When to put snows on

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I was lazy and did not do tire rotation at 5kmiles like I should have; I can see some feathering and some shoulder wear now on these LTX's. Shame on me. I really should do a rotation. BUT do I just put the winters now? Seems early, yet in years past I've found myself putting the winters on in anticipation of snow right around Thanksgiving. I was hoping to put off as long as possible, given how I drive >450miles per week.

I could stand to do a brake pad slap up front, and lube the rear pads; that's like a day's work. Maybe spend Thanksgiving day doing vehicle work. [Watch it rain that day!]

When is everyone else putting snows on?
 
Once the temps will stay out of the 60s I'll put mine on. But I don't drive that much - maybe 150 miles a week with a 140 mile round trip to my parents' every other weekend.

However after working outside all day Saturday with it snowing(well in a garage) I decided to do them earlier.

My mom works odd hours so she usually wants them on as soon as studded tires are legal in NY. Of course, Continental tires that are OE on her Focuscape are pretty horrible
 
I put on the snows this weekend, just to make sure the nice weather continues!
The CRV's are done after this winter anyways, and the all-season hockey pucks on the Focus are so terrible in snow its comical, so I'd rather wear the snows a bit more than risk a few days of snow driving on the all-seasons.
 
The warm weather looks like it will end tomorrow so the Xi3's will go on the Accord.

My rule is when the temps are going to be under 45F or when the snow comes. In my area, that's 11/1 to 11/15. I also take into account any salt spread on the road to keep my summer wheels nice.

The MINI got snows 2 weeks ago since it has summer tires, not a/s. Pirelli even says the warranty is void if driven or stored under 45F.
 
I try and do it 48 hours before the first snow. Gives them time to scrub off any dry rubber on the outside that might have happened due to storage.

They are of course on their own rims; I'd hate to be in line at a tire shop for mounting.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
I was lazy and did not do tire rotation at 5kmiles like I should have; I can see some feathering and some shoulder wear now on these LTX's. Shame on me. I really should do a rotation. BUT do I just put the winters now? Seems early, yet in years past I've found myself putting the winters on in anticipation of snow right around Thanksgiving. I was hoping to put off as long as possible, given how I drive >450miles per week.



Late November. New Hampshire. Put the snows on and be sure to mark the summer tires for where you will install them in the spring.
 
YOu could drive nearly 2k and not see a lick of winter conditions. Wait......

2k is an amazing amount of tread life for a winter tire which at best is 35k in optimal range.
 
Originally Posted By: madRiver
YOu could drive nearly 2k and not see a lick of winter conditions. Wait......

2k is an amazing amount of tread life for a winter tire which at best is 35k in optimal range.

I should keep track sometime but I think I'd spend 70% of the time in winter driving on dry pavement, maybe 15-20% on wet pavement, and 10-15% with some kind of snow/slush on the road.
 
I haven't put mine on yet, but I likely will in the next week or 2. I usually wait until it's either spending a good bit of time below freezing or there's imminent risk of snow.

Originally Posted By: madRiver
2k is an amazing amount of tread life for a winter tire which at best is 35k in optimal range.


What winters do you run that'll last 35k!? At this pace, my current set will be done after this winter, which will put them around 16 - 18k, I think.
 
Exactly. 99% of my driving seems to be dry/bare pavement. So I planned to go at least one more month before swapping on. It's just that I've been busy, and will be busy, for the next four weeks or so. It'll be mid-Dec before I have a full Saturday to work on cars again.

I really miss having my commuter car! I could put snows onto the truck whenever, and leave A/S's on the car for the winter. The snow tires might age out but that'd be a first for me.
 
Originally Posted By: rslifkin


What winters do you run that'll last 35k!? At this pace, my current set will be done after this winter, which will put them around 16 - 18k, I think.

I drive mostly highway, but lots of the old cheap snow tires seem to run atleast that long before getting anywhere near 5/32. I was on track to get about 35k out of a set of Xice run year round as well.
 
Put it now! My BMW is taking brake because I ordered snows too late (last week) and DT missed deadline to get delivery of alloy wheels. We just got hit by very nasty blizzard last night (up to 80mph winds) snow everywhere, and tried my X5 with Bridgestone Dualler H/L RFT. Well, I wanted to back up in garage and I could not climb, and tires have like 2K.
I always knew all-seasons are useless in snow, but last night during that trial it just reconfirmed my thesis.
Luckily we have on wife's Tiguan already Blizzak WS70 installed.
 
Im surprised the LTXs are feathering at 5k. I very rarely rotate tires and we typically age them out with more than half treat at 40-60k miles. A top of the line tire like the LTX should wear well and evenly. Id have a look at your suspension.

As for snows, I haven't bought my set yet. I was gung-ho to buy some in the late summer, but then other thngs caught up with me, some of the stock looked iffy and so Im waiting for black Friday. The earliest Ive put them on is Thanksgiving (the earliest weve had snow in recent memory was Halloween), but usually I find a free few hours in December to slap them on.
 
I got brand new blizzaks dmv1 mounted last week on the suburban. They are on closeout if anyone needs tires in there supported size.
Living in Colorado makes it hard to have a normal time to put snows on. Some winters we can have had snow storms in October. And if you drive in the mountains at all you want to get them put on earlier than most places. We missed out on this blizzard on the northern front range
 
My summer tires were getting really thin and I need an inspection this month, so I had to make sure to get my snows on for it. The tire shop I like is usually insanely busy around Thanksgiving, so I had my snows put on last week to avoid a possible multi-hour wait if I couldn't get an appointment. They are on rims so I could do it myself, except for the TPMS reset...the dealer wanted $50 for it without doing the actual tire swap! The shop I use charges $20 for the swap and the reset, plus I needed to have my summer tires dismounted and discarded, anyway, so it was an easy call to go there. I drove in a bit of snow up in the mountains over the weekend, but now it is crazy warm this week. :^(
I am buying a wireless OBDII reader and supposedly I will be able to clear CELs with it, but I'm not sure if I will be able to register the TPMS sensors...haven't done my research. Will read up and play with it once I get it.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Does it need the sensors for anything? Or just piece of mind?


On my Toyota's I've yet to come across anything that says VSC/ABS is impacted by the light being on. Don't recall now, but am 99% sure I've disabled VSC/Traction in snow, despite the light being on. I do believe some Honda's though have issues with TPMS and being able to disable traction control.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Does it need the sensors for anything? Or just piece of mind?


I definitely want the sensors to be working just for my own peace of mind, not sure if there would be a state inspection issue due to the light. Anybody ever had that keep them from getting a tag?
So many people say to put a piece of electrical tape over the light if it bothers you, but that's just not me. I remember the first time I had the TPMS light pop on, it drove me crazy until I figured out it was the full size spare in the ugly blister on the back of the RAV4...
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Im surprised the LTXs are feathering at 5k. I very rarely rotate tires and we typically age them out with more than half treat at 40-60k miles. A top of the line tire like the LTX should wear well and evenly. Id have a look at your suspension.


Alignment was good 2yr/25kmiles ago. I'd be surprised if off, well mad if it was. I suspect part of it is from running low pressure--last time I checked it was 70F and then last weekend I pumped another 4psi in when it was 30F. So it's possible I was running as low as 32psi for a while now--that might be what the door jamb calls for, but below what I like.

Took a couple of pics. Unfortunately they are rotated..

ajl5d3.jpg


2qntw8y.jpg


According to my notes, tires had 10/32's of tread going on, and after 25kmiles I have about 7.5/32's remaining.
 
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