Best time to put on the WINTER TIRES ???

[calloway]

When to install winter tires?

Uniroyal research shows most Canadians wait until the first major snowfall to install winter tires. Late October/early November for Southern Ontario.

A good rule of thumb is to put winter tires on when the temperature drops to 7 degrees C.

A good guideline for installing your winter tires is once the temperature is regularly 10 degrees Celsius or less, and they should be removed once the temperatures are consistently higher than 10 degrees Celsius. This will ensure that they do not wear prematurely in warmer weather

 

[Nofah Kingway]

I usually do mine around early November to avoid the rush, the end of Halloween is usually a good reminder. Under 10C is fine and even a few days above 10C would not kill the tires. Sure beats driving with summers during an unexpected November snow storm.

 

[blackrock13]

They may not be lying to you, but come on. The Tire guy gets nothing out of selling you new tires every season ? Have you been drinking ?

I didn't say he got nothing. He's basically got a customer for life and any referrals I've sent to him have come back very happy. That's just good business.

Over the years he has sold me possibly 8 sets of tires for 4 vehicles and the occasional set of hub caps and mags. He's also thrown in some freebies for whatever. There's also been lots of coffee drank and times spent talking shop with no transactions what so ever. They learn from me and I learn from them.

I can go in there any time with no expectation of a sale or pressure from any of the staff. As they say, he's forgotten more about tires than you'll ever know.

 

[Ceiling Cat]

I didn't say he got nothing. He's basically got a customer for life and any referrals I've sent to him have come back very happy. That's just good business.

Over the years he has sold me possibly 8 sets of tires for 4 vehicles and the occasional set of hub caps and mags. He's also thrown in some freebies for whatever. There's also been lots of coffee drank and times spent talking shop with no transactions what so ever. They learn from me and I learn from them.

I can go in there any time with no expectation of a sale or pressure from any of the staff. As they say, he's forgotten more about tires than you'll ever know.

Dude, I know where your comin from. When your rubbers fail on you and you pull out and the rubber is not there, nothing will bum you out like that sinking feeling. It is better to be safe than to be sorry. Don't use old worn out rubbers.

 

[james t kirk]

December - usually start of.

I change them myself. No big deal.

Take them off in April some time.

 

[blackrock13]

Dude, I know where your comin from. When your rubbers fail on you and you pull out and the rubber is not there, nothing will bum you out like that sinking feeling. It is better to be safe than to be sorry. Don't use old worn out rubbers.

By Jove, I think you've got it.

 

[blackrock13]

When it hits ~7c

Some people say 4C and others say 7C because of other factors like humidity and surfaces, so it's an approximation.

 

[Nefari]

P.S My brand new winter tires make the car vibrate at speeds of 70 kmph and over.. Is that normal?

Most winter tires are actually quite dangerous on dry surfaces at high speeds.
They just don't have enough contact surface.

 

[blackrock13]

When's the best time to put on the winter tires ? I had mine put on last year at the end of October or beginning november.. Cant remember.


P.S My brand new winter tires make the car vibrate at speeds of 70 kmph and over.. Is that normal? I had them re balanced by Crappy Tire twice and they said it was done correctly .. (even though they admitted to it being off a little bit the first time)

Any need to get them rebalanced? Thanks in advance

CT 's not my favorite place, but if there was no vibration before the new install and there is now go back and complain. If necessary, go to a second place, get the numbers from them if there is a problem, then go back to CT and do a number first on the shop manager then at head office.; always smiling of course. You shouldn't have vibration at 70 kph.

 

[HAMSTER INSPECTOR]

Winter tires make more noise than summer tires, it may be noise and not vibration.

 

[blackrock13]

Winter tires make more noise than summer tires, it may be noise and not vibration.

My winter tires are actually quieter. It surprised the hell out of me at the time. All-seasons are high end Continentals and the winters are high end Toyos.

 

[HAMSTER INSPECTOR]

My winter tires are actually quieter. It surprised the hell out of me at the time. All-seasons are high end Continentals and the winters are high end Toyos.

He might have more common tires like the rest of us that make a little more noise than all season tires.

We are not all as fortunate as you to have expensive tires and a nice car.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Nice 'winter car'.....

 

[CapitalGuy]

Some day it will be compulsory, just like other provinces.

I'd be surprised if that happens. I believe it is only Quebec that has this law right now, and they are a more northerly province than most of Ontario. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the new Quebec law, as many experts testified that winter tires, while much safer than all seasons in snowy conditions, are more dangerous than all seasons on dry pavement, due to various properties of the rubber. There were graphs showing how many snow days there were in Montreal versus dry road days, etc., and the guys were arguing that it made more sense to keep most people in all seasons. In southern Ontario, there are far more dry road days than snow days during a winter, so unless you drive to ski country or down rural roads, the benefits of snow tires in the GTA are unlikely to be seen. Might make sense in Thunder Bay etc but not down here, and I believe McGuinty said as much, when the Quebec law was under discussion.

 

[blackrock13]

It's true that the winters in Quebec are probably more severe than TO, but somebody's using them elsewhere, when Quebec Transport says 90% of all passenger vehicles in Canada are using them. I suspect they really work better, even in TO. Just look around Toronto at the taxis, buses, tow trucks, food trucks, police and emergency response vehicles and I'll bet you it's closer to 100%. There must be good reason. The up side must out weight the down side by a goodly amount for that to be the case.

My tires aren't that expensive, both sets are <$800 a set, out the door and I'm a good horse trader on price.

 

[Damondean]

Go south!

It's best to go south for the winter. Stop being depressing by talking about winter tires!

 

[blackrock13]

It's best to go south for the winter. Stop being depressing by talking about winter tires!

Nobody seems to be repressed here except you. Sorry you feel so down

 

[Ceiling Cat]

I think that if you are a good driver and do not exceed speed limits the winter tires will give you good traction on ice and snow and when the conditions are dry they may not have the maximun amount of traction, but it is better than driving on all season tires in the ice and snow. I drive with snow tires in the winters and all seasons the other months of the year, I think it is a good idea to make winter tires mandatory. Last winter I saw a guy in a front wheel drive car not able to bet out of a pile of snow that was about 6 inches deep because he had all season tires on. I was parked behind him and I just drove right out as if there was no snow under my car.

 

[AdrenalinJunkie]

Usually I put them on mid to late November, and take off early - mid April, possibly even end of March. If the temperature is over 12 degrees, I slow down on the highway and ramps to help preserve the rubber.

As for the benefits, I see the biggest difference in braking. The tires saved me from at least 3 accidents the first year I had them. Acceleration and handling are good too. BTW, I'm using them on two rear wheel drive cars now. And, I use mag rims, since I hate the steel rims on a nice car look. Besides, at the time, I couldn't find 17" steel rims.

 

[blackrock13]

Usually I put them on mid to late November, and take off early - mid April, possibly even end of March. If the temperature is over 12 degrees, I slow down on the highway and ramps to help preserve the rubber.

As for the benefits, I see the biggest difference in braking. The tires saved me from at least 3 accidents the first year I had them. Acceleration and handling are good too. BTW, I'm using them on two rear wheel drive cars now. And, I use mag rims, since I hate the steel rims on a nice car look. Besides, at the time, I couldn't find 17" steel rims.

All the above is true. Your point about the 17" rims is true, but on mine I went to 16" and higher profile tire for winter as often advised by many sources, saving a good buck and still use steel as suggested for protection against salt damage on mags. The tire shop had a great selection and basically threw them in for $30.00 a set. Try that at CT. The ones I got defy detections as plastic hubs except to the experienced eye. When one came off soon after installation they replaced it free. We suspected an error in their installation. Although could have tossed a coin on that one, but try that at CT again. Can you tell I'm not a big fan of CT.