Dennis, didn't see it mentioned elsewhere so I'll post it...
in deep snow, contrary to modern tires available.. the skinnier the tire is, the better it is in deep snow...
tires like 31 x 10.50 suck in heavy wet snow like you'll encounter... they provide the same flotation on snow, like they would on sand... flotation on sand is good... not so good on heavy wet snow...they will turn into a pair of skis like my brother sadly found out when he moved to Minnesota for a couple of years....
wiped out his F 150 in about 3 weeks into snow season.... he moved there coming back to the mainland after living in Hawaii for about 10 years so he had no winter driving experience....
This in spades!
Momma is still cussing me for replacing the tires on her Durango with new ones 1.5 inches less in width. But I know she is much safer in winter road conditions.
Dennis Another thing to complicate your plans, winter may be over by April.
3 years ago I drove to walla walla to pick up my gooseneck horse trailer in March. Very little snow and quite dry and warm conditions both ways. I still had studded tires on, but did not run into anything that warranted them.
I’ve had studded snows off all vehicles early to mid April the last three years, FWIW.
One cannot get in a winter weather related driving accident if one is not driving in winter weather..........
It's not always an option, but when it's really nasty I tend to stay put.
Dennis, again, safe travels
Geno
PS, as someone else noted, I'm much more concerned with the other drivers that don't understand winter weather driving. Having seen them slide across intersections when they had the red light or stop sign, I'm sometimes very concerned.
Dennis Another thing to complicate your plans, winter may be over by April.
3 years ago I drove to walla walla to pick up my gooseneck horse trailer in March. Very little snow and quite dry and warm conditions both ways. I still had studded tires on, but did not run into anything that warranted them.
I’ve had studded snows off all vehicles early to mid April the last three years, FWIW.
If I read the the rules correctly, BC requires snowflake rated tires until May 1st.
As an aside, I was with my buddy headed out to run some hounds this morning when we hit some ice on a bridge. We ended up slamming head on into the concrete wall and dogs went flying and we were both hurt pretty good- truck is totalled guns and bows ruined, tool box ruined. All the way around a really bad deal. I won't be taking chances with tires. I will get some dedicated winter tires to either take with me or put on before I leave. Snow doesn't bother me but ice is scary $hiit.
It's not a really bad deal when all involved arent crippled or dead. Schit happens. PTL you are alive. It didnt have to end this good and very often doesnt.
Glad you, your buddy, and the dogs are going to be okay. Had some pretty scary accidents in my life. I really shouldn't be alive. They sure make one think.
After the accident yesterday, I wonder it studs on the tires, would have allowed you to stop good enough where you didn't hit the guard rails...
wouldn't hurt......studs help with braking...cornering...stopping and taking off...and they are cheap......also if you are going down the road and you feel the rear end get light...let off the gas and studs help the truck straighten out....
biggest thing though....slow down.....I see a lot of people off the road...….bob
For dedicated winter/ice tires, I bring this back up.
They work. I ran nothing but these tires for years while ranching some of the roughest country in NM, and having to drive through ice/snow in the mountains.
I live in the North Carolina mountains. My driveway is 3/4 mile long and steep, a 9 percent slope. Four wheel drive is mandatory on my mountain. And in January if you have 4 inches of snow, you ain't getting up without chains, or studded tires. And I am so sick of laying down in wet snow and putting chains on. And off. I have a 4WD Nissan Frontier. And every year about November I put on a set of Nokian Hakkepelliitta studded tires. These are the best studded tires in the world, and yes, there is a big difference from one brand of studded tire to the next. Around March 20 I take them off. These tires are great! Traction on snow and ice unbelievable, and, not too bad on dry asphalt. A little noisy.
It seems impossible to find any studded tires in the sizes that will work. A stud gun is $400. I may not have any choice but to go studless.
I spent most of the day trying to fine 16", 17" or 18" wheels that would fit my truck- no go. I am back to finding tires for 15" wheels. VERY few options and non that I can find that are studded. I doubt there is a place here in Phx that will install studs for me.
It seems impossible to find any studded tires in the sizes that will work. A stud gun is $400. I may not have any choice but to go studless.
I spent most of the day trying to fine 16", 17" or 18" wheels that would fit my truck- no go. I am back to finding tires for 15" wheels. VERY few options and non that I can find that are studded. I doubt there is a place here in Phx that will install studs for me.
I bought a set of studded tires for a mustang in the early 80s to drive to work on the coast. We had a bad ice storm and there was an inch of black ice through most of Arkansas. I had no trouble driving with them. There were a couple of thousand cars in the medians and off the road around LittleRock. I just rolled past them. Had to take them off at the Louisiana state line. Never used them again. But they do work on ice if you need them.
My tires are both siped and studded ... it's your life do as u wish.....its 40 miles one way to work for me... I Iike both going to work and coming home... and not in a box.
It seems impossible to find any studded tires in the sizes that will work. A stud gun is $400. I may not have any choice but to go studless.
I spent most of the day trying to fine 16", 17" or 18" wheels that would fit my truck- no go. I am back to finding tires for 15" wheels. VERY few options and non that I can find that are studded. I doubt there is a place here in Phx that will install studs for me.
They have ONE tire big enough- the Firestone Winterforce UV2. ALL the reviews stated that it sucked compared to the original version.
Discount USED to have studded tires in 15"; they were Coopers. My local Discount guy called Cooper for me and they NO longer make studdable tires.
I found a place that has Hercules Avalanche in the correct size. They won't/can't stud them. I will mount up a set and the Discount tire in Flagstaff will stud them for me. Problem solved. Picked up 4 new (to me) wheels today and will get them going.
Around Anchorage we get too many days of water on ice can't even walk to the mailbox without cleats of some kind. You cant get into an auto accident for less than 1K and studs are less than that.
Try driving a plow truck in Anchorage without studs and you will realize that the winter studless tires are a joke in certain conditions and will scare years off you trying to stop.
With studs you can pull away from a icy intersection before you get rear-ended from cars that cant stop.
I came back from Girdwood today water on ice 37 F but ground and road temps are below freezing and was glad I had studs, was scary enough with them. Tried to head South from Girdwood flares were on road, an accident at Portage curve so bailed and headed home.
Tomorrow is supposed to involve rain and with the seriously cold-soaked roads and ground the demolition derby should be spectacular. The need to get through intersections before being rear-ended is very real. Insurance companies will absolutely hate tomorrow. The value of studs will really be on display.
If this is any help at all, back in '91 I drove from TX to AK in mid to late March or sometime in April in my old '77 F150, if memory serves. I believe I ran a new set of Dunlap Radial Mud Rovers. I had 2 spares and a set of tire chains. I only got stuck once and it was in sand. I encountered some snowy conditions and I used the chains a few times, but I really didn't need dedicated snow or studded tires. Winter conditions would be a different story though.
Studs are $15 extra a tire where I buy tires....I have to be out in all sorts of weather, and as soon as you hit elevation here in Oregon, you are dealing with Snow and Ice, especially the latter...
The extra $60 expense is well worth it...and I also have the cable chains with me also and a small block of wood... put that under the tire ( ya drive up on it), it makes putting the cable chains on pretty easy...
if ya have to deal with ice at all.... the price of studs on your tires is like the old George Carlin joke about Motor cycle helmets.. " if you have a $10 head, get a $10 helmet"
Studded tires aren't as popular here as they used to be. Mainly used for city only driving. Another reason is probably winter tires keep getting better. My tire dealer doesn't recommend them for me. I've never had studded tires . Every area is different.
When I use to travel every week from Walsenburg, CO., to Farmington, NM, I would have to crosses some pretty good mountain passes. Wolf Creek, which was maintained pretty well, but could get very icy. or I might go Cumbres and La Manga passes which were not maintained as well. I ran studded and stiped tires in the winter (only) and never had to chain up except twice. Once to rescue some people that had slid off the highway and once because a state trooper won't let me attempt Wolf Creek pass without tire chains on.. The studs do wear your tires out a lot faster. The best I could calculate, looking at my mileage reports, I only got about 29000 miles out of the set of studded Goodyear Wranglers. I never used studded tires on my other vehicles, but always carried cable chains just in case. Careful common sense driving is a lot more important than the mechanical aids though.
You called Cooper and they said they no longer make them in your size. Maybe tiresbyweb has some left over from last year. As I said above, I have bought $3K worth of studded tires from tiresbyweb, over the years, and they always do me right.
They show up on that link for $167 each. Discount tire lists them for $95 each in that size but they are out! I will stick with the Hercules at $118 each as I think they are probably just as good. Thanks for the link though.
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