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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Good Dealer Can Help When Selecting Snow Tires

Charlie Powell Special To Travel

Local tire dealers know it as the “winter rush.” It’s that time when the first snow flies in the Inland Northwest and it seems like everyone arrives, simultaneously, to get snow tires.

But once you get there, how do you know what to get? Narrow or wide? Walnut shells? Siping? Studs or studless? How about chains? What style of tread design is best?

Recently I visited with Tory Keep, manager of the Les Schwab Tire Center in Moscow, Idaho, and asked him just what people need in a winter tire. Keep’s shop will service up to 400 customers a day during the first snows of the winter.

“It depends on the type of driving, vehicle, and conditions they are likely to spend most of their time in,” said Keep.

Make no mistake, Schwab knows winter driving. The company started in January 1952 in central Oregon when Les Schwab went looking for an investment and bought a rubber welding business. Today Schwab has more than 260 stores in the Pacific Northwest. Keep, it turns out, is a third cousin of Schwab’s.

“Narrow tires provide more traction and wider tires provide flotation,” said Keep. “The narrower tire is the choice for driving in snow up to 18 inches deep. Deeper than that and a person probably needs the flotation of a wider tire.”

Keep said walnut-shell radial retreads are a good choice. The granulated walnut shells are mixed into the rubber compound and fall out as the tire wears and flexes. The tiny pock marks left behind on the tire surface provide a sort of siping effect.

For those not familiar with siping, it is a procedure done to new or even used tires to increase traction. Razorblade type slices are cut into the tread elements so that as the tire contacts the road, hundreds of fresh sharp tire edges can grip the surface.

If siping is so great, why don’t manufacturers sipe tires at the plant? They do, sort of. Keep pointed out a number of tires in his shop that are purposefully built with siping-type grooves molded in the tread lugs. One tire in particular, manufactured by Toyo, is made with a lot of these grooves and is designed to work effectively without studs. In fact, the tire cannot be studded.

“Studs continue to be very popular for winter driving,” said Keep. “But look for them to change in the next few years. We may see an aluminum barrel around each of the actuall studs, rather than steel, to help reduce roadway damage.”

For most people and most vehicles, Keep recommends a similar snow tire configuration on all four wheels.

“Seventy-five percent of your braking ability comes from the front wheels. Traction tires on the front can help you stop and handle better even if you own a rear-wheel drive vehicle.

“With a front-wheel drive vehicle, traction tires on the rear help with handling to prevent fishtailing in the downhill braking situation. No matter how you look at it - traction or braking - traction tires for winter driving make sense on all four wheels.”

Keep advises customers that no matter what brand of tire they choose, they should look for a tread design that can either be siped or has siping manufactured into it. Also he said to choose a tire with a good open design between the lugs to clear snow and slush out of the tread.

“People should always carry chains if they’re likely to get into the deep stuff,” said Keep. “The last few years we’ve seen a lot of new innovations like the Quick-Fit chains.”

Quick-Fits and similar styles are a traditional chain that is easier to attach and has a ratchet-type system built in to keep them in place. One can simply sling the chain behind the wheel, drape it over the top, attach the fastener, and close the lever. The result is a tight-fitting chain that requires little adjustment or experience to put on properly.

Keep said the key to buying the right winter tires rests with a reputable dealer. Talk to other consumers and get to know your tire dealer, he said.

“The biggest thing a person can do to help themselves buy the right tires is to know a dealer well enough to trust them. Tell them what your application is and discuss the options together.”