RE-Siping Tires?

[SwampSurvivor]

There's a set of Winterforces mounted on steel wheels for a Focus on the local C-List.

The snow tires on my car are 2 years old and have about 10K on them. The seller of these tires claims that they only have 5k - but are worn much more than mine.

Anywho, I'm more interested in the steel wheels (that are impossible to find in a junkyard) and I figure I could sell the tires alone for that price.

I was toying around with the idea of buying aFocus winter rat and these would be perfect!

Has anyone tried re-siping tires before? I was thinking of using a razor, lighter and pliers to make some siping in the tread.

Local tire shops offer siping services, but it would tear up a tire that already has siping.

 

[racin4ds]

It would be a TON of work and sore fingers!! Buy a siping tool if you even think about doing this, they aren't that expensive.

 

[Kira]

Hello, I've never done it myself. In fact, re-siping tires is news to me. I would ask if you do take hot razor blades to your tires, please don't drive beside me on the New York Throughway. Seriously, would an insurer look favorably upon "home customized" rubber were they able to deny a claim? Kira

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: racin4ds
It would be a TON of work and sore fingers!! Buy a siping tool if you even think about doing this, they aren't that expensive.


For the price of a tire siping tool, I could get them siped at a tire store. My fear is that a siping tool (or one of the automatic ones) would tear the tire apart.

 

[threeputtpar]

I bought the cheap electic hobby knife from Harbor Freight and did the set that the dealer put on my A6 for the CPO. It took me a couple of hours because after each tire my fingers were really sore so I took a break between each one.

Honestly, I didn't notice any difference in snow traction for the directional all-season tires so it was probably a waste of my time. But for the $5 I spent on the knife, I thought it was worth a shot.

Edit: I only did the center tread block, commonly referred to as a "performance siping", because I didn't want it to feel squirmy during the summer. Maybe if I has done the whole tread area, it would have worked better in the snow.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Also - I'd only be going 1MM deep - not even enough to cause the tread to separate.

Originally Posted By: threeputtpar
I bought the cheap electic hobby knife from Harbor Freight and did the set that the dealer put on my A6 for the CPO. It took me a couple of hours because after each tire my fingers were really sore so I took a break between each one.

Honestly, I didn't notice any difference in snow traction for the directional all-season tires so it was probably a waste of my time. But for the $5 I spent on the knife, I thought it was worth a shot.

Edit: I only did the center tread block, commonly referred to as a "performance siping", because I didn't want it to feel squirmy during the summer. Maybe if I has done the whole tread area, it would have worked better in the snow.


These are winter tires ... so they're always squirmy.

My summer / all seasons are good enough and I don't see a need to sipe them.

 

[threeputtpar]

If you're only going 1mm deep, then I really think it won't make any difference. To get any additional snow traction, the tread needs to seperate (squirm) to create an additional biting edge.