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treeswarper
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treeswarper
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PostTue Jun 22, 2021 7:18 am 
BigBrunyon wrote:
You're gonna want to pull into a western schab. Invest a Saturday. Sit in the lobby - Always guys in there talkin' tires. Talkin' rubber. Devote a full Saturday, sit down at a western schwab, enjoy some coffee and listen to these tire guys for a day. Best way to learn tires.
Wrong. Drive to Randle, WA. In the eastern suburb follow the signs to Rod's Tires. Tell them where and what you drive on. If you lived there, he would already know this. Rod or Rod's people will tell you the price and get good tires on your car. They also now have a waiting room with a TV just like the big outfits. I also think he now does free rotations on the tires he sells. I find myself thinking about returning there for new tires when I need them. You might have to wait a bit whilst the guys are out fixing a tire out in the woods so take along a good book if you don't like TV watching.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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yorknl
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PostTue Jun 22, 2021 6:03 pm 
'Suburban Randle' is a new one. And here I always thought of Metropolitan Randle as West Packwood Estates. Live and learn.

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Brucester
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PostThu Oct 14, 2021 10:02 am 
I tired the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3's on my front wheel drive Scion XD all year and was pleased with the traction on snow and gravel roads. Running them year round might not be advisable because of the rubber compound. They did feel squirrely at times in the summer heat. The Nokian's are high quality snow tires and look great! Last weekend I tried out the Michelin Defender LTX M+S on an Element. I expected less but was pleasantly surprised by both the performance of the tires and the Honda Element while exploring snow and dirt trails. The tires hooked up and the Element was a beast!

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Randito
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Randito
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PostThu Oct 14, 2021 10:26 am 
On my CRV I have two sets of tires and wheels. The winter set has "Blizzaks" which have the "Mountain Snowflake" symbol on the sidewall. The sumner tires are "Highway" tires that provide good mileage and quiet running on dry pavement. I bought the "Blizzaks" at Costco and I got my current set of summer tires and wheels from my regular mechanic. The wheels are used factory CRV wheels that my mechanic got from a nearby tire dealer. The idea of custom alloy wheels on a CRV seems kinda laughable to me, like spinners on a mini-van. But the used wheels were basically new and cheaper than new steel wheels. My mechanic swaps wheels for me twice a year for free when I bring it in for oil and filter change , which with the amount I drive works out to twice a year anyway. All Terrain tires work reasonably well 12 months of the year. However"Mountain Snowflake" rated tires do offer significantly better traction when the road is covered with snow or ice. Most of the time this isn't that important, but having experienced "four wheel drift" several times on snow, I feel the expense and hassle are worthwhile if it helps me avoid a single collision.

Bowregard
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Bowregard
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PostThu Oct 14, 2021 12:13 pm 
I am setup almost identical to Randito on my RAV4s. The Blizzaks are great but they don't last terribly long (especially if you drive them too soon in Fall or late in Spring) and only about 1/2 their tread is the material that softens in the cold. Between that fact, storage hassles, TPMS sensors, and the trouble of swapping every year I am swapping over to the winter rated all-season tires as these wear out and plan to run them year round. I already put a set of Michelin CrossClimate 2s on my daughter's CR-V which are highly rated for rain and very good in snow and supposed to get 50-60k miles of wear. I have read great things about the Falcons but I just don't drive off-road enough for that to make sense. Edit: My other daughter has a 50 mi commute and has to be there so I have her on Defenders (spr/sum/fall) and Blizzaks in the winter. (Defenders are 70k+ mile tires)

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RichP
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PostThu Oct 14, 2021 5:19 pm 
I'm about to buy my third set of Nokian WRG4'a and I like them very much. I use them year round and my only complaint is that they only last for about 30,000 miles before they are no longer rated for ice. Driving on gravel roads tears them up pretty quickly too.

seawallrunner
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seawallrunner
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PostThu Oct 14, 2021 6:13 pm 
I had Michelin MXV4s for several years, then wanted some even more serious mountain winter tires and got the Nokian HAKKAPELIITTA winter tires. They are sticky in winter, but noisy. I felt safe with those four tires in all conditions - I mainly use my car for skiing or hiking. Never slipped and the car felt safe to drive in rain snow ice (rear wheel drive).

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awilsondc
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awilsondc
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PostSat Oct 16, 2021 2:35 pm 
I got a set of Falken Wildpeak AT trail's after looking through the recommendations on this thread. I'm liking them so far. 65k mile tire, great tread design, great traction, I don't notice any unusual road noise, and they're winter rated (snowflake on the tire). Checks all the boxes for me.

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Joey
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Joey
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PostSun Oct 24, 2021 10:39 am 
I fell down the tire rabbit hole a few weeks ago and wound up getting Continental TerrainContact H/T for our subaru forester. These are M+S rated.

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treeswarper
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treeswarper
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PostMon Oct 25, 2021 7:01 am 
BigBrunyon wrote:
You're gonna want to pull into a western schab. Invest a Saturday. Sit in the lobby - Always guys in there talkin' tires. Talkin' rubber. Devote a full Saturday, sit down at a western schwab, enjoy some coffee and listen to these tire guys for a day. Best way to learn tires.
Nope. I am seriously thinking that I will drive a couple hundred miles and return to Rod's Tires in the eastern suburbs of Randle. He will ask, if he doesn't know you, what you drive on, and sell you appropriate tires. In fact, I hated it when I sold my Ford pickup because I really liked the Cooper tires from Rod's. He might seem grumpy, but he'll do ya right. They have built up their business a bit and now have a nice waiting area. You get a tire gauge and free rotations also. I have trailer tires from him too. They have been excellent.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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pianodirt
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PostWed Nov 10, 2021 4:30 pm 
Bowregard wrote:
The Blizzaks are great but they don't last terribly long (especially if you drive them too soon in Fall or late in Spring) and only about 1/2 their tread is the material that softens in the cold.
I've been considering the Blizzaks as I've heard good things about them, but compared to regular studded snow tires, they're spendy. I hadn't heard that only half of the tread is the good stuff. Which is a similar problem with studded tires...about halfway through the tire tread, the studs are all worn down. That said, how many seasons did you get out of your Blizzaks before the softer outer layer wore out? And did you drive on mostly snow and ice or was it a lot of bare pavement?

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Bowregard
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PostWed Nov 10, 2021 5:24 pm 
I live and drive primarily on the West side so most of the Winter driving is on wet pavement with just occasional snowstorms to deal with. I installed blizzaks on two small SUVs: 2013 RAV4 and 2016 CR-V and they have been though 3 seasons and still have a lot of good tread left on them. But I really limit the time they spend on the cars because I have heard how fast that cold softening rubber wears when the temperature warms up. So I usually only run them mid-Dec thru late Feb/early Mar (we often swap them ourselves when the first snow is predicted). The advice about the softer rubber only extending about 1/2 the tread depth comes from my brother who has managed various tire stores for 40 some years - I haven't actually worn any Blizzaks down that far yet myself. But he knows his stuff so I listen to him about tires (worked in a tire shop myself in college too). I have heard some people say they only got a couple seasons out of their Blizzaks but they must be driving on them in warmer weather and/or heavier cars because my daughter commutes 100 mi/day and puts 25k miles on the RAV4 per year and still has more than 1/2 of new tread depth left. We have driven both cars in the snow both compact snow/ice and new 6" or so depths on the hills where we live and the Blizzaks kept traction very well. I trust them over my 4x4 ranger pickup with M+S tires on.

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Randito
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PostWed Nov 10, 2021 5:36 pm 
I have Blizzaks on a separate set of wheels from my summer tires. I have my mechanic swap sets of wheels while doing an oil change. Which with my Honda's mileage minder and how much I drive works out to swapping about now and again in April. I got this set of Blizzaks in fall 2017. More than half the original tread is remaining. The separate set of wheels is essential, I got mine used and cheap, as they are factory wheels taken off when someone bought fancy custom rims. My mechanic is friends with a tire shop few blocks away.

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pianodirt
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PostThu Nov 11, 2021 11:02 am 
Bowregard and Randito - Ok, that is good to hear about the Blizzaks, as you both seem to be getting longer life out of them than I had expected. Especially that the special softening rubber wears down much faster in warmer temps, which isn't a problem in E. WA from about mid Nov until March. Yep, dedicated rims for winter tires is the way to go. Now on another note, I know that studded tires are the bane of WSDOT, for all the additional wear they put on the roads. Otherwise, why would there be a law to get them off your rig by April 1st? It would be nice to see the state chip in a modest subsidy towards studless snow tires like Blizzaks. Perhaps in the form of a mail-in rebate or ideally just automatically paid to the tire shops, so the consumer benefits immediately. I don't know the costs involved in increased road repairs caused by studded tires, but it can't be a small number. ... I just looked up again the price of Blizzaks, wow, they've come down a lot since I checked a couple years ago, at least in my size. Seems almost a no brainer now, but a state subsidy would sweeten the deal even more smile.gif

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Randito
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Randito
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PostThu Nov 11, 2021 12:00 pm 
I've used Blizzaks on my current 2013 honda CRV and studded snow tires on my prior 1998 Honda CRV. I'm on the west side -- so folks on the east side of the cascades may have a different take. For west side usage studded tires are significantly noiser when travelling on bare pavement and for west siders 95% of the time that is what you are doing. I've found the on snow or ice performance of the Blizzaks to be as good and or superior to that of studded tires. Occationally in both my travels on the studded snow tires and on the Blizzaks I've encountered "Black Ice" conditions -- I felt like the Blizzaks offered traction on par with the studded tires. I first became keen on "studdless snow tires" after spending January on Hokkiado where studded tires are illegal -- but "winter traction tires" are required Nov-Apr -- I was impressed how well the little Mazada rental car handled in the snow and ice -- many times we drove 100km on continously snow covered road -- the road crews work hard -- but it snows a lot there. After returning from that trip -- I planned a BC/Alberta "powder highway" trip for the following year -- sections of the "powder highway" roads require "winter traction tires" (particularly over Roger's Pass) So I got the Blizzaks and these worked well on that trip. I think M+S rated"All Season" tires perform pretty well as well -- but the "Winter Traction" rated tires (Mountain Snowflake symbol on the sidewall) do offer significantly better traction when the road is actually covered with snow or ice. In my life experience I have been in vehicles as a passenger that have performed 180 and 360 degree spin outs on snow covered roads and as a driver I have experienced loss of traction on snow covered Puget Sound City streets during the occational "snowmagadon" events and have barely managed to avoid low speed colllisions. For me, it is worthwhile to have the Blizzaks to reduce the chances of such unpleasantness. From an economic standpoint -- the Blizzaks and extra set of wheels are a good investment if they avoid a single collision ever. Of course the most cost effective thing to do for west siders it to stay home during "snowmagadon" events as this usually melt away in a day or two. Folks living east of the crest don't have that luxury.

Bowregard
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