Tire Question -- All Seasons Vs. Snow Tires?

[Sumpter250]

We won't even talk about the rattlesnakes and scorpions now, will we?

Don't know about scorpions, but I have seen a dead rattlesnake....."fly away" hock:
Something to do with....I believe it's called "the Vulture claws"

[Beamish]

A new one for me is the studded tires. They have little metal spikes(look like bolts to me) embedded in them. These things are great for driving on pure ice. However many in many locations these are illegal as they have a tendency to damage paved roads.

Also a good option for deep snow is to get a set of 33" mud tires. we have a set on our Mud Bog truck and last Christmas we went out to explore the beaver lodges in our area and could not get stuck.... And we tried really hard. In one instance my brother was driving and we were doing about 50km/h down the road and he says. "there is a big snow drift." It was a ditch that was level with snow. And he just turns right into it. Then we headed across the field that was about 1 foot deep with snow and many drifts. It was unstoppable. He commented how useful it would be having the truck in Winnipeg in the winter. He would always be able to find a parking stall. Even if it was halfway up a snow pile.

[ezdays]

We won't even talk about the rattlesnakes and scorpions now, will we?

Don't know about scorpions, but I have seen a dead rattlesnake....."fly away" hock:
Something to do with....I believe it's called "the Vulture claws"

Yep, you were there that day we had the rattler on our patio. :o The fourth rattler we had around the house was one determining factor in moving a bit closer to civilization. Although we liked the isolation, the snakes and coyotes kinda creeped us out.

[RobertInOntario]

Believe it or not, my house is also made of snow and it manages to hold up pretty good all year! :mrgreen: OK, now I'm joking, and kicking myself for my dry humour!

I'm still looking into this snow tire/AS issue though but -- since I'm pretty busy this week -- I'm postponing this till next week.

Cheers,
Rob

[ezdays]

Believe it or not, my house is also made of snow and it manages to hold up pretty good all year! :mrgreen: OK, now I'm joking, and kicking myself for my dry humour!

I'm still looking into this snow tire/AS issue though but -- since I'm pretty busy this week -- I'm postponing this till next week.

Cheers,
Rob

Didn't mean to hijack your thread, but your "dry humor" kind of goes along with our "dry heat" here. :o I just couldn't resist that... But, if I hang around long enough I just might learn a bit about what it's like to live in the freezing snow country and you might find out something about living in the scorching heat.

[sgtcarl1]

Don, been there done that!! I'll take "snow for 500, please Alex." In Az. you have to replace wiperblades everysix months, or so, because the heat rots them. In snow country, you have to replace them every six months or so because you got impatient and turned your wipers on before they thawed out, and they got ripped off because they were still frozen to the windshield!
Actually, I've never had a problem running All Season Radials. When I used to travel from Phx to Flag everyday, I'd run snow tires on my pickups in the winter. But, now I have a Volvo AWD and don't even worry about snow. My wife just recently bought herself a 3 year old KIA Amanti, which is just front wheel drive. So we will see what happens. Actually snow tires have more resistance on the pavement, so gas mileage may be affected. They are also made of a little softer compound than steel or corded radials are. (If this is confusing, see where I am now living. I moved here from Az. 7 years ago.)

[BR60103]

I have a dilemma on this. We plan to take the motorhome south and west this winter (for about 3 months). If we drive in snow, it shouldn't be more than a couple of days at each end of the trip. So, no snow tires there.
Now our other car will be laid up for 3 months of the winter. Is it worth putting snow tires on for the other 3? I haven't actually had snow tires for about 30 years -- my first Mini.
Will I need special hot weather tires for California and Arizona in January and February?

[tomustang]

I have a dilemma on this. We plan to take the motorhome south and west this winter (for about 3 months). If we drive in snow, it shouldn't be more than a couple of days at each end of the trip. So, no snow tires there.
Now our other car will be laid up for 3 months of the winter. Is it worth putting snow tires on for the other 3? I haven't actually had snow tires for about 30 years -- my first Mini.
Will I need special hot weather tires for California and Arizona in January and February?

I can't vouch for AZ but in california the only thing you need to worry about is the Sun, terribly bright and in most cases in the entire state a very dangerous hazard if you're out in it too long. Try to get your car prepped to protect against paint damage (fading) caused by the immense sunlight.

If you are traveling around the donner pass area or anywhere around rt80 (going into the state) don't even think about going through there when it's snowing, they get some of the worst snow in the country there, you can't prepare going through that since they close it from the serious snowfall at times. If it's dry don't worry about it.

[RobertInOntario]

Believe it or not, my house is also made of snow and it manages to hold up pretty good all year! :mrgreen: OK, now I'm joking, and kicking myself for my dry humour!

I'm still looking into this snow tire/AS issue though but -- since I'm pretty busy this week -- I'm postponing this till next week.

Cheers,
Rob

Didn't mean to hijack your thread, but your "dry humor" kind of goes along with our "dry heat" here. :o I just couldn't resist that... But, if I hang around long enough I just might learn a bit about what it's like to live in the freezing snow country and you might find out something about living in the scorching heat.

No problem, Don! I think both extremes are hard to take! Rob

[ezdays]

No problem, Don! I think both extremes are hard to take! Rob

You hit the mark on that one, I always think it's fascinating to find out about how people live in other areas. We have a saying here that, "you don't have to shovel sunshine". As you can see though, we do have our problems. In the summer, it's dealing with the extreme heat, in the winter, well, it's like Carl says, you can go from the hot desert of Phoenix to the snow country of Flagstaff or Payson in around two hours. Every winter we do have warnings about checkpoints on I-17 where, if you don't have snow tires or chains, they'll make you turn back. That's why you can buy snow tires in the desert. Oh yeah, we do occasionally get a light dusting of snow in the area, mostly in the high desert just to the north of us and once every ten years or so down in Phoenix itself. It melts off quickly, but it's a pretty sight for a short while.

[RobertInOntario]

No problem, Don! I think both extremes are hard to take! Rob

You hit the mark on that one, I always think it's fascinating to find out about how people live in other areas. We have a saying here that, "you don't have to shovel sunshine". As you can see though, we do have our problems. In the summer, it's dealing with the extreme heat, in the winter, well, it's like Carl says, you can go from the hot desert of Phoenix to the snow country of Flagstaff or Payson in around two hours. Every winter we do have warnings about checkpoints on I-17 where, if you don't have snow tires or chains, they'll make you turn back. That's why you can buy snow tires in the desert. Oh yeah, we do occasionally get a light dusting of snow in the area, mostly in the high desert just to the north of us and once every ten years or so down in Phoenix itself. It melts off quickly, but it's a pretty sight for a short while.

Normally, here in southern Ontario, we get very hot, humid summers -- often high 80s or even low 90s with humidity on top of that. This past summer, though, was cool and wet which really upset a lot of folks!

WInters can be cold and snowy. In recent years, the winters have been tougher which is why I'm looking into this snow tire issue ahead of time! On the other hand, Environment Canada is predicting a mild winter this year but they've been wrong so many times before!

My relatives in England are often surprised by the extremes that we get here, especially when Toronto is about 10 degrees (in latitude) further south than London (UK) is.

Sounds like you also get quite a bit of regional variation in climate & weather.

Cheers,
Rob

[Russ Bellinis]

I have a dilemma on this. We plan to take the motorhome south and west this winter (for about 3 months). If we drive in snow, it shouldn't be more than a couple of days at each end of the trip. So, no snow tires there.
Now our other car will be laid up for 3 months of the winter. Is it worth putting snow tires on for the other 3? I haven't actually had snow tires for about 30 years -- my first Mini.
Will I need special hot weather tires for California and Arizona in January and February?

I don't know what the requirements for Northern Az. are, but here in California, snow tires may be useful; but if it is snowing in the mountains, the CHP does not recognize any such thing as "snow tires." When the CHP determines that conditions warrant, all vehicles that are not all wheel drive are required to install chains or be parked until the road is cleared. At the time you are coming out here, I would recommend that you use the "Southern route" taking a south bound interstate through the plains and then coming west on I-40 or I-10. On I-40 you may still encounter snow in New Mexico and Arizona, but I think they keep it pretty well plowed out so you will only have problems if there is a snow storm as you are coming through. I-10 is far enough south that you should not even see snow, except on top of the mountains above to your left as you pass Palm Springs.

[ezdays]

You're right Russ, I'd avoid going the northern route in the winter. Several times a year, I-40 is shut down somewhere between Williams and Winslow, or even a bit further east, because of snow. And as I said, I-17 is usually the same thing. Going the I-10 route is much more scenic anyway through those states.

[Russ Bellinis]

The only reason I mentioned I-40 was that he had expressed an interest in seeing the Grand Canyon in his original post about his trip. Is there a relatively low altitude route from flagstaff to Pheonix? I think the highway through Prescott may go to a pretty high altitude in Prescott. I know that I would not look forward to driving through Jerome in a motor home!

[ezdays]

The only reason I mentioned I-40 was that he had expressed an interest in seeing the Grand Canyon in his original post about his trip. Is there a relatively low altitude route from flagstaff to Pheonix? I think the highway through Prescott may go to a pretty high altitude in Prescott. I know that I would not look forward to driving through Jerome in a motor home!

No Russ, I wouldn't think of driving that route, just too many cutbacks on a very narrow road. Besides, the last time I went to Prescott when it was snowing, I wound up in a snowbank. Everyone could tell that I had no experience driving in harsh weather. One would normally go through Flagstaff if they want to get up to the Canyon, it's just that it does snow in that part of the state and even the south rim of the Canyon gets snow. I-40 is not a hazard most of the time, and I think they get the roads cleared quickly, but at the wrong time, there could be delays of up to 24 hours, I've seen pictures of miles of trucks waiting. I know the south rim of the Canyon is open in the winter, but I'm not sure just how much of their facilities are, or even if the tour buses are running then.