Wasting tread in the snow country.

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Aug 10, 2017
Messages
364
Location
Iowa
I'm a penny pincher. I try to spend wisely so this bothers me a bit. I often have to replace tires on a vehicle when there's several thousand miles of tread left but not an adequate amount for snow. I usually sell the decent take offs to a used tire store for a nominal amount to offset the purchase. How do others deal with this? 2nd set of rims? Accept this as the price to have safe tires? Just curious.
 
Are you talking about winter tires? Just run them during the other 3 seasons to finish them off if it bothers you that much.

But yeah, we have two sets of rims/tires for all our vehicles.
 
With previous cars, I've picked up a 2nd set of wheels and put all seasons on both, just put the best set on for winter, wear out the other all summer. Selling the good used tires is probably a pretty good option too.
 
Originally Posted By: c502cid
Craigslist is your friend. I run all my tires to 40-50% left and sell them, I'm OCD for good tread.


I thought it was only me.

I've also replaced all of the oem tires within 15000 miles of purchase all the way back to 2002 and my first actual new vehicle (7 vehicles)

except the firestone destination AT on my 2017.. but still might happen.
 
I just suck it up and replace the tires and I'm about as tight with a nickel as anyone else here.
The other approach would be to buy a set of dedicated winter mounted on a second set of wheels.
Since much of Iowa is real winter country, this might not be a bad idea.
Of course, the time to have bought winter tires was about six months ago when they were cheap on closeout.
 
Originally Posted By: HangFire
Massive burnouts will also solve your excess tread problem.


LOL

2 sets for me but still rough when ur down to 4-5 32's on ur winter set
frown.gif


Wish i knew a place thatd buy them!
 
If the vehicle is equipped with TPMS, the winter (or summer) set of wheels with tires can be a pain and can be a big expenditure at first if you want to keep the TPMS dash light out.

Some systems like that of late model Subarus only allow the vehicle to learn a set of 4 at a time, so unless you own a TPMS programmer, it's a trip to a shop to have it done every single swap out.

OTOH, shops in my area charge $60-80 to mount/balance 4 tires for you, so that gets expensive as well.

If you can tolerate your winter conditions with all-seasons with lots of tread life on them, it's more cost effective IMO, to just get new ones a little earlier than you'd like.
 
The wife drives the 2005 Malibu about 5k miles per year and insist on snow tires ,to save money i run the snow tires year around on her car adding new tires when the old ones are 4/32 on the tread .On my Camry i purchased a separate set of wheels and run them only 4 months a year in the winter,every ones seems to like this arrangement.
 
I feel your pain.

My last set of DuraTracs (I felt) had plenty of tread left, but not for the upcoming winter. Plus, they were 7 years old. Not sure on the shelf life on tires, but they had a little dry rot starting. The Jeep rode so much better with new tires too. Night and day difference.

I did keep one as a full sized spare.
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
If the vehicle is equipped with TPMS, the winter (or summer) set of wheels with tires can be a pain and can be a big expenditure at first if you want to keep the TPMS dash light out.


I just put up with the light for the 3.5 months a year I'm running the Winter tires.

One of the joys of owning a Corolla is the 15" tires and wheels are cheap. I got 4 steel wheels and 4 General Altimax Arctic's for a total of just over $400, mounted and balanced, about 3 years ago. It was some deal where I got $100 off by buying through eBay. I think DTD is running that special again right now. Had them delivered to my local tire shop, they found the wheels for me and did the mount and balance, and I picked them up in my pickup.
 
2 sets here, too.

Might have this problem on my winter set after this season. Was thinking of leaving them on through the spring until they're at the wear bars. They're pretty scary under braking in non-winter conditions, though, so I haven't decided what I'll do.

I will say I MUCH prefer this problem to all the hand-wringing I used to do when I only ran one set year-round. You can run a season-specific tire lower before it becomes unacceptable in its season. Like, a winter tire at 4/32" is pretty marginal, but it's still much better in winter than an all-season tire would be at the same tread depth. Ditto for a summer tire in spring/summer/fall. I've had summer tires that were still okay in standing water when they were almost bald. Wouldn't dare try that with an all-season.
 
Originally Posted By: HangFire
Originally Posted By: JTK
If the vehicle is equipped with TPMS, the winter (or summer) set of wheels with tires can be a pain and can be a big expenditure at first if you want to keep the TPMS dash light out.


I just put up with the light for the 3.5 months a year I'm running the Winter tires.

One of the joys of owning a Corolla is the 15" tires and wheels are cheap. I got 4 steel wheels and 4 General Altimax Arctic's for a total of just over $400, mounted and balanced, about 3 years ago. It was some deal where I got $100 off by buying through eBay. I think DTD is running that special again right now. Had them delivered to my local tire shop, they found the wheels for me and did the mount and balance, and I picked them up in my pickup.

Cheap steel wheels are great.

Friend of mine has a Scion iQ. 14" steelies for that car are $35 a pop -- not much more than mounting and balancing new tires. So, when it needs new tires, he just buys a new set of steelies with tires from Tire Rack with free mounting and balancing, and has them shipped to his house. Much more convenient, and he can sell the old steelies afterward.
 
Originally Posted By: Aichiguy
I'm a penny pincher. I try to spend wisely so this bothers me a bit. I often have to replace tires on a vehicle when there's several thousand miles of tread left but not an adequate amount for snow. I usually sell the decent take offs to a used tire store for a nominal amount to offset the purchase. How do others deal with this? 2nd set of rims? Accept this as the price to have safe tires? Just curious.


Second set of rims. It's almost that time of year again for me.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Are you talking about winter tires? Just run them during the other 3 seasons to finish them off if it bothers you that much.

But yeah, we have two sets of rims/tires for all our vehicles.


Exactly what I have done.

Actually the little Citreon Berlingo on Nexen Winters still has them on 2 years later, they wear a little heavier when it’s hotter but the excellent grip and resistance to aquaplaning makes up for it. Car has been parked up for nearly a year though!
 
Originally Posted By: Aichiguy
I'm a penny pincher. I try to spend wisely so this bothers me a bit. I often have to replace tires on a vehicle when there's several thousand miles of tread left but not an adequate amount for snow. I usually sell the decent take offs to a used tire store for a nominal amount to offset the purchase. How do others deal with this? 2nd set of rims? Accept this as the price to have safe tires? Just curious.


If you're going to buy a second set of (presumably cheap) rims, I'd just put snow tires on those and then burn out the AS set in warm weather as far as you want.
 
Just curious. What can you get for a set of mildly used tires? I really like the ride and quiet of a new set plus you don't "waste" any tire.
 
Buy a set of snow tires and you can run the summer tires down a lot more. I drive a 4x4 Explorer Sport Trac so all-terrains are fine for me but I have sets of four snow tires for my wife and kids' cars. I look at it this way...better winter performance and safety plus the summer tires last longer since they're only on for seven months a year, so in the end I'm not really spending more money.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top