We’ve put Winterforce tires on lots of minivans and, they’ve seemed to perform well.
As for mounting and balancing, it takes an hour-ish, and I think (don’t quote me on think) we charge somewhere in the $70-80 range.
I was just thinking the same thing - that the season is fairly short in Rupert for winter tires. Having moved here from Mackenzie (avg snowfall is apparently 11 feet/year, although the last 8 years I was there we only saw that much maybe 2-3 times) - I was starting to get pretty excited about not having to put my winters on for 6+ months out of the year. I too have the X-ice - managed to get them at Costco for “only” $150/tire (granted, I own a car and don’t need to spend the extra on van/truck/suv sized tires). I used to almost mock the people that spent so much money here on winter tires or studs - mostly because my philosophy is “just drive to the conditions of the road” - but there is a lot to be said for feeling comfortable when you drive in any conditions, and if that means buying tires that might be overkill, that’s a personal choice and a darn good one.
What bothers me the most about those that do go “overkill” on things is when you see people in town that still have their studs on in May/June - that’s when I worry. Studs plus rain = what can become a serious danger to other motorists. Heck, studs plus dry roads are similar.
At the same time, if your travels in winter take you on the highway a lot then of course you need good winter tires. Another way to do things is that you can always have the all season and winter tires each on their own set of rims - it’s nothing to throw tires on/off as needed (and I’m a girl!) and you don’t have to worry about making appointments all the time to get the shop to do it for you.
My two tire cents.
Try getting P235/60R17s
I was quoted $1100 this year down from last winter’s $1700 quote for 4 installed, balanced.
Hahaha - I think now I’ll eat my words since I was just told that it snowed this morning.
sheepish grin
To update my earlier shameless plug for Rainbow Chrysler, this week we are launching a new promotion, where, in addition to the 4-for-3 deal, mounting and balancing are included.
I’m all for being able to change tires but doing it in the freezing pissing rain is not fun.
[quote=“kaleid”]What bothers me the most about those that do go “overkill” on things is when you see people in town that still have their studs on in May/June - that’s when I worry. Studs plus rain = what can become a serious danger to other motorists. Heck, studs plus dry roads are similar.
[/quote]
Just so people know, it is against the law to use studded tires in British Columbia except for between October 1 and April 30.
Ahhh - so nice the house we bought has a carport.
Does anybody know if this is really enforced though? I’ve never seen it be enforced but that doesn’t mean it’s not.
Ask Herbie.
Try it in Rupert. If there’s a fine associated with it, the RCMP toll collectors will get you at the 2nd Avenue / McBride tollbooth.
I’ve lived in Rupert for 9 years now. And I’ve never had winter tires. In fact, I got rid of my 4x4 when I moved here. There’s no snow here, not by Canadian standards, anyway.
I think in the 9 winters I’ve been here, there were days where I didn’t drive because the weather was crappy. I can live with that. I think that’s the problem with all-season tires – people drive when they really shouldn’t.
Now in most of Canada, winter tires are a necessity. I remember being a poor university student (how poor? I drove a Hyundai before they were actually nice cars) and having studded winter tires put on every year.
That’s not the only problem - not only should some people not drive, they have no idea how to drive on all seasons in the snow, or what to do when certain things happen. Was it in Feb or March this year when we got the big dump of snow - it was better than TV to sit at the top of 6th and Summit and watch people attempt to negotiate the hill and turn. At the same time, most people that live here don’t get a chance to practice in the snow either.
As for being a poor university student - you were obviously better off than a lot of students if you didn’t have to ride the loser cruiser and be stuck eating Mr Noodles or Yellow Death (KD) every day.
The problem with all season radials is that they were developed in Calif. They only have
3 seasons…
What 3 seasons are those? It sounds like you’re saying that it doesn’t snow in California. Windsor, ON is as south as northern Caifornia is. It snows in California, it snows in Mexico. I recently read an off-roaders forum thread about tire chains and what type they needed in order to be allowed on the I-80 in California…
Here’s a couple pics of the I-80 in california.
http://www.sistermachinegun.com/blog/images/snow_cali.jpg
In other news, my snow tires arrived today and I dropped them off at Canadian Tire to get studded. Will pick them up tomorrow and have them mounted at Walmart.
Had them mounted, balanced and installed at Tire Pro for $92 bucks since Walmart was busy today. What an amazing difference. Drifting, and stopping have never been easier. My tires are touching my struts though… and they’re studded… So I think I’ll need some spacers.
I had to spend a night in Truckee, California, because of snow at Donner Pass.
Breakfast came with Picton’s Pork Sausages??
I know this is a joke… but really… im sure a few of us have inadvertently eaten hooker meat once or twice.
And no I dont mean the roast beef.
I think Jayzeus is a big fan of the sausage…
Hmmmm…what is it you do mean?..You shouldnt eat that stuff at any time…