and how do you like it? I know some tires have a lot of factory siping and don't need extra, but just wanted to get some opinions on it. My friend had his done on some Les Schwab tires right down to the bone, making them feel very squishy to the touch. It makes me think it would be like driving on a sponge.

 

No opinions here ?????

 

what the heck are you talking about? Siping??

 

Siping is making small cuts across the tire to help prolong tire life. This is more useful on MTs than anything else. Some tires have some siping already on them. Driving on siped tires isn't too much different than non-siped ones. It also depends how many cuts are made and how deep they go.

 

polarisguy

I have siped almost all of my tires (except my duelers) and have notice much better traction in inclement weather. shorter stopping distances and better turning on ice and snow. less hydroplaning on rain slick roads. the tires on my F550 are siped and i get 80k plus miles out of a set. i have never had to put on my chains in the winter. contrary to what others might think, it does improve traction-both stopping and starting- as well as increases the tire life by allowing it to run cooler. if you have a tire that has alot of factory sipe it might not be necessary and could cause the tire to loose little chunks of rubber from being cut too much. the correct depth to sipe is no more than 1/2 the depth of the tread 'till the tire is below 9/32 in. then you can cut to within 2/32 of whats left. if you are a schwab customer ask for their recomendation on yours.

good luck, conner

 

No offense intended but the real benefit of siping tires isn't about making tires last longer. It's about giving the tires more "edges" and voids which in theory gives the tire better traction capabilities. In reality you have removed rubber from the tire (less rubber to wear out). A sipped tire compared to it's factory brother would likely deliver less actual miles. I'm sure that there are more than one instance that is contrary to what I have just stated. I think it makes sense to assume if it were that simple the manufacterers would put a few more sipes in a tire and advertise there tires with a better mileage rating.

 

polarisguy

gearhead 1 stated "you have removed rubber from the tire". this is not true. the process involves a spiral shaped rotating blade mounted on a shaft with a guage head to standardize the depth of the cut. most shops have the option of cutting a razor thin cut 5, 7, 9, or 11/32s deep. again, no rubber is removed on a siped tire. the process of "regrooving" removes rubber.

if you look at the new studdless snow tires the sipe is alot like what you get on a machine siped tire

go to sipers. com - lots of info there

hope this helps, conner

 

If you've ever cleaned one of these machines after it's done a few tires you'll know that rubber has been removed. Don't get me wrong I'm not talking pounds and I'm not knocking siping. Bridgestone Blizzak tires have a very good reputation using this procedure. Using Blizzak's as an example, Bridgestone recommends that the tire be used as a road only tire once the siping has disappeared (they don't use full depth cuts on this tire and the tires useful snow tire life is about 50% of the actual rubber depth). I've seen the recommended web site and my thoughts were that they're pushing their machine/ procedure and promising the best of all worlds. This is seldom the case. I've seen this procedure used on some serious 4X4's and they seemed to chunk the tires when used in rocky conditions. I've driven these on straight line cars and thought they hooked up very well. Anyway, what the heck do I know?