To Stud or not to stud your winter tires?

[beast1210]

Know I understand the pros and cons, have read the tirerack testing, and realize it all depends on your driving conditions, area, etc. I have recently bought a set of Firestone Winterforce UV, and am decided weather or not to stud them. If I dont, I can have them mounted and start driving right away but to stud them I would have to wait in the madness that happens every Nov. 1st here in Oregon. I can always remove the studs if I'm not happy with the performance but I cant stud them after I start driving on them. I guess what Im looking for is your experiences with studs, if you wish'd you had them that one year, or that one storm where studs saved your butt. Whats your story? Thanks

 

[bjm206]

Where I live we see several months where there is the real potential for road ice. I have used snow tires both with and without studs. On ice the studs have always performed significantly better.

They are noisy, damage the roads etc. but if you see a lot of icy roads they are safer. On cambered back country roads that do not get plowed studs will keep you on the road when the surface turns to sheet ice.

If you are just dealing with snow I would not use studs.

 

[spencyg]

I run studs exclusively on my daily driver winter tires. They have saved my bacon many times when everybody else was just sliding off the road due to black ice. I'm not usually one to disregard the accelerated degradation of public infrastructure, but in this case, I say "screw the roads". Besides..I haven't personally seen any evidence of studs doing any damage to tar surfaces during winter months. Maybe during summer when the asphalt is hot and softer, but in the winter it might as well be steel. They are worth every penny of extra expense and every decibel of extra rumble in my rather "seasoned" opinion.

 

[corax]

. . . to stud them I would have to wait in the madness that happens every Nov. 1st here is Oregon.

? - are you not allowed to drive studded tires in OR before Nov 1st? I'm a recent transplant, so I'm not really up on all the legalities out here.

 

[NorthernWoodsman]

? - are you not allowed to drive studded tires in OR before Nov 1st? I'm a recent transplant, so I'm not really up on all the legalities out here.

November 1st is the start for studs in Oregon.

And there is some momentum to ban them outright. I've used them and like them a lot. Well worth the expense and noise. I agree about not wanting to ruin infrastructure since it's my tax dollars being used to repair it, but at least with studs I'll be alive to pay those taxes. Sadly, right now, I have no studded tires and cannot afford them this year...due in part to some ************** attempting to steal my driver side locking hub last night. Really, ******? They're stock Aisin hubs dude.

 

[Buliwyf]

I keep a set of non-aggressive diamond pattern cable style tire chains, and a set of very aggressive straight mud and offroad rated V-bar tire chains on hand for my work truck. Only rare times, and usually off pavement, will I actually choose to use either.

I can at least take those on and off as needed. Studs really don't serve any purpose in Ohio. I'm sure they'd help, but aren't needed in the least.

 

[Pskhaat]

I'm a firm believer in studs, especially when I lived in the mountains. Where there is snow there will eventually be ice due to melt/freeze cycles. BTW, you CAN stud your tires after driving them, but most major tire shops won't do it, you might have to find someone with a stud insertion tool/gun to do it.

Anecdote: We once had a really steep driveway. My wife and I had commuter cars, hers were shod with brand-new top-of-the-line Blizzaks and mine were the cheapest studded used winter tire I could find out of the classifieds (before craigslist and granted tire compounds have changed). I could regularly climb the driveway in snow+ice weather better than she. Additionally my car would REMAIN parked on the driveway where many times I'd look out the window and find her car had slid by itself down|across the driveway.

Chains are supplementary and you have to make a concerted effort and timeslot to apply them, I wouldn't group them in the same category?

 

[SeeJ]

yes, use studded tires

I'm a firm believer in studded tires and have had them on all of my vehicles (except when I lived in Southern Ontario, where they are illegal). That includes front wheel drive, rear wheel drive and 4WD.

Here in Newfoundland, the roads range from slushy to icy (very rarely are they merely wet except on the well travelled highways and dry is practically unheard of) throughout the winter and studded tires, combined with all the safe winter driving practices, are the way to go.

As for the wear on the roads, I don't believe studded tires on passenger vehicles has been convincingly shown to be a significant contributor to road wear. Notably, one 18-wheeler probably does more than many (10s, 100s, ??) passenger vehicles to damage to asphalt surfaces. Weight has more to do with real, structural damage than the contacting surfaces. On Prince Edward Island there are weight limits on trucks in the spring when the roadbeds are wet. However, studded tires are legal ... and required ... through the winter months.

I agree with the previous post, that chains are a great idea but the pre-planning and effort required to put them on when you need them means you are less likely to actually use them for anything more than ballast over the rear wheels. Chains are probably overkill for 99.9% of on-road situations anyway. In this case, studded tires are the happy medium.

The legal date is November 1st here, too. However, this year's early snowfall led the government to make an announcement that it was OK to put them on a little early. I don't think everyone was waiting for the government's OK.

 

[beast1210]

Thanks for all the replies, those were exactly the replies I was looking for. I am getting them studded as I write this. Feel free to add more replies for others in the future.

 

[Buliwyf]

I noticed that tires often have about two rows of studs. One on the outside and one on the inside. Any reason I can't just stud the inside row only so its less noticable? I know that would stink in slow turns due to camber change due to caster. I'd rather not attract a ton of attention from PD's and DOT people everywhere.



Semitrucks and especially firetrucks have a new device. They don't need tire chains or studs anymore. They use a small 6" wheel with strings of chains hanging around it, mounted on a swing arm. When you flip a switch, that wheel cams down and a neumatic piston holds it against the trucks tire. The the tires spin the chain wheel and centrifugal force flings the chains under and infront of the tires that then run the chains over. Flip the switch off, and the chains spring back up and out of the way. You can see the little bundles of chains hanging around the axle. Not all firetrucks use them, but they are a sweet feature. I wish they had them for 1 ton pickup trucks.

 

[Pskhaat]

I'd rather not attract a ton of attention from PD's and DOT people everywhere.

Are they really out there looking for this?

Semitrucks and especially firetrucks have a new device. They don't need tire chains or studs anymore. They use a small 6" wheel with strings of chains hanging around it, mounted on a swing arm.

Those have been around on mountain state school buses since the late 80s

 

[Buliwyf]

Are they really out there looking for this?

They're looking for anything that'll make them money so they can pay themselfs in this poor economy.

We're setting a world record for speed traps and DOT inspections around here. I drive through over a dozen speed traps in a single days work, five times a week. The heavy trucks have it worse. They get pulled over for anything.

I'm not even sure studs are legal in Ohio. The state law is vague. Says I can run them in the winter:
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5589.081

But [derogatory sexual reference removed] citys like Cleveland may have thier own rules.

In Ohio, anything that gathers attention is illegal somehow. And anything that you can squeak by unnoticed is legal. Many of our laws are written so that something is legal until it gets noticed, or there is some fine print so you can do something under very weird limitations that make no sense and are impossible to follow. So even if you try to follow the law.........

In laymans terms, even if you are legal.......stealth mode is the way to go in Ohio. Another reason I won't lift a truck or jeep more than 4", and I'm very careful about tires/wheels too wide, only two uncovered aftermarket fog lamps etc. etc.

 

[skunkriver]

studded tires save lives and should be manditory

I have lived in the midwest and Alaska and have seen what studs can do to save lives and seen cases of lives lost without them .
When you buy snow tires make sure you start with a good rubber compound in the tire and then get them studded , you will be amazed at how much better they drive than an all season tire will do . GET STUDDED TIRES FOR WINTER DRIVING YOUR LIFE MAY DEPEND ON THEM !
Screw the road damage ! Heavy trucks do more damage than studds

 

[4xdog]

I spent last week in central Finland, where they're having the warmest start to winter in over 50 years. In Finland winter tires are mandatory December through February. Studs are not mandatory, but I'd guess 80% of the people go with studs. The potential for black ice and the common state of packed snow on many rural roads makes this nation of very experienced winter drivers opt for studs.

I have friends in Finland who bicycle commute through the winter, also on studded tires.

Some of the best winter tires in the market are made in Finland.

Don

 

[Climber Rob]

If you are living somewhere that it snows a lot, studs are a great investment. If it's only snowing a little at a time, and you are running a lightweight rig, like a car or a Tacoma, a standard winter studded tire, like the iPike, is a great choice. If you must make it out in the worst of the worst conditions, and are dealing with deep and sometimes wet, snow, and a heavier vehicle, studded MT tires will dig through the muck and stick to whatever surface they find.

I have a separate set of rims that always have a studded tire on them, and can swap them out quickly and easily in the driveway. The cost difference, over the long-haul, is pretty much a wash, since you will only be running one set at a time.