Snow tire question

[tjstogner]

Considering putting some Blizzaks or maybe X-Ices on for the winter- and I understand it's a good idea to put them on a designated set of wheels, while storing the all season tires on their own set of wheels for the winter. My question is, to save money, can I just store the all-season tires without putting them on wheels or will it shorten the life of the tires?

 

[RunnerAK]

Yes, you can store them without being on rims, that's a very common thing to do up here in AK. I do that for my Limited since I couldn't find a reasonably priced set of 18" rims for the Blizzaks that came with it. The only reason it would shorten the tire life is if the bead gets messed up by a careless tire tech when mounting/dismounting them each season (which has happened to me before). If you are storing them outdoors, put them in large trash bags and cover them with a tarp or something to keep debris/UV away.

 

[ebg18t]

Every time you mount/dismount a tire there is a chance of damage. I suggest you find a cheap 2nd set if wheels to use for winter. Also check out the Nokian Hakka series of snow tires.

 

[MikeInNH]

Mounting winter tires on separate rims is always the best idea. Besides the possible damage to the tires....cheap rims can be sacrificed to road salt.

Personally - I run AT tires all year. While not as good as dedicated snow tires...they are EXCELLENT in snow...and great for some trail riding I do in the summer.

 

[04_4runner]

I run dedicated snows on a spare set of rims. It is the easiest way to go. Even places that advertise "free snow tire changeover" aren't really free. They charge for balancing. It doesn't take too many years at twice a year for it to be cheaper to get a spare set of rims. On that note, I notice you are in NY. I am in western MA (Springfield area) and happen to have an OEM set of 17" rims that came off my 04. There have General all season tires with about 1/3 life left on them. TPMS sensors were working as of a year ago when I took the rims off. I upgraded to '13 FJ rims and Cooper AT3's and put the stock ones in the basement. I run Enkei RT6 in the winter with Blizzak's. If you are interested in the stock rims, PM me. They are not mint but in pretty decent shape. They would make a great set of winter rims. $250 for all four with tires and TPMS. No shipping, come get them.

 

[M1911]

Considering putting some Blizzaks or maybe X-Ices on for the winter- and I understand it's a good idea to put them on a designated set of wheels, while storing the all season tires on their own set of wheels for the winter. My question is, to save money, can I just store the all-season tires without putting them on wheels or will it shorten the life of the tires?

In addition to getting tires reinstalled twice a year, you'll have to get the tires/wheels balanced twice a year. I'd guess that cost at about $80/year/wheel-tire, or $320/year. You won't be saving much, you will risk damaging your tires, and changing over from summer to winter and winter to summer will be a much bigger pain in the neck. If you have separate wheels, all you have to do is change them over -- you can do that with a decent floor jack in less than 1 hour. If you don't have separate wheels, then you have to make an appointment at a tire shop.

Get a separate set of wheels. You'll thank yourself later.

I bought a separate set of rims from an online forum. They were from an FJ Cruiser and were almost new. After shipping, I think they cost me $450 total.

 

[Gecko123]

Every time you mount/dismount a tire there is a chance of damage. I suggest you find a cheap 2nd set if wheels to use for winter. Also check out the Nokian Hakka series of snow tires.

damage to the rims and also they move the weight around which causes more damage to the rims.

in the long run, it will cost you more if you use the same set of rims.

 

[Medvedko]

I am not sure if the 2004 Runners have TPMS, but I know it can be a royal PITA running a second set of rims without the sensors and recalibrating the system. The low pessure light will constantly be light up which is pretty annoying IMO...
I'd love to run a second set of rims and winter tires but having the dealer reset the TPMS each time can get expensive, I have a 2006 BTW.

I've read people running aftermarket scan tools to recalibrate the sensors or turn of the system all together.

I am leaning toads getting a good set of AT tires for year round and just tossing them out when they no longer function well in the snow or turn off the tpms sensors and running two sets of wheels and tires......

 

[97BlackAckCL]

X-Ice are absolutely awesome tires, just sayin

 

[04_4runner]

I am not sure if the 2004 Runners have TPMS, but I know it can be a royal PITA running a second set of rims without the sensors and recalibrating the system. The low pessure light will constantly be light up which is pretty annoying IMO......

My 04 has TPMS. My snow tire set does not have sensors. It is not a big deal. I park about 15 feet from the other tires. They are in the basement, I park in the driveway. This is enough that the light only comes on if I drive more than about an hour. This is consistent. My normal commute is 25 miles - 20 minutes twice a day. Once a week it is 95 miles - 45 minutes twice a day. The light does not come on. When I venture further than an hour, the TPMS light starts to flash indicating error (it is on solid for low pressure). After parking near the rims with sensors, the light goes back out.

One more thing to add, discount tire places won't believe you when you tell them that if they don't use a CAN eliminator when they hook up to the OBDII port they may inadvertently erase the zero point calibration data on a 2004. I gave up arguing and did the zero point reset myself after they programmed in my new sensors. I believe this is unique to the 2004. Don't quote me on that though.