is that because they didn’t have the correct size. Or they didn’t have any rims?

They had next to no wheels when I went in there. Too lucrative selling them on ebay or something, I dunno.

Winter tyres improve the grip on cold, wet, icy tarmac (where chains cannot be used) – but also offer better grip in snow too.

And on slimy mud on the road, leaves, muddy fields and in heavy rain.

Junkyard – Member

Winter tyres FFS get a grip

That is the idea, yes

And on slimy mud on the road, leaves, muddy fields and in heavy rain.

But….sorry, disagreeing again…. How is this different from a grim autumn day, or a grim spring day, or a grim summers day?

We live in a temperate climate. The kind of temperature differences we see over a year are relatively small, as are the differences in rainfall.

Is it really necessary? (Honest, not having a go question…)

Crikey – I’ll admit to poo-pooing this a couple of years back. We got winter tyres for Mrs druidhs car as she has to visit needy clients as part of her job. I was truly amazed at the difference. I’ve known days where we were the only folk to get out of our street.

Because I already own the tyres!

It’s £300/year or thereabouts to swap winter and summer tyres. Spare wheels for both cars would cost £450 or so and then I’d need the tyres fitted to those for £150, which is a big outlay.

What the hell?

Most sensible choice is buy some spare alloys.

Next is shop around, my local tyre place will do a set of 4 for £30 cash but for one set of alloys I have to go to a different place as they don’t have a hole in the middle so need a special mount for balancing, they charge me £40.

When I was a student I considered fitting my own winter tyres. I realised I was being silly and got them done properly.

I would seriously get a spare set of wheels and drop them down to a tyre place as they can do them at their leisure and then you can fit them at home. Try a place that does trucks etc as well as cars or a place that does performance cars etc as they will be more used to people bringing tyres and wheel into them (eg for track days etc).

As for DIY:

1. break the bead. Easiest way is drop a car onto the deflated tyre side wall.

2. Lever off the tyre and remove

3. clean up the bead and apply some tyre soap

4. get the new tyre on

5. use a compressor to seat the bead

6. balance

That just about covers it I think. Think tubless bike tyres but about 20x heavier and much stiffer.

Is it really necessary? (Honest, not having a go question…)

For me, yes.

I am a community nurse covering Kirklees (which is a biggish lump of land) and will be travelling all over it pretty much whatever weather comes.

My patients are extremely vulnerable and often function poorly without our teams support, hence I will do my utmost to get to them. This includes fitting winter tyres, carrying loads of winter gear and driving as close as possible before walking in.

I know it’s mainly conurbation but there are some difficult to get to places in winter – I can have visits in Holmfirth in the morning, Marsden at lunchtime and Denby Dale in the afternoon.

Even if we are not talking snow, I still feel I benefit from the added grip when it’s cold and horrible.

Also, I have recently bought a Transit and many of the commercial lads swear by winter tyres so it’s not just a STW thing.

Oh and winter tyres as simply amazing. I have a set of discontinued Nokian WR-G2 which are designed for climates like the UK and they really do make driving in winter much nicer.

But….sorry, disagreeing again…. How is this different from a grim autumn day, or a grim spring day, or a grim summers day?

Tarmac is warmer.

Mud is less likely in summer because it dries out a lot faster, and farmers tend not to be ploughing their fields as much.

Is it really necessary?

The difference isn’t trivial. Near our house there’s a motorway junction roundabout that I go around many times a week. The last corner before the sliproad is pretty sharp and sort of off-camber and the tarmac is a mess. It’s all rumpled up and crumbling at the same time.

As winter draws on the Prius in particular gets more and more prone to skittering towards the outside of the corner. The rubber feels harder, and the ride is worse too. When I put winters on, it’s amazing how firmly it sticks to the road. The ride is better too, the rubber stays much softer.

Sidewalls are fragile things. Just in case Molgrips hasn’t already Google-imaged “car tyre bead breaker” for a hundred and one good ideas and tools I’d like to suggest dropping a car on the bead is a bad idea.

Edit to add: I’ve got one of these and I’m just about strong enough to break a bead with it:

2nd edit: and thinking about it it would be useless with the width of tyre on my current car.

I don’t really want to grumble on about this, but how on earth have we managed up until now? I know Kirklees, I am intimately acquainted with many of the steep back roads and steep main roads, but I can’t recall any great number of problems due to people not using winter tyres in the past.

I’m tending towards a large amount of placebo effect, I’m afraid. Most roads might be blocked for a day or so, maybe a bit longer, but again, looking at the overall climate of the UK…. No, sorry, not buying it.

I would seriously get a spare set of wheels

As above, it’s a big outlay all in one go.

but how on earth have we managed up until now?

I don’t understand your point. There is always room for improvement, isn’t there?

We managed with no central heating and outside bogs too – I’m assuming your house is set up that way?

Most roads might be blocked for a day or so, maybe a bit longer

If you’re talking about ONLY snow our road was covered in ice for about a week year before last. No-one drove anywhere. And I came very close to getting stranded 120 miles from home too at one point.

Then there was my Dad’s big birthday bash which we’d have missed last year if we hadn’t had winter tyres. Not life changing, but an important family do and I’m glad we managed without any difficulty.

A few years ago my Dad went to hospital in the snow on Christmas morning. We didn’t have winter tyres then and we had to drive 25 miles to the hosp ourselves. It was pretty sketchy and took forever.

I could go on.. and then there’ll be the time at some point in the future where I have to do an emergency stop on tarmac and I’ll just manage to avoid a serious crash because I have super grippy winter tyres on.

crieky – you’ve asked the question “does it really make a difference” and had several responses (from experienced drivers) telling you that it does.

I’m currently picturing you like this…

We managed without crumple zones, seat belts and airbags for decades, why bother with them now?

I had a Mondeo the year before last with Pirelli’s on and I had difficulty getting from Rastrick over to Ainley Top. Put winter tyres on for the first time that year and that journey, plus the others, was significantly easier.

You must just be a much better driver than me.

I remain unconvinced.

Adieu. 🙂

No, sorry, not buying it.

Luckily, for you, they are not compulsory here (yet)

So you don’t have to.

I’ve only ever swapped one car tyre (but literally dozens of motorcycle tyres, my record being nine minutes if I recall correctly and I know many who can do it much quicker) and it was dead easy with the right levers, but it was not a very low profile tyre. Google will bring up lots of ways to break the bead with two bits of wood and a hinge – this will do any width of tyre. The use of tyre lubricant helps too.

How dear is balancing at the local tyre fitters?

I’d be worried that the use of winter tyres in “warm” weather months would give the insurance boys a get out in the event of any sort of incident.

And I’m honestly amazed that you keep logging on to try and wind me up, and that you don’t know when to stfu

But I’m right and you know it. 🙂

And the more you tell me to shut up, the less likely I am to do it.

Orange Crush – Member

I’d be worried that the use of winter tyres in “warm” weather months would give the insurance boys a get out in the event of any sort of incident.

Do not- it will not happen, the tyres are road legal and work perfectly well in summer.

crikey – Member

I don’t really want to grumble on about this, but how on earth have we managed up until now?

For one thing- why put up with it if you don’t have to? “Managing” is fine but it’s not as good as “not having to manage”

There’s also a few things that have changed… Roads are busier, which has all sorts of complex impacts (can’t grit a gridlocked road, frinstance). Also typical tyres are, frankly, often less suitable. Fatter tyres don’t work as well on snow, and everyday tyres are often pitched on dry performance, long life, low noise. I reckon average tyres today are less good on snow than they were 10 or 20 years ago.

Probably other things too but these are the obvious ones.

Central heating? How 20th century. No central heating here and 21°C.

The cars of my youth were fine through the Winter. Tyres were between 145 and 165, there were lots of sipes and the rubber was soft (and short lived).

Current cars run around on semi-slick garden rollers:

Crikey,I assume you’ve put a few miles in on winter tyres in order to decide whether there is a performance benefit, yeah?

Go on, Crikey, get yourself a set of Michelin Alpins, you know you want to. 8)

molgrips, is going winter tyres all year round an option? It’s what Conti recommend for those who don’t want to swap…

I seem to have managed perfectly well all these years without needing them, so why would I need them now? As above, they are of little use if the roads are blocked by all those people who don’t use them.

Meh. You carry on chaps, I’ll struggle on through…

(Been driving for 30 years, never, ever, ever been stuck in the snow, largely because I can watch weather forecasts and this is the important bit… adjust my behaviour accordingly…. 😉 )

Anyway, as above, this is dull so I’m away.

Yes I’ve done it for years, its not a problem. Just because some guys who at the tyre shop uses a pneumatic device does not mean that you need to. You need limited special tools, its not dangerous, its not highly skilled. Like most things in life there is a knack and some things to look out for but its defiantly within the DIY realm. You can balance the wheels yourself with a static balancer and some care but most of the time you don’t need to. The main thing the expensive tools the tyre sop use gain you is speed. Changing a tyre by hand takes more time. Balancing it by hand takes more time.

Even if you don’t balance the wheel after its not usually an issue. I’m not a fast motorway driver, fastest I end up is 80 mph and have no problems with unbalanced wheels. Last set of wheel I had to get balance was on a previous car year ago. When I have had problem with a unbalance wheel its easy to sort, in the mean time I just don’t drive at whatever speed I experience the resonance. Simple.

You need some safe way of breaking the bead. Our one is similar to this. After that its a case of tyre leavers, rubber mallet and soapy water. Its quite physical and there is a knack. If you’re ever near Bournemouth try and contact me and I’ll show you.

can you get random individual alloy wheels on ebay? you could get a cheap non-matching set, it wouldn’t matter if they look odd because as long as they work (all the right size), no-one looks at your wheels in winter and they get scratched/dinged anyway ? just a thought

wow, who’d have thought winter tyres would get such an argument going, but then it is STW after all.

Must admit i swap to winter tyres every year, spend much time driving in the highlands in a BMW so it does help.

As for how we managed with out well true we did, but equally we managed with out www and mobiles, but could we now? I mean i might have to go and find something more constructive to do than type shite on the internet from my smart phone 🙂

(Been driving for 30 years, never, ever, ever been stuck in the snow, largely because I can watch weather forecasts and this is the important bit… adjust my behaviour accordingly…. )

This reminds of of something my driving instructor told me.

“The worsts drivers on the roads are blokes who have been driving for decades, think they’ve got everything right but really haven’t”

What thebrick said, you need :

a.Tyre changer similar to Sealey TC960 , can get them with air powered bead breaker – much faster.
b.A compressor
c.tyre soap
d.practice

you can balance yourself or mark the rim, and note what weights were where and put them back in the same place.( new weights buy them from tyre place)

That will cost you £200 or so and help with your tubeless bike tyres

Edukator has it spot on.

20 years ago most cars had winter tyres on from the factory – they just weren’t called winter tyres. They now have stupid wide rock hard noisy slicks

This thread needs surf-matt 🙂

“The worsts drivers on the roads are blokes who have been driving for decades, think they’ve got everything right but really haven’t”

You’re right, young inexperienced drivers are far safer, insurance companies know nothing.

You’re right, young inexperienced drivers are far safer, insurance companies know nothing.

I’m a crap driver, but on the positive I haven’t had an accident for over 20 years.

This thread needs surf-matt

and as if by magic

you can balance yourself or mark the rim, and note what weights were where and put them back in the same place.( new weights buy them from tyre place)

you would be better not putting any weights on at all than doing that, every tyre has different heavy spots in the same way a rim does

You’re right, young inexperienced drivers are far safer, insurance companies know nothing.

You’ll notice it was in quotes.

Strictly speaking she was referring to (really) old boys

[you would be better not putting any weights on at all than doing that, every tyre has different heavy spots in the same way a rim does]

I am saying same rim to same tyre in same rim/tyre fit = as they were originally

As above, they are of little use if the roads are blocked by all those people who don’t use them.

Last year, the A470 was blocked at the reservoirs on the steep bit with stuck drivers slithering everywhere. So I turned around and went over the top to Hirwaun, in 6″ packed snow.

I had more options due to my tyre choice.

TheBrick and others – good advice, thanks. I’m now considering it 🙂 I’ve long wished for a compressor for a variety of reasons, so this coul dbe a good excuse.

What about this for a bead breaker?

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/range/guid/25C43A90-03F7-43AB-8754-3FD08E562668?da=1&TC=SRC-bead+breaker

This looks useful