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Old 01-03-2017, 12:26 PM
 
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What Wyo said. ^^^^

Also, if you're not used to driving in slick conditions, I think it would be best to have them until you're more practiced. A set of snow tires is probably cheaper than a fender bender.
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Old 01-03-2017, 12:35 PM
 
Location: Brackenwood
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zed42 View Post
Like I stated before. My brother was an ISP officer and spent many years on the road, rear wheel drive. The only tires he used on his patrol car was all season. Now of course he knew how to drive.
Also look at the local and country patrol cars, they do not run anything but all-season.


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Old 01-03-2017, 01:31 PM
 
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Buy them if it makes you feel safer. But I will tell you right now that snow tires without studs will not help you in the local roads any more than all-seasons tires, at the present time. The reason is as of now there is very little loose snow on the roads, what is there is hard packed icy snow with an ice underlay. I have been driving my 2WD Silverado 2500 (300+ lbs of weight in bed though) without any problems. However, if we get 2-3 inches of new snow I might have a problem until the roads are plowed...that's why I carry chains. Also I don't have to leave the house unless I want to.

If push comes to shove and I really need to go somewhere and I don't think the truck or car (front wheel drive) can make it, I'll pull the RZR out of the garage.
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Old 01-04-2017, 01:36 PM
 
Location: Boise, Idaho
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Another thing to consider is under carriage clearance. When it stays this cold this long in Boise, there can be ice build up over some of the sewer man hole covers. In my subdivision, they are now taller than a speed bump so cars with a low clearance will scrape across them. We very seldom have this issue, but it is a factor now.
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Old 01-04-2017, 03:32 PM
 
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Update on my comment about getting the RZR out if I had to go somewhere. Neighbor was going to plow his driveway with his ATV. Got stuck. Guess I'll wait for spring.
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Old 01-05-2017, 12:14 PM
 
Location: Old Mother Idaho
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WyoNewk View Post
Until last winter, I hadn't used snow tires for 15+ years, and that was only on one (of 3) cars. But now I drive much more than ever before (25-30K per year), on all kinds of roads, from long, unimproved country lanes to interstates, and I also traded off my 4x4 for a Prius.

I'd planned to buy snow tires for the Prius, but since I bought it around Nov. 1, I figured the all-weather tires would work the first winter. Well, I got through the winter but wasn't happy AT ALL with the traction. The next winter I got 4 Blizzak winter tires, and I could not believe the difference. Now, with enough under carriage clearance, I can navigate about any roads. Last week, after an 8" snow storm, my neighbor returned home in his Subaru AWD, told me that he'd just gotten stuck and advised me against going out in my Prius. I went anyway. No problem what-so-ever.

So, do you need snow tires? Hard to say. Good ones will give you much more traction, but it's hard to say if you'll need it. If you almost avoid a collision with your all-season tires, you needed snow tires. If you almost got through some deep snow without getting stuck, you needed snow tires. We just never know ahead of time. If this is your only transportation and you'll be driving it in winter road conditions, it would be a good idea to get the best snow tires you can find.

As for getting them installed as cheaply as possible, just shop (or call) around a little. I got mine from the Toyota dealer who was offering 4 for the price of 3. Those kinds of sales are usually in the fall, to get people to buy early. Some might still be offering discounts.

I opted NOT to buy new wheels. I didn't/don't know how long I'll keep my car, so buying extra wheels for it didn't sound like a great idea, especially since new wheels wouldn't include tire pressure sensors, and to install them in the new wheels would more than double the cost of the wheels. I opted to just have the tires installed on my original wheels. IIRC, the Toyota dealer didn't charge me to make the switch this fall, and next spring I'll need new summer tires, so that'll be a wash as well. I think the regular charge for remounting and balancing is about $100, so $200 each year.
Yup.
Everything you said was right on the mark.
Idaho is a cold state, and despite our recent long stretch of warm winters, no one will ever be able to predict what winter conditions will be in any given year.

As a lifelong native, I've seen winters that have stretched on for 9 months, winters that didn't arrive until December and then lasted to May, and winters that never got colder than 45º in the daytime.

It's just as you say- no one ever needs sinter tires until they need them. And when they need them, there is always going to be a hassle involved. Sometimes that hassle will be very expensive, especially when a collision is involved.
A big part of winter driving in a city is watching out for the other guy. Getting out of his way when he's coming at you out of control is just as important as when you are in a spin or slide, completely out of control. No matter who slams into who, the cost of a collision is going to be more expensive and more trouble than a set of good tires.

More importantly, Idaho is a place where wilderness is only 20 miles away from anywhere. Getting stuck outside of a city can suddenly become a very serious crisis in the middle of a ground blizzard. Even when that blizzard is the only one of the season, even when there have been no blizzards at all for the past 3 years.

The law of averages simply goes out the window then. And no one can ever be sure of when sudden winter trouble will come to visit out in the countryside.

I bought the Blizzaks too, and can't say enough good about them.

I get mine changed over at the dealership I bought them from, and it only costs me $20 a tire. At the rate they are wearing, I expect to get at least 4 more winters out of them, and so far, after 4 winters, I've only gotten stuck once.

That was this winter, 2 feet away from my garage door. In my own driveway. If the door had lifted a little faster, I would have made it into the garage, but I had to stop for a second, and that was all it took to get stuck.

I let my car sit overnight, as it was late in the day, and after a bit of digging and some snow-melt the next morning, the tires got traction in a couple of minutes and it pulled right into the garage. 10 minutes in all.
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Old 01-05-2017, 08:55 PM
 
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Originally Posted by lluvia View Post
Thanks for the info.

I used to live in Alabama and drove around in snow and ice once to view the rare snowfall.
More like creeped around turtle slow because i was scared of possibly losing control.

Another time I was driving back from Tallahassee and I-10 was icy.
I was driving super slow because I would see other drivers that had ran off the highway.

On the rare occasions that Southern cities receive significant snow, we are ill equipped to handle it.
Living in the panhandle area of Floridaor any place south of I-10 its not really worth the cost in getting snow tires as you may only need them once or twice if at all,better option would be if the weather is calling for ice or snowy conditions wait till midday to travel when temps warm up and any snow and ice are melted.
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Old 01-05-2017, 10:03 PM
 
Location: Brackenwood
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jambo101 View Post
Living in the panhandle area of Floridaor any place south of I-10 its not really worth the cost in getting snow tires as you may only need them once or twice if at all,better option would be if the weather is calling for ice or snowy conditions wait till midday to travel when temps warm up and any snow and ice are melted.
I don't think winter tires are worth it anywhere south of I-70 except maybe in the mountain west. Once you get that far south you have many days with ere winter temperatures in the 50s and above, at which point winter tires are a liability. In mild to warm temperatures they compromise handling and they wear out very quickly. For those few occasions where you do get a few inches of snow, an all-season tire with an aggressive tread pattern and/or additional siping would be a better winter tire option. In short, winter tires are overkill if you don't live in the snow belt.
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Old 01-09-2017, 01:12 PM
 
3,338 posts, read 6,859,400 times
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Here is an alternative to chains:


Fabric alternative to tire chains aims for convenience, safety - Story
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Old 01-09-2017, 01:15 PM
 
134 posts, read 244,126 times
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Studded snows.
Just do it.
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