Bad winters/ All wheel drive??? (Pittsburgh, York: law, cars, gas)

[r3dwolf]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Yeah, you'd never get four tires into a car trunk. Some tires need to be in the back seat. Only a large SUV or one with the back seat out would hold all tires in the back. My girlfriend had to put two tires on her back seats. I just imagined if they were dirty used tires. I wouldn't want them on my upholstery or leather.

This is only tangentially relevant... but many of the little sports cars these days, are specifically designed so that you can fit a spare set of 4 wheels an tires into the car (provided you have the back seat down) due to the rise in the popularity of autocross and track days for sports cars. Some examples of this would be the Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ (same car as the scion), the Mazda speed3... or so I've been told.

Sorry, back to your more relevant posts...

[Mugatu]

It's not THAT much of a chore to have dedicated snow tires. Gosh. I can only 2 fit in the trunk of my Mustang so I fold down the back seat and put the other 2 there. And I always ask the tire place to put them in bags for me so the car, or my closet where I store them, doesn't get dirty.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Mugatu

It's not THAT much of a chore to have dedicated snow tires. Gosh. I can only 2 fit in the trunk of my Mustang so I fold down the back seat and put the other 2 there. And I always ask the tire place to put them in bags for me so the car, or my closet where I store them, doesn't get dirty.

The whole endeavor just seems like waste of time when I can change four tires in under 30 minutes. I'm just trying to list everything associated with having snow tires. Most importantly is having a place to store them, which many renters might not have. Could you imagine moving here from a warm region, worrying about driving in the snow and getting snow tires, and THEN realizing you have nowhere to store them. Add on top of it not realizing there are bags to transport them without the car or closet getting dirty. I think these are important details for everyone to know ahead of time! LOL

[Katarina Witt]

^^Agreed, storage is a huge issue in apartments, and to some degree even if you have a single family house. You can't keep them in the laundry room!

[gg]

Originally Posted by apples2applesdust2dust

Soon-to-be-new-Pittsburgh resident here. I know nothing about snow tire installation, because I'm from a Southeastern city where it's a big deal to get 2 inches of snow. Are there auto repair places that do swap out your winter tires for regular ones and vice versa? Or is this generally something people do on their own?

Of course auto repair places will change your tires for you. It isn't all that expensive to do. I suggest an all season tire for Pittsburgh. Some people say all season tires are only okay in all conditions, but what they are forgetting is in the winter we drive on ALL conditions and rarely in snow. Even if it snows here it usually is off the roads in a day. If you are in my town it is off the road almost before it lands. I run tires made for great dry and wet handling that can take snow, but snow is the least of my concerns. Rain is high priority around here. Lots of wet driving during the winter, spring and parts of summer.

Good luck.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Yeah, you'd never get four tires into a car trunk. Some tires need to be in the back seat. Only a large SUV or one with the back seat out would hold all tires in the back.

I can get all 4 tires in my Audi A4 and certainly wouldn't want some primitive SUV just to haul tires. Yes, I would put them in garbage bags to protect the fine leather, but there is no problem transporting 4 tires. I have done it. SUV's. Too funny. Will they ever die out? Seems like they are the shag carpet of the '70's that keep going and going when everyone is laughing at the drivers of those things. Oh, and I shouldn't use the term "driver". You are hardly a driver if you roam around in such a thing.

Enjoy.

[Hopes]

You have an Audi Quattro? I had one. Great car. It was a gas guzzler so I sold it.

My current rusted POS American sedan could give your A4 a run for your money. Wanna race?

[Kippy]

If one decides to go the DIY route, in addition to buying the tires themselves, he would need to buy wheels and a second set of TPMS sensors. Furthermore, he would need to go to the shop or dealership to have the sensors synced to the car everytime the wheels are swapped.

In my case, the cheapest wheels on Tire Rack are about $130 each and the sensors are about $50 each. So, on top of the cost of the tires, I would have to spend $180 per corner, for a total of $720. In addition, I'd be looking at the semi-annual cost of having the TPMS sensors resynched after swapping out the wheels.

I still have to shop around, but it seems like you can get tires mounted and balanced for about $15 per corner, for a total of $60 for an annual cost of $120. This means that it would take six years for me to break even. Of course, most tires, especially winter tires, don't even last that long.

I am not concerned with the added expense of some trash bags or an old sheet. I am somewhat concerned with the wear and tear in the tires and wheels, as they will be manhandled a lot being pulled off the wheels and remounted regularly, but for me, it is the better option.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Kippy

If one decides to go the DIY route, in addition to buying the tires themselves, he would need to buy wheels and a second set of TPMS sensors. Furthermore, he would need to go to the shop or dealership to have the sensors synced to the car everytime the wheels are swapped.

In my case, the cheapest wheels on Tire Rack are about $130 each and the sensors are about $50 each. So, on top of the cost of the tires, I would have to spend $180 per corner, for a total of $720. In addition, I'd be looking at the semi-annual cost of having the TPMS sensors resynched after swapping out the wheels.

I still have to shop around, but it seems like you can get tires mounted and balanced for about $15 per corner, for a total of $60 for an annual cost of $120. This means that it would take six years for me to break even. Of course, most tires, especially winter tires, don't even last that long.

Ah, TPMS. This is something I'm not too familiar with. I would have thought perhaps this was not necessary, but I don't know. I have an old car, no TPMS. Even ignoring that, the wheels are probably too expensive to make having your own wheels especially appealing. $130? This was several years ago but I paid about $30/wheel for 14" steel wheels. Larger wheels will cost more obviously but I wouldn't have thought by that much. One of the advantages of doing a set is that you get smaller than OEM wheels which also leads to slightly less expensive tires and more effective winter tires in deep snow.

Now just because you take 6 years to break even doesn't necessarily negate the idea necessarily because the wheels certainly can be used for multiple sets of tires. But even at 4 years or so (which it would be with $130 wheels but leaving out the cost of TMPS) for many people that might just be a concern because they don't keep their cars as long as some of us. Then kick in the TPMS if that must be used, and you really have a non-starter for getting a second set of wheels, most likely.

If it were me considering this on a newer car, I would dig more on the TPMS issue looking for a way around it. I'm going to guess the degree to which it matters varies with certain cars.

[Kippy]

Originally Posted by greg42

Ah, TPMS. This is something I'm not too familiar with. I would have thought perhaps this was not necessary, but I don't know. I have an old car, no TPMS. Even ignoring that, the wheels are probably too expensive to make having your own wheels especially appealing. $130? This was several years ago but I paid about $30/wheel for 14" steel wheels. Larger wheels will cost more obviously but I wouldn't have thought by that much. One of the advantages of doing a set is that you get smaller than OEM wheels which also leads to slightly less expensive tires and more effective winter tires in deep snow.

Now just because you take 6 years to break even doesn't necessarily negate the idea necessarily because the wheels certainly can be used for multiple sets of tires. But even at 4 years or so (which it would be with $130 wheels but leaving out the cost of TMPS) for many people that might just be a concern because they don't keep their cars as long as some of us. Then kick in the TPMS if that must be used, and you really have a non-starter for getting a second set of wheels, most likely.

If it were me considering this on a newer car, I would dig more on the TPMS issue looking for a way around it. I'm going to guess the degree to which it matters varies with certain cars.

Federal Law dictates that all new cars come equipped with TPMS. In some states, the TPMS is required to be functioning properly in order to pass inspection. Currently, in PA, a functioning TPMS it is not required to pass inspection. So, technically, you could forego the TPMS sensors and just stare at the dashboard light all winter.

However, the TPMS is tied into other functions, such as traction control, stability control, etc. on most vehicles. While I cannot get a concrete answer in regard to my vehicle, I would rather err on the side of caution. For example, many vehicles will not allow you to turn traction control off if the TPMS sensor is tripped.