Hi All,

Interested to get some feedback from you all on tire siping. Seems like in some parts of the country this is a fairly common practice and in others the shops have never heard of it.

Just doing a little recon on the pros/cons and if it makes sense for someone here in NJ. I'm due to get my 450 in early Jan and plan on upgrading the stock tires to something a bit larger and more aggressive tread but still think i might benefit from having them "siped." Unfortunately this is one of the areas where few have heard of this and I've yet to find someone in the area that has the machine to do this.

Looking forward to hearing some of your thoughts and if anyone knows of a shop in the NJ, Eastern PA or Southern NY area that does this.

Thanks!

 

John, if you plan to keep the stock rims, you can't go bigger on size. The stock size is the only one that is rated to go with the stock rim width. On siping and tire advice, contact a member here with the username "hoseclamp." He's got his 450 dialed in for winter after trying a few different winter tires and having them siped. Although he doesn't live near you and can't help with shop recommendation, he can help with what works and what doesn't.

 

Thanks Rodney. I'm getting 19.5x6.75 wheels and going up to a 265/70 Toyo M608Z Tire.

 

I think Mike went with Toyo M920's on his. He tried some more aggressive treads but they wandered all over the road when on the steer axle.

 

I am not a fan of it because every one of my buddies who did it had large chucks ripped off the tread blocks because of the siping. However a lot of that may have been due to gravel roads and off roading. If you're sticking to pavement it may not be as big of an issue. That being said a lot of new tires come with factory siping so having them siped again would be overkill and would surely lead to increased chipping.

 

I do not sipe my tires. Instead, I buy dedicated ice/snow tires for use in the winter.

 

Good day eh. Siping helps, chunking might be an issue if you're spinning and chewing a lot, but if this is your DD and will see winter conditions, ice and snow etc, I would sipe for sure. Those 608's will look good but will be greasy in the winter months. The durometer rating of these 19.5's, don't let them go deeper than 1/4" and leave the outer lugs alone and the siping will last a long time. Rotate side to side to counter scalloping of the lugs. Add weight. I have a 300lb canopy and a 2,000lb plate in the back for traction, without it it's very loose.

 

I see Central BC in your sig. Yep, you guys in that region definitely know how to manage snow and ice. I am in the Sierras of Northern CA and we sipe here also but our conditions I would say are mild compared to your winters.

I appreciate the info on leaving the outer lugs untouched, I have mine siped on our truck and our SUV but have never noted whether or not the outer rows were done. That makes total sense to leave those lugs alone. I also use ballast for stability, an auxiliary fuel tank in the spare tire position that I leave full when in the snow.

The wife and I recently returned from a 5000 mile ride including most of British Columbia south of Prince George. I wanted to explore the Fraser River drainage. You live in a tremendously beautiful region.

 

Nice!!! It is beautiful here, I'm actually just one hour west of PG. Been an odd year for weather, too warm, my mill is running short on logs, we need cold to get the trucks in

 

I had my Toyo MTs siped once with great results. The big blocks of an MT tire aren't good for much on ice. Siping makes a big difference there. It does create a "squishy" feeling when the siping is new. There's just a lot more flex of the rubber on the surface of the road.

 

Those are amazing tires, we are putting them on all of our Work Trucks. The drivers were hesitant at first, but have all learned to love them, and getting good life out of them.

 

Thank you, I appreciate everyone's feedback. Sounds like siping will probably be worthwhile, especially with the limited tread options on the 19.5in tires. Finding a shop in the northeast somewhat local may be the challenge.