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Anyone ever have "siping" done to their tires?


keiser31

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A local company sold my honey some tires and asked if she wanted them to "sipe" the tire tread. Apparently, it is a process of cutting the tire tread across for more grip. Never heard of it until yesterday. Anyone have any thoughts plus or against the process?

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Call the manufacturer and ask what that would do to the warranty. Modern passenger tires wont benefit from sipping. If you particular tire needs more sipping, you should have bought a different tire (rain or winter). That said, its a hand process that can really benefit offroad style truck tires. Think of ndt military tires, a big blocky design that doesnt work well in rain or snow. Sipping will improve wet grip and also increase onroad life by allowing the tire tread to run cooler. There are probably some videos on youtube that can give you more info.

Edited by richasco (see edit history)
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With the tread designs we had in the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's it was certainly a benefit if you were in a wet climate.  Today I believe the manufacturers tread designs are so much better designed that siping would not bring any improvement.

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5 minutes ago, Tinindian said:

With the tread designs we had in the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's it was certainly a benefit if you were in a wet climate.  Today I believe the manufacturers tread designs are so much better designed that siping would not bring any improvement.

That is why we declined to have it done. I would think that the "all weather" tires are already engineered for wet roads.

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I agree modern tread design has a great improvement over previous versions I thought about doing it on my 29 Chev with no shock absorbers.  They ride a little better and do help in stopping distance.  This was the last year of the rebound plates.  In the end I have not done it.

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Maybe it is just "stupid and older than dirt" me, but I am having trouble trying to figure out how cutting the tire tread can be a good thing?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mobility Research tested the performance of size P205/55R16 siped and non-siped all-season tires and size P205/50ZR16 siped and non-siped high performance tires. The P-metric tires were mounted on the drive axle of a test vehicle -- a modified pickup truck -- that was driven on stretches of medium-packed snow until the vehicle's test position (right rear) wheel broke traction. Ten runs were performed each day for three consecutive days.

Results showed that siped all-season tires achieved 33% more traction than their non-siped counterparts, while siped performance tires achieved at least twice as much traction as non-siped performance tires, according to Mobility Research President Paul Schultz.

Proper siping "can make a fair tire into a good tire," he says, adding that sipes also improve stopping distances. In addition, the presence of sipes may extend a passenger tire's life since they "cool" the tire by letting air into the tread, which reduces harmful heat build-up, he claims.

Sprunk adds that siping doesn't compromise a tire's structural integrity because "you're not taking any rubber out when you sipe. You're just cutting into it." However, excessive or inaccurate siping can hurt tire performance. Saf-Tee Siping tells customers never to sipe deeper than 13/36-inch. "If you cut too deep, you'll get tread squirm." Narrow cuts are recommended ("the more narrow you cut, the more traction you'll get") and the space between cuts should measure less than a half-inch. "Otherwise, you defeat the purpose."

 

Major tire manufacturers Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire LLC (BFNT), Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Michelin North America Inc. discourage siping passenger tires. "We don't recommend altering a tire in any way," says a Michelin spokesperson, who adds that if a Michelin-made tire "becomes unserviceable due to siping," its warranty would be voided.

 

Jeff Schroeder, director of product development for Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., also cites other reasons to discourage siping. Sipes "loosen up tread elements," he says. "As you put cuts into (a tread), suddenly you have blocks that are moving more independently," which leads to increased wear.

http://www.moderntiredealer.com/article/311129/to-sipe-or-not-to-sipe-dealers-say-yes-tiremakers-say-no

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Then there is this:

Why Don’t My Tires Come Siped From the Manufacturer?

First,  the siping process we use would be too expensive and time-consuming for manufacturers. Plus, typical factory siping leaves small, vacant gaps in the tire tread. The Les Schwab siping process creates gripping edges without gaps and without removing any rubber, allowing the individual sipes to support each other.     https://www.lesschwab.com/article/performance-tire-siping.html

Sorry, but I just don't buy this bit of commercial propaganda.

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On 6/9/2018 at 2:54 PM, richasco said:

Modern passenger tires wont benefit from sipping. If you particular tire needs more sipping, you should have bought a different tire (rain or winter).

 

^^^THIS!

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