To sipe or not to sipe

[Washington_XJ]

So I'm going into discount this friday to mount my new 15x8's with 31x10.5 BFG A/T's and my question is, should I have discount tire sipe my new tires?

[AZG23]

Sipe A/T's...??


I would say no...

[jbjarko]

I too would say no. They offer better wet traction than most MTs, so I don't really see ar eason.

[desertdawg]

I had a set of BFG MT's that were siped. I don't know if they gave me better grip on the rocks or not. However, the rocks made them chunk off more in the area of the siping than the ones that weren't siped.

Also I believe they have to get them siped in Flagstaff.

[Wind_Danzer]

AT's no, they are good to go and have plenty of stock siping.

Plus, discount needs a day to do it and get them from Prescott or Flagstaff.

[danno]

I had a set of Goodyear MTRs siped.

Yes it did increase the traction on wet pavement a bit.
Yes it did increase the traction on the slickrock in Moab,

BUT,

They chunked quite a bit on the rocks, which decreased their service life.

So, with that in mind, it depends on what you really want to do with your tires and how much you care if the tire life is shortened.

One thing to consider. BFG tires are already siped a bit as they come from the factory. The centers of the treadblocks have siping. This will already improve your traction in the wet and in the snow versus non siped tires.

[Washington_XJ]

Alot of tires you purchase, especially from large chain stores (like Discount Tire, Big O etc) have stock siping from the manufacturer anyway. I don't really know why Discount started offering further siping on the tires they sell. Maybe a marketing thing? :confused:

I figured as much with the chunking. Thanks for the advice everyone, I didn't really figure on having them siped further anyway.

[CaptainMorgan]

Also I believe they have to get them siped in Flagstaff.

Nah, I got mine up here,they wanted me to sipe them, but with 10.50's I dont find the MT's act too bad so I declined. I would have done it for free but it wasn't. I have heard from people who have trouble in the snow with 12.50 AT's in Jeeps. I have little trouble in 2wd with MT's on ice.

[Symon623]

Siping is a huge advantage on wet, snowy and/or icy roads. Helps alot on smooth rock like Moab and Farmington as well, not much help in the mostly jagged rocks and dry roads of southern Arizona. Also creates rolling resistance and faster wear as well. I checked a few years ago and the only shops in the state that offered the service were in Prescott and Flag. Might not be available here in town? Some of the local offroad shops offer grooving which is not the same plan. Grooving an A/T? WTF? you midas well buy a M/T to start.

I suggest not, unless your gonna be up north alot in the winter to go boardin or wheelin?

[Washington_XJ]

Not really, although I may be moving back to washington in a year, in which case I'd probably get the M/T's anyway because of all the mudding up there. No mudding in AZ so A/T's should work ok.

The reason I asked about siping in the first place was because discount tire in Seattle asked me (when I got my Pathfinders) to sipe the tires for free. I asked what the big deal was, didnt the tires have siping done from the manufacturer? They said yes but their siping would further the % of traction by blah-blah-blah (you know how it goes)

Thanks for the help everyone.

[RickBeer]

I would recomend siping on most tires MTR's, BFG mud's . Tires that don't have alott of sipe's in the first place
There is only one store in Phoenix that has a Siping Machine 18th Street Camelback 602-277-1311 Ask for Andy Anderson
Price should be still $10.00 a tire
FYI
ALL tire manufactures void warranty's for RIDE if tires are siped

[SavageSun4x4]

ALL tire manufactures void warranty's for RIDE if tires are siped

Rick, what does "void warranty for RIDE" mean?

[RickBeer]

Rick, what does "void warranty for RIDE" mean?

Not sure how else to say it ;)
Meaning if you can see your drink vibrating in the cup holder at freeway speeds or any speed your out of luck
Not a problem in our Heap's but today's cars & trucks are so sensitive to vibrations anymore.Who drive's the posted freeway speeds(65-75) anymore other than on our surface streets:rolleyes:
Just another way for manufactures to blame YOU & ME for there problems.
Like Radial tires are supose to go only one direction left or right side
Tire's can not think for themself they have NO clue wich direction they are going :confused: