The Winter's Coming Winter Tires Thread

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

More sidewall is better for winter tires.

This. From 19” 35 profile in summer, to 18” 55 Hakka’s.
Cars a tank.

[WhiteTiger]

Took the gamble and have made the appointment for the pre-snow flying maintenance and winter tire swap. Kinda surprised at how open the appointment scheduling is. Guess I'm used to trying to make it post-first snow.

[vtec260]

Changed over our four vehicles yesterday when weather was warm and didn't want to change them when it's freezing. Took an hour/vehicle while looking over the brake wear and doing visual inspection of shocks, struts, hoses, etc. Not terribly sore other than lifting 20" rims/tires to the tire rack. One of vehicles' 15" rims/tires were like toys in comparison.

[Regular_John]

Is the consensus still to spend the extra $ on a second set of wheels/rims?

In the past it’s what I’ve always done and been fine with generic 15” steel rims, but our new car has really a nice 17” wheels and the generic steel rims will really be a step down in terms of looks during the winter months.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

Is the consensus still to spend the extra $ on a second set of wheels/rims?

In the past it’s what I’ve always done and been fine with generic 15” steel rims, but our new car has really a nice 17” wheels and the generic steel rims will really be a step down in terms of looks during the winter months.

What kind of car?

I'd try and find a set of OEM wheels on kijiji to slap winters on

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

Is the consensus still to spend the extra $ on a second set of wheels/rims?

In the past it’s what I’ve always done and been fine with generic 15” steel rims, but our new car has really a nice 17” wheels and the generic steel rims will really be a step down in terms of looks during the winter months.

I have an A5 and bought my winter rims from Costco. They were super cheap but look half decent. Actually was surprised how decent they were for the cost.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

I have an A5 and bought my winter rims from Costco. They were super cheap but look half decent. Actually was surprised how decent they were for the cost.

Does Costco actually have in store rims now? Last time I went through them they had a certified 3rd party company that you could order from and have delivered to the costco of your choice.

[Ryan Coke]

I always like to recommend PMC tire out of Montreal. I got both tires and rims from there and was quite happy with price and service.

[bigrangy]

Anyone have any recommendations for getting a set of winter tires from Kelowna to Edmonton? I don’t have a vehicle with winters to make the drive to BC to pick them up.

[Northendzone]

Noticed on the last page folks asking about tire storage solutions.

I decided that I did not want or have the room in my garage for a rack, so I store my tires along side my house.

I built a base out of pressure treated wood. And just lay the tires on it stacked vertically, and between each tire I use a slab of styrofoam. I then run a length of heavy duty chain thru the center of the rims. I then cover every thing with a tire bag from princess auto.

I store this in the back corner of my house close to my back yard. The area between my house and the neighbors is about 8 feet and the opening is blocked by a gate.

I realize this is a risk; however, I have been storing like this for a decade now.

[Northendzone]

I am assuming that you have looked into using a transport company. Other option might be making a post on some Facebook group to see if anyone is making the trip and has room - although that seems like a stretch for cargo like this.

Originally Posted by bigrangy

Anyone have any recommendations for getting a set of winter tires from Kelowna to Edmonton? I don’t have a vehicle with winters to make the drive to BC to pick them up.

[Northendzone]

question for those of you who swap your tires/rims at home - do you mark where the tires came off of your vehicle and rotate them the next spring?

i.e. Left front to Right Rear

Do shops that swap tires do this?

[Fuzz]

Yes, I mark my tires and rotate. Just get a wax crayon. When I used to work tires we always marked them and rotated.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

question for those of you who swap your tires/rims at home - do you mark where the tires came off of your vehicle and rotate them the next spring?

i.e. Left front to Right Rear

Do shops that swap tires do this?

They should. If you get your tires swapped at a shop and you don't see a chalk marking on the inside of the rubber showing what corner each tire came from you should complain and get a refund

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Does Costco actually have in store rims now? Last time I went through them they had a certified 3rd party company that you could order from and have delivered to the costco of your choice.

No I bought mine online at Costco.ca and delivered to a warehouse with a install date.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

question for those of you who swap your tires/rims at home - do you mark where the tires came off of your vehicle and rotate them the next spring?

i.e. Left front to Right Rear

Do shops that swap tires do this?

I mark them, for example I write "mount front left" instead of something like "front left" because then I don't remember if that meant they came off the front left, or mount front left. This is for loose tires/wheels.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by zamler

I mark them, for example I write "mount front left" instead of something like "front left" because then I don't remember if that meant they came off the front left, or mount front left. This is for loose tires/wheels.

You always mark them where they came off of. I don't think any shop does it differently. That would be weird.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

Is the consensus still to spend the extra $ on a second set of wheels/rims?

In the past it’s what I’ve always done and been fine with generic 15” steel rims, but our new car has really a nice 17” wheels and the generic steel rims will really be a step down in terms of looks during the winter months.

I had those steelie rims on my first car, and I have a rims on my current car's winters. I'm never going back to steelies. It's by no means super expensive rims, but even cheaper rims are worth it over steelies IMO. I know it's just winter tires, but I just don't like the surface rust looking rims on my cars, and have never been a fan of hub caps.

I don't think you'll regret spending extra on wheels after a year, as you'll forget about it. But you'll definitely regret cheaping out and not getting rims later if you go with the steelies IMO.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

You always mark them where they came off of. I don't think any shop does it differently. That would be weird.

I don't do the peasant thing and take my cars to a shop so I label it the way I want.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

question for those of you who swap your tires/rims at home - do you mark where the tires came off of your vehicle and rotate them the next spring?

i.e. Left front to Right Rear

Do shops that swap tires do this?

I just check tire tread depth and put the ones with the deepest tread up front. For me, it's not that big a deal as my car is full time AWD. But I figure since the front still has more weight and does the turning, it still wears out fast than the back tires.

For winter tires, they're usually directional, so you can really only swap front and back tires on the same side around.