I'm thinking about possibly getting my Kumho M/T's siped. I know this will probably void my warranty but there are a ton of benifits too. This is my daily driver/weekend warrior. We have a decent amount of snow and ice here in the winter too. Les Schwab charges like 12.00 a tire. What are your thoughts? Should I or shouldn't I.

EDIT: I did decide on siping. Here are some photos of the new tires on my 15x7 goldies.... Also, I recently removed the decals.

 

go for it...... i wish my bfg muds had some siping on them.....

 

I like goodyear better than schwab, so I called them and asked. They do it too, and he said he'd beable to just do the center treads. Just what I wanted.

 

I got my BFG MTs siped. It does seem to make a little difference, but don't expect that your MTs will suddenly be a super snow tire. I changed to these tires from BFG ATs and I still think the AT is still a much better winter tire than these siped MTs. The biggest difference I could tell after adding the sipes (I siped them after the first winter) is that on wet pavement they do grip a bit better at start. No difference I could tell on packed snow. Maybe I was expecting a bigger difference, but I probably won't bother siping tires in the future. If I need a tire that goes well on snowy roads, I will buy a tire designed to do that. The good thing is that it seems that sipes don't do anything to make the tire any worse and have some upside. On rocks, I can't tell a bit of difference, which I guess is another reason people will sipe tires.

 

My partner (at the office) has all his tires siped and totally swears by it. He says he gets better snow and ice traction. He says he gets better grip on pavement, especially better braking, and they are quieter too. He sees no adverse effects at all. Haven't tried it myself, but he is generally very deliberate in his judgement and I would take his word for most anything.

 

Mounted, balanced, SIPED. Photos soon...

 

good call...

I spent hours reading about siping and couldnt find anything or anybody that told of adverse effects.

Other then the tire can chunk a little easier, but since your not getting the outer lug done you should be good....I'm gonna get my BFG A/T's siped when I need tires, should be awesome in the snow...

 

Ya, only did the inner lugs. The guy at goodyear complimented the Kumhos too. Anyone have any recomendation on what PSI i should run in 32x115R15s? For like everyday driving and also for 4x4in on semisoft dirt roads and hills.

 

I just sipe my own tires:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...reSiping.shtml

Some ideas on determining proper tire inflation:
http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/Tires...roperInflation

 

I have been running my Wild Country TXRs siped for many years, and will always do so..
The bennies:
1. Tires run cooler
2. Better traction in snow, ice, and rain.
3. Since tire runs cooler, they last longer.

I can not wear out my tires, they last a long time.

Siped tread

Les Schwab did 'em for around $10 per tire I think.

 

Roger, I've read your article on siping, that where I got the idea to do just the center lugs. I'll check out the inflation article though, thanks.

 

i siped mine, they just did the inner lugs though. I've never ran it without siping so I wouldnt know the difference. I'm not having traction problems in the rain as much as other BFG AT owners complain about.

 

You'll see the biggest difference on ice or in the rain by siping the tires.
You might see some improvement in the snow but not as much as with the other conditions (esp ice).

 

So, where do I find a tire grooving tool that doesn't sipe, but actually grooves the tire?

Chris

 

You'll find some links on my siping web page:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...shtml#MoreInfo

 

Thanks Roger. I know there was a magazine article on this not too long ago that used a different looking tool that looked really easy to use, but I can't seem to find the articel anywhere. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Chris