Tire siping

[buck91]

Is anybody educated on tire siping? Not the molded in sipes that all the M+S or the mountain/snowflake tires have but the extra cuts that some large chain shops offer? I remember I had it done on some random tires on an old firebird once, but that thing was such a beater car I couldn't tell you if it offered any improvement.

 

[Kira]

Excuse my ignorance but cutting fresh sipes into a worn tire sounds like a trick done by unscrupulous used car dealers. Is the rubber thicker there to allow deepening the sipes? Kira

 

[CapriRacer]

Aftermarket siping improves wet and snow traction - and contrary to what the ads say, it HURTS the following: tire wear, rolling resistance, long term durability, dry traction - and most importantly, it VOIDS the warranty.

I think this is just a money maker for tire dealers.

But where it does have some benefit is for well worn tires where the wet and snow traction could use some more improvement - otherwise, the tires would be replaced with new ones.

 

[Clevy]

Are we suggesting cutting more grooves into a tire with an engineered pattern that has been tested by the manufacturer to meet certain criteria such as water displacement,ice traction etc.
Is that what siping is?

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer

But where it does have some benefit is for well worn tires where the wet and snow traction could use some more improvement - otherwise, the tires would be replaced with new ones.

I did this to get another year out of a set of snow tires, they still had lots of tread depth but the original siping was mostly gone. I think it worked OK, and I didn't get stuck anyways so mission accomplished.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Kira
Excuse my ignorance but cutting fresh sipes into a worn tire sounds like a trick done by unscrupulous used car dealers. Is the rubber thicker there to allow deepening the sipes? Kira


Sipes are sometimes not all the way down in the tread, especially on all season type tires. So if you look at a half-used tire it suddenly looks very "plain" when the fancy sipes have worn off.

If they cut sipes all the way down, like on some snow tires, you get a lot of tread squirm, as I understand it. This wears out tires faster and makes them handle worse.

So if you could go in somehow and resipe things when half worn, as the theory goes, you'll get something back.

Big commercial tires sometimes have really thick rubber under the tread, which allows deeper regrooving, but that's a different subject.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Resiping as long as you're still within the tread blocks and not worn down to the wear bars shouldn't hurt anything.

I re-siped my two more worn snow tires for the upcoming season.

 

[SatinSilver]

Reminds me of Brian Sipe who used to play quarterback for the Browns.

 

[Ken2]

http://tsissg.com/sp-tire-siping-machine

It does a little bit of good. I've siped half-worn tires to get a slight increase in wet braking--not as much improvement as I'd hoped. The OEM bridgestone tires on my truck were never very good, and had about 6/32" to 7/32" of tread remaining. That day it was raining heavily and near the tire shop was a residential street with new pavement on a steep grade. Perfect for seat-of-the-pants wet braking tests. Downhill at 20 mph, hit the brakes. Get the tires siped with their 5/32" blade. Test again. The improvement was minor. I also got new trailer tires siped hoping for better wet braking. I would never get new car or truck tires siped--buy tires with good siping from the factory. Yes, mainly a money maker for the shop and the salesman.

 

[Kira]

Hello, Lots of counties heard from....good. So, how much is resiping a tire? Also, be it known that "regrooving" a worn tire refers to cutting channels into the carcass to facilitate the flow of glue used during the retreading process. It's an industrial term not a consumer term. Kira

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: Kira
Excuse my ignorance but cutting fresh sipes into a worn tire sounds like a trick done by unscrupulous used car dealers. Is the rubber thicker there to allow deepening the sipes? Kira
+1 I expect it is a "profit center".

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Aftermarket siping improves wet and snow traction - and contrary to what the ads say, it HURTS the following: tire wear, rolling resistance, long term durability, dry traction - and most importantly, it VOIDS the warranty.

I think this is just a money maker for tire dealers.

But where it does have some benefit is for well worn tires where the wet and snow traction could use some more improvement - otherwise, the tires would be replaced with new ones.
I sipe my sneakers.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: Kira
Hello, Lots of counties heard from....good. So, how much is resiping a tire? Also, be it known that "regrooving" a worn tire refers to cutting channels into the carcass to facilitate the flow of glue used during the retreading process. It's an industrial term not a consumer term. Kira
I'm sure it's never been used by a used car lot to "enhance" profit.

 

[Errtt]

I've had siping done on a few of my truck tires. Can't say it did any better or worse as it was done during new tires install.
The recent Michelin Defender's I had put on one of the SUVs, factory zig-zag siping appears to have deep sipes, and a lot of them for factory.

 

[compaddict]

I got a new set of tires because of siping. My F250PS had AT tires that were siped and they chunked hard. Bought it back and got brand new tires of my choice for the full price the PO paid.
Nice HWY Toyos all around thank you siping!

 

[AmishFury]

i've mostly heard of people getting MTs siped for better road manners

 

[demarpaint]

I was in two local tire shops that had no idea what Siping a tire is.

 

[Errtt]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I was in two local tire shops that had no idea what Siping a tire is.

That's pretty sad coming from a tire shop.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: AmishFury
i've mostly heard of people getting MTs siped for better road manners


As in; Mickey Thompson ET Drag Radials/ET Streets???

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: AmishFury
i've mostly heard of people getting MTs siped for better road manners


As in; Mickey Thompson ET Drag Radials/ET Streets???


I have a friend who runs those ET street drag radials. They are a terrible tire. I swear my new Michelins hook up better. Plus I can stop and turn corners, which those cheap MT's can't seem to manage...