Tire Siping

I'm getting ready to put new tires on my Suburban so I got a few quotes from a few tire stores. At one of the stores, the guy recommended I have the tires "siped". According to the information he gave me, siping improves performance and extends tire life.

I was wondering if anyone has had this done to their tires, and if so, what the results were.

The guy did say that siping was not recommended if you drove more than 15-20% of the time on dirt or gravel roads. I don't, but I'm not sure I feel real positive about the potential for tire damage.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

 

Siping does improve traction somewhat. It's not a dramatic change, but it does help for sure.

I'm not sure if I would fork out the extra money for it but that's your call.

Siping will not damage your tires. They basically make cuts going 90's across the thread.

 

Since the tires I'm considering are high performance all season radials I will probably pass on the siping. It's $12.50 per tire so I don't know that it's worth the extra $50.

Thanks for the info HotinOKC. I appreciate it!

 

I do not know what that is.
I will look on the net latter.
My first impression is that I would not do it.
If it did benefit the tire manufactures would have done it in the first place.

 

frankie,

I told you what it is. They make slits across the thread to gain more traction. The reason why manufacturers don't do it because it takes more time, and more time equals more money. It's all a money thing.

Siping has been around for quiet a long time.

 

I've had siping done once... and got no noticeable difference in performance over the life of the tires. I tend to agree with the thought that, if the manufacturer thought it would be beneficial - they would have done it in the first place.... Doing it in the manufacturing stage would be of negilible cost - doing it aftermarket - is a money maker for the tire dealer.... kinda like extended warranties - gives you a warm fuzzy feeling - but isn't really worth it....

 

a good article on siping:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siping

as you will see, siping is known to the tire manufacturers already. I tend to disaprove of the idea because the manufacturer can do this if they believed it added much to their tires and at a minimal cost. In mass production, the additive expense would be quite minimal.

Don;t miss the part that alerts people to the fact that siping may void a manufacturers warranty.

 

As I understand it, all tires have sipes as part of the tread pattern. The extra siping, however, is an after market procedure that seems to be mostly a money maker for the tire store.

After hearing from you all, my friends, and my mechanic, I don't think I'm going to have it done.

Thanks everyone. And thanks for the article Nap.

 

Manufacturers also probably don't want to do it because it extends the life of the tire. Extending the life of the tire takes money away from them.

 

I understand they reduce tread life, especially on rough surfaces or gravel.

They obviously could void a tire guarantee.

Dick

 

Gets done around here for winter traction. The way I understand tire grip, it would decrease traction on a clean dry road, but improve on wet, icy or snow covered roads. It will decrease tire life, not increase it.