Junkers88

All this talk about siping has brought up another question. I've read that all those little edges help on both slick conditions (ice/snow), hard braking conditions and on low dry-low traction surfaces (gravel and rocks). Do any of you have siped tires that you run all year? I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to get mine siped if I can still run them all year long and not have them fly apart or start chunking off.

scuba

I think roger brown runs his siped tires all year...Give his siping article a good read through...

elripster

Well mine are siped and run all year. The siping keeps the tire cooler so it should last longer. Discount charged $12/tire I think to do it.

One thing which might make this thread a bit easier to follow is if we qualify our opinions with the driving surface. For example, the statement that narrow is always better on snow is not true, see Iceland.

Stating the narrow tires to better on snowy roads or shallow snow on a harder surface generally is true.

That said a wide tire with good siping on a 4wd truck like ours works great on snowy roads. Ice and debris get into the siping and increase the abrasiveness.

As for mud tread Vs. AT when snow wheeling, I have wheeled with friends where we traded who was going to get up what snow obstacle based on the snow consistency. One minute my AT's were getting better traction, the next the aggressive mudders were, all depending on how hard packed it was. None of us had enough tire to float on soft powder snow and the snow on the trail was not deep or powdery enough anyway.

Maybe a siped mudder is the best compromise, don't really know.

Frank

Alex 400

My Toyo A/T's have extra siping and i ran those all the time when i was in seattle and when i went wheeling. I had no chunking or anything, but the sipes do kind of open up a little bit as little bits of sand go in there.

Ok another thing that you need to take into consideration matt, is how deep the snow is that YOU are driving in. If the snow is a foot deep, yeah 33x10.50 or the 9.50 would be great because you can sink to the base underneath and go forward. If you are driving in snow that is quite a bit deeper than that, would you rather sink into it or float on top of it? On ice, in my opinion, a smaller tire like a 235/75-15 would do better than 31's because the contact area is much smaller than the 31x10.50 giving more PSI on the ground. The taller tires don't give you any more PSI, they actually take PSI away because the footprint is longer, thus reducing ground pressure.

Look at the tires that the military used to cross the tundra, huge tall tires that would reduce ground pressure because of their massive contact patch. Scroll down to see the original use of the tires not the Bigfoot 5 version.

http://www.bigfoot4x4.com/more5.html

Matt16

I'm looking for traction in less than 2 feet of snow (at the max)- winter forest service roads to get to my fishing spots. The aired down contact pact between a 31x10.5 and a 33x9.5 should be pretty similar. Most of the increase in contact patch size comes from the increase in length of the patch, not width.

Junkers88

Is that 4crawler? If so then I just read this http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...html#HowToDoIt and will be doing some DIY siping this week before the snow gets too out of hand.

Alex 400

You are correct. The contact patch would be longer. there was thread about this a while back and someone had actually calculated the difference in contact patch size between 31x10.50 and a 33x10.50. IRC, the consensus was that the length would increase the contact patch more drastically. I will probably go 33x10.50 one day. Either a new BFG M/T km2 or get 255/85-16 Maxxis bighorns

NYChopshop

then AT type tires with slightly aggressive tread would be the way to go. siped MT's are just a compensation for knobby MT tire users to get to the on-road performance of the AT tire of that size. If your gears are set for 33's, go 33x9.5 and save on gas. If you're not going hardcore offroading or deep snow fording, then I don't think you'll miss any wider tire than that. Get 10.5s if you have an availability problem. take your friggin donuts and laugh all the way to the bank!

Junkers88

Just to let you guys know, I went to the Home Depot and spent 5 bucks on a razor knife and a box of blades. When I got home it took me all of 40 minutes to sipe the rear two tires, 3 sipes per lug each about 1/4 inch deep. I would have gone with 5 sipes each but the lugs on these tires are only about 3 inches long and I didn't want to risk making too thin slices of tire and risk pieces flaking off. Besides, I just gave each larger lug 3 new grabby spots. If I have 50 lugs on the tire I now have 150 extra grabby thingies. Oh and I only did the lugs in the center. I left the outsides (closest to the sidewalls) alone and can always run one sipe down those if I feel the need.

I'll do the front and the spare tomorrow when I get a chance.

These are the tires I have.

Junkers88

Dangit I wish I lived near you. I'd love to hit some remote fishing spots, or just go see some water that isn't nasty and smelling of 2 cycle boat fuel.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

I ran a set of 33.9.50's on my old '84 when stationed in Alaska and upstate NY...winter/Daily driving traction was outstanding.
I don't remember the brand (10 years ago) but the tread pattern was very similar (kind of a good compromise between and AT and MT) to what I have for a spare on my '81, something from Les Schwab. They had a complete set, should have bought all four

Matt16

No 2 strokes up here (well, a couple snow mobiles a day). Lots of fish.

NYChopshop

im shaking with jealousy! BFG AT's, a hi-lift jack, a couple long pull straps, and a bag of accessories for the jack, and you should be set. I wouldnt want to be in 'not even 2-stroker land' and have some sort of a stuck-issue with no hope of getting out. Sure is a hell of a lot cheaper than a winch, and if you know your winching principals, can be a real life-saver. Not to say you couldnt feed yourself indefinately out there! sheez! look at those fish! I'm going to go sooth my anger with some violent video games!

Matt16

I have a highlift actually, I was going to build a bumper so I could lift the truck from the bumper, but I will stick to this for now:
Jam a floor mat underneath the tire and you can inch your out of a stuck. Kind of ghetto, but it works (albeit slowly).




The picture of my truck is after a week or two of no snow, thus its been packed down to two ruts. Powdery fresh snow on top of that is often what stops me in my tracks.

Here are some more fish pics while I'm at it.

NYChopshop

I don't mean just jacking up your tire and throwing a handful of kitty litter underneath, thats on-road been-plowed-into-a-parking-spot kind of rescue. I mean using it as a winch. Here's a link to a little tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xldBPnzohtI

Matt16

Yeah, I have that set up as well. Never actually used it yet though beyond in my driveway. Makes me wish I had the 60" jack insstead of the 48" unit.

NYChopshop

I have the 48" one too. I like it cus I'm not jacked a foot in the air and I can keep the stupid thing in my trunk easily for secure urban parking.

Matt16

I only carry it when I think I'll need it (ie: not to work or school). The 48"er fits nicely accross the back of the truck in the nearest compartment of the carpeted box.

Junkers88

Matt I'm in the middle of learning to fly fish and you make me sick......

Hell I'd almost make the drive to come visit just to put a line out on some of those trout. Beautiful.

Matt16

Most of those fish are coho salmon. They are v. strong fighters. There's one bull trout, they're aren't that strong, but still fun to catch.