Quote:
Originally Posted by rjc32000
That's good to know! Thanks for the advice. Our summer weather here is much like spring and fall in the rest of the country: A hot day (of which there are only a handful) will hit 70F. Nights are typically in the 40-50F range (it is only 52F at 1pm now). I've always heard that summer tires are best in temps above 60F, which just isn't guaranteed here. Plus it rains all the time, and our roads tend to have lots of dirt and/or mud.
Up here, most people use all seasons from April through Oct, and winter tires the rest of the year. Most people also have a single set of wheels and simply have the tires swapped out. Is there such a thing as a winter wheel? If so, what is the difference?
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Often times, swapping tires ends up being more expensive in the long run. A tire mount and balance is $40 on the low side for a set. You will need to do this twice every year. If you get just 5 seasons out of your winter wheels, you've just spent $400, barely less than the price of a set of cheaper wheels at the tire rack. Not to mention the potential damage to your wheels and tires every time they need to be mounted/dismounted. Plus the hassle of going to a tire place every spring/fall and having it done. My steel winter wheels have 10 years on them and will go many more. I'd easily be up to $800 on tire swapping alone if I did the single wheel set method. Instead I spent the $300 up-front and can swap the wheels in my driveway at my leisure.
As for buying winter tires, once you use them I
guarantee you will never go back to all-seasons in the winter. They are far superior to all-seasons in the snow, and even more so on ice. All-seasons should only be used in locations that see light winters in my opinion. St. Louis, Kansas City, Nashville, D.C., etc. and south.