Tire grooving

[anthem4us]

I called Les Schwab for a quote for new tires and during our discussion the salesperson said that they now can cut grooves in the tires perpendicular to the tire tread. He said that this keeps the tires cool in the summer and better traction in the winter. Has anyone had this done on their tires?

[anthem4us]

I called Les Schwab for a quote for new tires and during our discussion the salesperson said that they now can cut grooves in the tires perpendicular to the tire tread. He said that this keeps the tires cool in the summer and better traction in the winter. Has anyone had this done on their tires?

[Paul Heuvelhorst]

The process is called "siping" (rhymns with piping). I had the process done on two vehicles, one Ford Escape and one Ford F-150.

I can tell you that I detected no difference in the performance of the tires, and both sets lasted about 40-45,000 miles. Mileage on our tires is difficult to determine as we used studded tires on both vehicles in the winter months. So how many miles the tires travel is a "best-guessimate."

Would I pay the extra to have it done on the next set of tires... probably not since I was unable to determine the overall effect!

[OldForester]

I would do siping in car and pickup tires. I don't think it's worth the trip on RV tires like ours.

[VAGABONDMAN]

We have always siped our tires and find they do run cooler and last longer; however, the best reason to have them siped is that they give you so much more traction on wet or icy roads. I would never be without siping here in the northwest.

[Beagle RC Air]

Grooving and siping are two different processes.
Grooving is used by offroaders to get more grip in the mud or snow. Also, used by dirt tack racers to customize the tread for more grip or better steering. Some truckers cut grooves in their tires to get a few more mile out of the tires. Tires are marked if they are regroovable.
Siping is process of putting razor cuts in tires for more wet weather grip. Glad this came up as it is a reminder when I decide to replace the steer tires.

[OldForester]

I would agree with siping to get more traction in wet weather, but don't agree with regrooving. My brother the tire man definitely says you don't want to regroove on tires like we have for what we're doing. On trailer tires on semis they give you a few more miles, but they also produce some of the problems we've all seen on the side of the roads with tread separation. They make old tires look newer, but they're more likely to fail.

Siping does help in wet weather, but it has also produced a little shorter tire life, which may be imperceptible to most of us in motorhomes because we often run into an age issue first. The weight of our coaches does help with we weather, so the impacts of siping are probably less than with a lighter vehicle.