Studded tires (Aniak: to rent, maintenance, versus)

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by Thaskateguy

Being in Houston, I find this conversation most interesting. What is snow again?

It's this pretty, white fluffy stuff, unlike the rain/winds/funnel clouds you get in Texas. That's why we have studded tires in the winter.

[bongo]

It's the ice that I hate! Oh & then the ICE RAIN. Aaaaaaaarg! Please oh please white, fluffy snow only this winter. No ice rain to ruin my skiing & turn the roads into skating rinks. Last year we had 2 days of closed schools for ice/rain. I slid a block down Northern Lights before I heard it on the radio that school was closed & was able to turn around to go home. Even my landcruiser tank with studded snows & 4WD was no match for that day.

[Bob Blockus]

Road Tires. best advice short on cash. be ok to get one tire at a time for change over. always go with fast service and first thing in morning. indeed.

[steven1865]

Someone told my wife that studded tires have caused deep grooves in the roads around the Anchorage area. And this creates problems in how vehicles handle on the roadway, especially in the winter. Is this true?

[r2thekore]

In all honesty I always hit up craigslist.... seriously... the craigslist community up here in alaska is AMAZING.... I pretty much furnished my entire house with craigslist.... bought my car from there.... umm... yeah... Give it a shot!

[richelles]

Yes it's true that many of the major roads have deep grooves cut into them by studded tires. It's especially noticeable during rainy weather when these ruts fill with the rain. I drive a Ford F150 pickup with large tires and the ruts don't bother me, But using a small rental car they were noticeable when changing lanes. I don't remember if they filled up with packed snow and ice last winter but then they are caused by the steel studs which are like small nails sticking out of your tires.

[New_Horizon]

Bought a set of 1 season studded Hankook tires from a fella who advertised on craigslist for $150. Went and had them changed out on Thursday now feeling a lot more grippy on the road. Waiting to see if they make much difference to my mpg. This will be my first winter driving without a 4x4 so it should be interesting.

[chs]

I'm gonna be up there prob for 6 months starting in mid Dec and am a little concerned about what to drive. Some kind of transport is supposed to be covered by my contract but I'm not sure whether I will rent, send/drive my vehicle or buy then sell. Are studded tires much better than snow tires? Insist on an AWD Subaru rental? Send my Jeep and winterize it there? Get the cheapoid Neon rental with some studded tires and stay within the city limits? I will also have 2 dogs - a total of 120# of canine flesh to port around.

Grew up in PA and we used snow tires there. Actually, we were close enough to the coast that you could get away with all weather tires but I did slide off ice on the hump in the driveway into the trees once... In CA/NV, everyone used chains because they were going from no snow to snow in the mountains but that doesnt seem appropriate for a place like Anchorage. I had a front wheel drive Camry and it was amazing how well it drove in snow even with just reg tires (uh, I just don't really use the brake, steering wheel or the gas pedal much - same speed, no quick turns, as long as there aren;t a lot of hills or ice). Bomber with chains on...

Since I'm coming from Hawaii and have been in a completely frost free climate for the past 8 yrs, I'm probably still gonna be one of pinballs running off the road but any suggestions from all the highly opinionated folks here?

(yeah, everyone is asking if I'm crazy starting in Dec but I figured, once past Dec 22, there will just be more and more sunlight each day )

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by chs

I'm gonna be up there prob for 6 months starting in mid Dec and am a little concerned about what to drive.

If you tend to drive slower than everyone else, get a 4-wd vehicle and use all weather tires.

If you tend to push harder on the gas pedal than most folks, do not under any circumstances get 4-wd and you will absolutely need studded tires.

That is of course, if your object in life is to prolong it... :-)

[MilitaryVet]

We are a military family moving to Ft. Richardson. When we lived in Colorado it was illegal to have studded snow tires and they didn't salt the roads they use fine sand (love their way of thinking), which was nice all around. Here in Vermont the are allowed studded snow tires and salt the roads! Ouch for cars. What about the last frontier....salt or sand??