Tire siping

[mmgeol]

I was at Les Schwab dealer yesterday shopping for car tires, and they talked up doing tire siping, that it made the tire run cooler with more traction. My first thought was what about doing this on trailer since heat is a major factor in tire failure. Has anyone done this on trailer tires and what is the opinion?

[BB_TX]

I looked into it some time ago and could find nothing to convince me to do it. The concept has been around for decades but has never really caught on. That in itself leads me to believe there is little in any benefit to it. And there is some question as to whether it would affect your tire warranty. I remember one tire manufacturer (can't remember who) had a statement that if they thought there was a benefit they would do it themselves. Schwab was the only one that I remember even mentioning any heat dissipation benefit.

A Google search provided lots of reading on the subject.

[8.1al]

Save your money

[1retired06]

Your time is better spent double checking titration pressure and maintaining reasonable speeds

[Mark N.]

I figure if the results were positive, why wouldn't the manufacturer's be doing it? Tire blowouts and failures cause the manufacture's big money every year in court settlements and recalls. They are all looking for new ways to make their tires better, yet they aren't doing this? Why not?

[Lkelly3400]

Tire siping is done quite a bit here in Montana where we ca have ice and wet slippery conditions. It IS done by some tire manufacturers. As far as doing it to trailer tires, I don't think it would be much help, the forces are different on a trailer. Proper inflation and proper speed for the tire rating. Spend the money on a TPMS instead...

2015 3610 RL, 2005 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD 6.6 ltr Duramax

[DQDick]

Ok, I'll bite. What is siping? I'm guessing it's not the same as sipping my burbon

[1retired06]

Basically cutting the tire tread creating slits using something like a razor knife. Not something I would do.

[steelpony5555]

For regular passenger vehicles I don't think they get hot enough to worry bout it and how much more traction do you need....

[Dam Worker]

My new Michelin tires that I had installed after the blow out came already siped. I was always told it was for better traction on snow and ice. Lots of big rig tires were siped for winter travel in the day but a lot of those were bias-ply tires long before radials existed. Most car and light truck tires have some type of siping when purchased. If you buy non studded snow tires you will see lots of siping on them. I don't recall see much on trailer tires. As stated earlier because they are being pulled with no power or steering it might not really help. I think spending money on high quality tires is probably the best money spent.

Tom Marty