The Winter's Coming Winter Tires Thread

[lazypucker]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

Is it too early to put on winter tires? Something about the temperature? Or can I buy them now?

I usually put them on the 3rd or 4th week of October, and keep them on until the end of April (there is always one giant snow dump in the middle of April every year)!

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

Is it too early to put on winter tires? Something about the temperature? Or can I buy them now?

No problem throwing them on now. I'm picking mine up tomorrow (although they won't be going on until next week as the truck is going to be parked). I'd rather have the piece of mind vs minor wear. Tire companies recommend winters once the temps hit 7c.

[CRXguy]

I mounted my winters today. Gotta do it sooner or later, so I'll just get it over with early.

[Canehdianman]

*sigh*

It is getting towards that time of year. I usually put mine on around mid-October.

[Jimmy Stang]

I'm holding out for a bit, but I have been doing the changeover myself in the garage for the past couple of seasons. I'll usually wait until the forecast looks a little sketchy and do it in the few days leading up to it.

My garage has become a bit of a tire shop in recent years. Changeovers on my two cars, plus my Dad's, and a friend. I have been trying to convince my brother-in-law to buy some steel wheels for his winters to no avail. He gets the tires re-mounted to his alloys on each changeover, which obviously requires an appointment at the tire place.

[chemgear]

Thread title made me think of this:

[The Yen Man]

I'm probably going to change them out either next weekend or the weekend after depending on weather reports. I usually do them mid to late October.

[cral12]

Any recommendations for the wife's 2008 Honda Civic? Recommend dealer Versus Kal-tire, etc?
Thanks

[DownhillGoat]

I generally try to support local businesses, but I just thought I'd put a plug in for tirerack.com. I just got rims/winter tires for marginally more than I was going to pay to have the winters installed on my stock rims in town. Great service as well. They actually reviewed the order to make sure it worked on my vehicle, and called me to let me know that one of the parts I ordered wasn't required, so they saved me some money there too.

[Hans Landa]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

I generally try to support local businesses, but I just thought I'd put a plug in for tirerack.com. I just got rims/winter tires for marginally more than I was going to pay to have the winters installed on my stock rims in town. Great service as well. They actually reviewed the order to make sure it worked on my vehicle, and called me to let me know that one of the parts I ordered wasn't required, so they saved me some money there too.

Jeeeeezuz.

So much cheaper... I just checked the price of Winterforce LT's at KalTire and at TireRack.


Tire Rack is $485 cheaper for a set of 4 (then gotta add shipping... but I'm guessing it's not going to cost $485). I knew they were cheaper but didn't think it was that drastic.
My only concern is bringing them in to get mounted (I'd be putting them on my stock rims). I figure most dealers/maintenance shops/tire shops consider you scum for not buying the tires from them.

I've never used winter tires since I started driving in 1996 and if I still had a little FWD hatchback, I'd probably stick with all seasons. Now with a RWD pickup truck with garbage weight distribution and being my first full winter in Alberta I think I'll do it up with winters this year.

[BlackArcher101]

Comparing Tirerack and KalTire, I actually came out at the same price. For this comparison, I used Winterforce 205/55R16's.

Tirerack.com tire price: $408. After adding freight, duty, tax and brokerage, total cost is $630 USD.
Kaltire tire price: $660 + tax CDN.

Worth it to save $30? Nope. What happens when you get a flat or need warranty work? Think Kaltire is willing to do it for free if you didn't buy it from them? Buy the tires from them and you will get better after sales service. This alone is worth the $30 you'd save.

The price on Kaltire's site after adding them to their cart already includes installation and a $100 alignment. Be sure you are comparing apples to apples.

Having said that, there are still cheaper local places to buy tires than using Kaltire.

[DownhillGoat]

Tire rack came installed and balanced. I picked them up in Montana, so duty/freight/brokerage was cut down to well below $630. The local tire shops charge $200 a season to switch back and forth if you don't have a second set of rims (that price includes TPMS). For the $25 it costs to fix a flat, I'll take my chances.

To just order the tires, and have them installed in town, no, you probably won't save anything. However I had them installed on a nice set of rims for what steel rims would cost here. And then I'm not getting charged every season to swap them again.

Maybe it depends on how you're having them shipped and tire size, etc, but I'll guarantee you I saved more than $30.

[calgaryrocks]

want to put in a plug for urban X in Calgary. Calgary shop ( two of them actually) that gives great prices. got tires and wheels cheaper with them than tire rack would have been (after shipping) for my two cars. they are putting them on my vehicles in late october. ask them for a quote

[InglewoodFan]

Another thing to remember is it isn't just snow that could be the problem. If you have performance summer tires, the rubber compound often just doesn't work below about 6C. One white knuckle exit ramp illustrated that clearly for me. Put my winters on on Monday.

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by Hans Landa

Jeeeeezuz.

So much cheaper... I just checked the price of Winterforce LT's at KalTire and at TireRack.


Tire Rack is $485 cheaper for a set of 4 (then gotta add shipping... but I'm guessing it's not going to cost $485). I knew they were cheaper but didn't think it was that drastic.
My only concern is bringing them in to get mounted (I'd be putting them on my stock rims). I figure most dealers/maintenance shops/tire shops consider you scum for not buying the tires from them.

I've never used winter tires since I started driving in 1996 and if I still had a little FWD hatchback, I'd probably stick with all seasons. Now with a RWD pickup truck with garbage weight distribution and being my first full winter in Alberta I think I'll do it up with winters this year.

I bought from tire rack. With my savings I got nice aluminum rims from tire rack. It was still cheaper than just the tires here in Calgary. The tires came mounted and balanced. Now I just swap them out myself. I did ship them to Montana.

[The Yen Man]

The tires I priced out at tiretrends and tirerack were about $100 more than what I paid at Costco. I was able to get it done at Costco for the final price of $670. Pricing online would have cost $160 per tire plus GST, tire tax, shipping, etc. Then I'd have to pay $100 to get them mounted on my steelies.

In response to the poster about ordering on-line and taking it to a tire shop to have them mounted, I've always taken mine to Integra Tire in Crowfoot. They've always been pretty good.

[Rerun]

I have all-seasons. I'm ready for winter.

[Jackpot_Smooth]

X2 for Urban X. They can get busy sometimes but great service and prices.

[AMG_G]

X3 for Urban X especially Gary. Quoted my friend's X3 - 225/60/17 Blizzak LM 50 run flats with replica BMW rims for $1300. Did my C63 with 225/45/18 with rep MB rims for $1500 all in.

[I_H8_Crawford]

So I need a set of 17" rims to mount my winter tires on - tired of taking car in each time to have the tires switched on my stock rims - I am just looking for cheap rims for my Acura TSX - any recommendations of where to look?
I've checked out Kijiji and Beyond, and not much there.