Tire regroover and siper

[MChrist]

So to be clear, your best results came from siping perpendicular to the tread direction? That's what I would assume. My slits are invisible, but I can also slit 1/32" wide if I feel the need. What would you recommend?

 

[steved]

The 1/32" would probably help with snow traction, but you got to remember; the more rubber you remove the faster the tire is going to wear. I almost want to say that the Michelin M&S and my Bridgestone Revos have a wider sipe than just the standard "cut".



Perpendicular is probably best for snow... the one set of OE BFG Rugged Trails (my most hated tire) I did at an angle. It didn't seem to make a great difference, but my dad likes them for winter... with about 100k on them, he is still going strong on that set of tires.



If I had a tool that would do 1/32", and was siping a set of tires just for winter driving; I'd probably use it heavily. For year round use, probably just a standard siping cut.

 

[MChrist]

Thanks, SteveD. I like to take all the info into consideration. I would think that the general siping will increase wet traction with no harm to the tires, and the 1/32" grooves would allow even more traction than sipes in the snow. I just won't have an accurate way of testing it, so I'll just have to play. I think I'll start with siping, use the tires for a while and see how they react, then add 1/32" grooves in the same direction as the sipes (perpendicular to the tread) and see if there is a difference.
I don't know why I'm this excited...

 

[steved]

When I did my first set of tires, I was utterly amazed at how much better the traction was after siping... it is well worth the time to do. I like the fact you can sipe tires that have worn past their factory siping, and still get a lot of service out of them.

 

[Schumacher]

MChrist, I would sipe the tires first and put some miles on them. The sipes will start to open up and become visible.

 

[MChrist]

MChrist, I would sipe the tires first and put some miles on them. The sipes will start to open up and become visible.

I would think so, too. On my Blizzaks, that's what happened. Plus sand will likely get in the sipes and hold them open.

On our new Honda Odyssey, the tires look like the least snow capable tire made, except for a million sipes, and they hook up great!



I may just sipe everything. . truck, trailers, work boots, neighbor's cat...

 

[MChrist]

Today, I regrooved my first two tires! It went really well. The first 22. 5" tire took an hour with a quick lunch break. The second one took 45 minutes and I siped one tire. The siping only took about 10-15 minutes.
I followed the pattern exactly, including all the zig-zag circumference grooves (5). Tread started at 3/32" deep,and I took it to 12/32" (3/8"). They look great, especially since I chose a cutter blade that was just wide enough to trim the grooves a little wider, giving the grooves a nice, sharp edge.
I jacked up one corner of the truck, released the air brakes, and spun the tire while I worked.
It isn't exciting work, but I've done worse...

I took before and after pictures, but my wife still hasn't figured out how to get the pics from my iPhone to my iPad to this forum. She's very tech savvy, normally, but my phone has gotten glitchy since the last update and isn't letting it happen...

 

[ed9824v]

is there such a thing as siping by hand, I went to you tube and everyone had these very expesive machines. ED

 

[MChrist]

Van Alstine Manufacturing - Home for both the groover and siper.

 

[steved]

is there such a thing as siping by hand, I went to you tube and everyone had these very expesive machines. ED

I will post pictures of my manual siper here shortly.

 

[steved]

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[steved]

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[steved]

I want to remember it cost me around $85, a few years back. Search sipping tool, and you should get lots of results for the circletrack world. It will sipe six rows about 1. 5 inches wide.

 

[MChrist]

My siper is a little different, you can visit Van Alstine Manufacturing - Home to see it, as I am not technologically savvy enough to post pictures on my own!!
Mine has heated blades and instead of pushing it like a planer, you hold it with 2 hands and pull it toward you.
I have now regrooved 4 truck tires, (22. 5") and they look fantastic! Remember, I have a regroover and a siper. . 2 different tools.
After I regrooved the truck tires, I siped one to see what it looks like after a few thousand miles. Immediately after siping, you can't see the sipes, but after a day, and getting sand in there, you can see all of them.
I will be siping all the front tires on all of our trucks before winter. A tad boring, but hopefully worth it.

 

[Nyoest]

I took before and after pictures, but my wife still hasn't figured out how to get the pics from my iPhone to my iPad to this forum. She's very tech savvy, normally, but my phone has gotten glitchy since the last update and isn't letting it happen...

Well once you figure it out let me know. All I have is an I phone and it is frustrating to say the least.

 

[steved]

Make a photobucket account, then simply use their link to your uploaded pictures. That's what I do with both a blackberry and this (horribly awful) Samsung infuse. Going to exchange this pos for a blackberry next week.

 

[ed9824v]

Make a photobucket account, then simply use their link to your uploaded pictures. That's what I do with both a blackberry and this (horribly awful) Samsung infuse. Going to exchange this pos for a blackberry next week.

I have all my pictures automatically down loaded to photobucket with an app on my android phone then copy the url for web sites as well.

 

[steved]

My siper is a little different, you can visit Van Alstine Manufacturing - Home to see it, as I am not technologically savvy enough to post pictures on my own!!

Mine has heated blades and instead of pushing it like a planer, you hold it with 2 hands and pull it toward you.

I have now regrooved 4 truck tires, (22. 5") and they look fantastic! Remember, I have a regroover and a siper. . 2 different

If you don't mind me asking, how much did the siping tool set you back? While this manual siper works, it also makes you work.

 

[MChrist]

OK, here goes...

This is a picture of my rear tire (a recap) that was pretty low on tread.



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Same tire after regrooving. I added 8/32" groove depth to the existing 6/32"



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[MChrist]

2 more "after" pictures.





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This was a 19. 5 GeoStar tire from front of '07 Isuzu I was testing on.

Casing was junk.



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Same tire after cutting fresh grooves into it, making it better for winter.

I accentuated the side to side wave and added diagonal bars.

I can also make the waves in a sharp zig-zag pattern.



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The groover was about $380, and the siper (not shown) was about $190. I will get pics of the siper and what a tire looks like after being siped by that tool. It's not difficult at all, but tedious on a tire that has about 10 feet of tread length!!