Studded tire recommendations?

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canucksafari

canucksafari

Joined
Dec 29, 2006
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Location
Abby
Well, last weekend saw the first snow on the mountain passes and its time to think about winter tires. For about 10 years I ran winter ice radials Blizzacks and Michelin Alpins. Both brands of tires saved more sorry rear a few times every winter. Only problem is with the kms I put on and the amount of combination driving I do - Lower Mainland pavement & interior snow roads - ice radials don't usually last me more than one year. :frown: So, I am leaning towards a set of 31" or 32" studded snows. Yes, I know they are the pits on the wet roads down here. I had a set on the previous vehicle before it got T-boned and written off.

So, can anybody recommend a good studable snow tire and a good tire shop to buy from in the Lower Mainland? I had thought about Costco but after Mat's experience, I think I will avoid them.
Thanks, John
 
Nokian Hak 2. Studded and winter tire in one. Best tire IMOP.

Are you 16 rims or 15?

I get 235/85/r16 haks in a LT type. Damm good tires. They last longer than blizzaks too. Average life for them in smithers is 4 years plus.
 
Thanks for the info Brown Bear. I have a set of Nokian winters for the wife's Tercel and I have been very pleased with the wear and she loves how they drive. She was not happy when I put on her summer tires last spring. Right now I have 15"rims with my ATs. I will have to get rims, but that would mean that I would have to buy 5 rims and five tires. Ouch! Probably best to stick with a 31" (like my AT spare). Any idea on tire price I should expect?

Anybody got a set of 4 15" cruiser rims for sale? They don't have to be pretty.

Thanks, John
 
Fantom said:
I thought that they put a ban on studed tire in the lower mainland, or at least I remember someone saying that a while ago.
Click to expand...
Nope, there is no ban. They just have usual province wide time limit. Here's the info from MOT BC:
Under the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations, tires
with studs up to 3.5 mm high can be used between
October 1 and April 30. The regulations limit tires to
130 studs each for vehicles weighing less than
4,600 kg, or 175 studs each for vehicles weighing
more than that.
It’s important to note you can only use studded tires
on the front wheels if you’re using them on rear
wheels, too (at least one studded tire per rear wheel).
This restriction on using studded tires on the front
doesn’t apply to trucks that weigh more than 9,100 kg
and can be equipped with snowplows.
 
I would not stud the front only......darn scary to say the least. You could loop the truck pretty easy.


IMOP if I lived in Lower M. I would get Nokians with out studs. The studs wear to fast in any winter tire. But the nokians have a such a decent grip pattern they will feel studded.

The big killer to winter tires is heat. Don't drive around in plus 10 if you want them to last. It needs to be cold. The material just gets too soft in the heat. Would make great rock crawling tires Eh?
 
See my problem Brown Bear is that I live in the Lower M but have to drive into the interior on a regular basis in the winter. I see far to many accidents in the winter with people running all seasons or sh*ty winter tires - more with the all season people who think it's just a trip to Penticton, Kelowna or Kamloops. Right now I have the Southern part of BC to the Alberta border and the Island and the Yukon (but I fly there). Next year I am back to all of BC and the Yukon for my work territory. Ill be back to driving as far as Smithers/Terrace and Fort St. John in the North. So good winter tires are not optional equiptment.

I was thinking if I had the studded tires that the studs would wear first and when they are worn I will still have a decent winter tread. I never got to prove that theory on the Van as it was T-boned with just barely one winter of Kal Tire's house brand with studs. Are the Hak 2 like the Blizzaks - in that they are only a good ice tire in the first 30% of wear?
 
Winter tires are good, but being able to drive in winter conditions is better. I drive a lot of winter roads and ice roads up here in Fort St. John, and have BFG mud terrains on my work truck, not a big problem, just have to adjust your driving style for the winter. Ideally I would like to get them siped, anyone know where to get that done?
Cheers,
Deny
 
canucksafari said:
So good winter tires are not optional equiptment.
Are the Hak 2 like the Blizzaks - in that they are only a good ice tire in the first 30% of wear?
Click to expand...

No They are good all the way thru IMOP. But you could ask that to a pro.

What you describe to me, buy only Nokian. Honestly.

I run Nokian on my Mercedes, and cruiser. Also my father on his Tundra and Golf. My friend on his Highlander. My sister on her echo and element.

We all speak highly of them. Another friend runs Nokian non studded on his Sentra with great things to say. He drives up a mountain to ski each weekend.


Nokians last twice as long as a Blizzak. You will get your monies worth.
 
Deny, I hadn't thought about that. My Michelin Alpins were basically only a great winter tire because they were siped. However, they were really noisey on wet pavement. Sounded like a jet turbine at anywhere over 60 kms/hr. They did take me through the middle of a 7 vehicle pile up just after 100 Mile - an inch of snow over fresh ice (freezing rain). Should have known better when the cop car in front of me pulled off the road quickly before the corner. :idea:Another reason to tell SWMBO why I need a good VHF radio.

As for your question, Kal Tire use to do siping for around $25/tire. I wonder, would they be nearly as good as a dedicated studded snow tire? Also, how would siping affect my ATs on sharp rock. Would they cut or chunk out easier?
 
nokians are sipped. And a bit noisy. But stick like glue.

The material is different in a winter tire compared to a sipped MT.
 
brownbear said:
Nokians last twice as long as a Blizzak. You will get your monies worth.
Click to expand...

Okay, I'm sold. I have a wife and a 3 kids to get back to and good tires are cheap life insurance. My equiptment and mod wish list for the truck will have to wait. :frown: I'll get a set of 31s for the 15" rims, so I can still use my AT spare.
 
canucksafari said:
As for your question, Kal Tire use to do siping for around $25/tire. I wonder, would they be nearly as good as a dedicated studded snow tire? Also, how would siping affect my ATs on sharp rock. Would they cut or chunk out easier?
Click to expand...

Thanks John,
I like the muds, because they do good in the bush when I need them in unploughed snow covered, or mud covered oil field roads(plus they are pretty cheap), but it would be nice to have a little more traction on wet or icy pavement (specially when crazy deer and moose are jumping in front of the truck).

Don't know how the siping would affect the tires in 4wheeling conditions, as I have never had a tire siped, but would only use it for work purposes anyway (got the cruiser for wheeling).
Cheers,
Deny
 
Siping should help offroad. Siping also is said to make a tire last longer on hwy use, as it keeps the tire cooler.

I like having an extra set of rims, when the temp gets high, switch em out. No point driving in warm temp with winters IMOP.

Nokians can not be cross rotated, only front to back. So every other year or more often you can have them flipped on the rim. If the wear looks uneven. My Mercedes wears tires uneven. Or did, until I spent a bunch on front end parts.
 
http://www.nokiantyres.com/suv_wintertyres_en

This is the LT. My favourite.

hkpllt_tuote_iso.jpg
 
Yes, those were the ones I looked at online yesterday. Good info on the rotation - especially if they need to be flipped on the rims. It is even more reason to go back to Kal Tire, as all the maintainence is free for the life of the tire. Now to go and see about price here in Abby and then see if Princeton could have them for me on the long weekend?
 
brownbear said:
Nokians are only sold at kal Tire in Canada I think......
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info Brown Bear. Not what I wanted to hear. Just checked the Nokian NA web site and it looks like Kal Tire has a monopoly on their brand just for Western Canada. Whole different story back East. US prices on-line are $170 before taxes, shipping, duty and mounting. :eek: Usually prefer to buy in Canada but monoplies p*ss me off. But there don't look to be any deals south of the border even with the exchange rate. I am guessing that Kal Tires prices will be over the $1200 mark when all is said and done. Any other brand recommendations on studded tires to buy locally??? Thanks

Read an interesting article on siping on the Les Shwab page. Looks like it may be the way to go with any tire - summer or winter - highway or off road. Definitely a good move for the rock climbers: http://www.lesschwab.com/siping.asp
 
Well nokians are more money on general. You get what you pay for. IMOP Nokian is on the top. Then a level bellow there is plenty of competition. At work they just purchased a Cooper studded tires to try out. They have all important triangle for extreme winter conditions.

The little nokians on my Mercedes were 150 bucks a tire. So really not cheap tries.
 
Yes, I saw the Coopers and they were 1/3 to 1/2 less than the Nokians on the web. So how are the Coopers for quality and performance? Are they a lot different than the Nokians? Anybody?

IMO, that little triangle doesn't mean a thing in terms of how good a tire is in winter. Not sure how the tire makers get TC approval for it. The old snows that came with my wife's tercel (Motor Master) had the nice triangle but they had to be the worse tires I had ever used in snow.

I am not into being "penny stupid". So if I get extra wear and extra performance, than I don't mind paying more money. I just don't like paying more money for a companies marketing BS. Still haven't made it down to Kal Tire, maybe tomorrow. Wish they'd put their fliers on line again like a few years ago.
 
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