Roll On
Chilly weather arrived last Friday, and local tire salesmen say snow tire season is nearly here.
The time to put snow tires on your car begins after Halloween, according to Rick McKivigan, Butler Tires for Less tire sales manager.
He said as soon as it gets chilly out, he starts hearing from people wanting to switch over. When the year's first snow falls, he said, wait times grow rapidly as the shop deals with lines of customers.
“Everybody waits for the first snow,” McKivigan said.
People in Butler County, particularly those with a substantial commute each day, should look into snow tires, he said. All-season tires will likely suffice for folks in Pittsburgh who mostly drive on cleared city streets, but locals here probably ought to go for the snow tires, he said.
If one chooses to stick with all-season tires, McKivigan said, it's best to pick ones with a soft rubber compound. You'll sacrifice mileage, but the softer tires have better traction, he added.
That softness is the defining difference between your all-purpose tires and snow tires. Snow tires are typically made of softer rubber so that the tread can flex and grip better.
Some employ snow tires with studs, but McKivigan said that style of tire can prove very difficult on a dry road. He described driving on a dry road with studs as close to driving “on ice skates.”
On average, snow tires can last two seasons, McKivigan said.
“Western Pennsylvania is tough on tires,” he said. “The weather conditions, the terrain, the hills, the bends in the road. It's just tough on tires.”
When new tires are put on, shop workers tell customers to come back and they'll use a torque wrench to tighten up your lug nuts. Few actually do, McKivigan said, but it's important to tighten down new tires after 100 miles of use because the tires loosen up a bit at first.
And don't forget to take the tires off when the winter is over. Heat degrades tires, and softer rubber snow tires in particular can be worn down quickly by a hot day.
“You really want to keep snow tires off of a hot road,” McKivigan said.
He admitted that buying new tires isn't a joyous experience for most drivers. Especially when they procrastinate to get them on and wind up with long waits during the busy season.
Why does it take so long? Modern cars use an electronic monitoring system that needs recalibrating every time a tire is changed.
Today, changing four tires will take 45 minutes minimum because of the electronic work involved, he said.
They, sadly, can't just whip on your new snow tires like a NASCAR pit crew.
