Snow Tires. Winter weather and commutes.

I live in Washington State. We get our fair share of snow
in December, January and February. I presently do not
have snow tires on my car. Probably will not get them.
 
LadyEmeraude said:
Anything about Snow Tires.
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Back in VT in the winter, we had sandpaper snow tires. A local place made them. Re-capped snow tires with sand mixed into the rubber. They were really great in icy conditions, or back roads that hadn't been sanded yet. The only downfall was they tended to wear out quite fast if you drove them on dry pavement much.
:unsure: I wonder if anyone still makes those tires.
 

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LadyEmeraude said:
Are winter tires and snow tires the same thing?
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Yes.
"winter tires" and "snow tires" refer to the same type of tire and are used interchangeably
They are engineered with a special rubber compound that stays flexible in cold temperatures and feature deep, wide grooves and biting edges (sipes) to provide superior traction, braking, and handling in snow, ice, and slush compared to all-season tires.
 
That local company, (E&E re-capping) made those tires from the 70's to the early 90's, and I can vouch that they were some kind of tire. I out ran a state trooper on year by going up beacon hill in Chelsea VT. I had one bald sandpaper and a wore out studded tire on the other side. That old 57 chevy pulled that hill like it was dry. LOL Found out later, the trooper ran into the ditch about halfway up and got stuck. Had to walk to the village and wake up the gas station guy with a jeep to pull him out. He was some kind of mad.
Shame no body makes them anymore.
 
I was raised in Northeast Ohio on the Lake (Erie) and located in what was known as Ohio’s snow belt. When I first started driving, back in 1963, I learned about changing from summer tires to snow tires every year. My dad taught me to make the change early to snow tires, which was the first week of October. The last year I lived there, we had 174 inches of snow that winter. After I graduated from high school, I left that area, but stayed in Ohio. I spent 4 years in college and then did my duty and spent 4 years in the Marines before looking for work.

My dad also taught me how to put on and take off snow chains. It wasn’t often when we needed them, but when we would get an ice storm or maybe 3-5 inches of sleet, the chains went on. They would only be on for maybe a few days at most. I learned a lot about how to drive in winter weather, which people where I live now know very little and have accidents or end up in a ditch.

I really liked it when “all weather” tires came out. No more swapping tires in the fall and spring. I had friends that worked at the tire factories in Akron and I got my tires cheap, real cheap. They were tires used by the engineers in labs for testing. I would buy Blackwell, whitewall and red line tires at a huge discount. The very best tire I had back then were made by Goodyear and Kelly, although Kelly tires were noisy on the bare roads, but they were outstanding in deep snow.
 
I never believed in winter tires when driving the pick up 4X4... But we are selling the truck because we inherited a 2015 Honda Pilot, which is 4X4 also, but it's not as heavy as our Ford... So may have to look into winter tires next year...

But also looking at new chains like for tires... but they are made out of tie-raps (material, and look quite interesting... They are pretty cheap... thinking maybe of trying them out...

1.jpg

You can get them at Amazon
 
There might be something not right with me. I grew up, learned to drive in SE MI. Lived there on and off until my mid 30's when I left for good. Never had a snow tire. Never seemed to need one. Never got stuck. There were a few challenges that I had to meet along the way but I never got stuck. Never left the road when I didn't intend too.

No 4 wheel drive, no front wheel drive. A Maverick, a comet, Ford Fairlane, those types of cars.
 
IMO, the best winter tires for my area are:

The Blizzak WS90 is Bridgestone's Studless Ice & Snow winter tire developed for drivers of sedans, coupes, minivans and crossovers looking for confident control in a variety of difficult winter weather. When winter driving conditions are at their worst, Bridgestone's Blizzak WS90 winter tires are designed to be at their best.

I just had mine put on yesterday. :)
 
I had studded snow tires on my old hooptie.

My new car has all season tires with a fairly aggressive tread pattern, AWD, and a snow mode setting, basically a lower gear.

I’m fortunate that I can pretty much pick and choose when I go out so I think that I can get by with the factory tires.

It will be nice not to have the additional trips to the garage and the additional expense of remounting tires twice a year.
 
I am very happy that we have all season tires. I never had to swap tires in the fall or spring, but I wouldn’t have enjoyed having to do that. All season tires came out about the same time I started driving my own vehicle. I prefer a pickup over a car, but we all have a choice of what type of vehicle we want.
 
squatting dog said:
Back in VT in the winter, we had sandpaper snow tires. A local place made them. Re-capped snow tires with sand mixed into the rubber. They were really great in icy conditions, or back roads that hadn't been sanded yet. The only downfall was they tended to wear out quite fast if you drove them on dry pavement much.
:unsure: I wonder if anyone still makes those tires.
Click to expand...
Some of the re-cap tire makes used ground up walnut shells in the rubber.

As the bits of walnut shell kicked out it left little suction cups in the rubber that helped the tire grip the ice on the road.
 
Aunt Bea said:
Some of the re-cap tire makes used ground up walnut shells in the rubber.

As the bits of walnut shell kicked out it left little suction cups in the rubber that helped the tire grip the ice on the road.
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Yes, sometime around the late 80's, E&E started using walnut shells along with the sand. Never knew why. Thanks for the info. (y)
 
I have been using All Terrain tires on the last four 4x4 pick up trucks and one 1996 GMC Safari All Wheel Drive van I've had. I've been quite happy with them. Living in rural areas means that our country roads don't get the same kind of attention in bad weather that city roads do so the 4x4 actually gets used some.
 

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