KM2 Siping

[nochance9]

I always thought that siping would heat up faster but once the rubber has expanded the siping expands and alows for more air flow... But i have no evidence backing this up, just my own thoughts haha :roll:

 

[TORX]

The siping definitely was a noticeable improvement in traction on hard packed roads and slush. I also believe it helped in the deep stuff too. There's roughly ~1000+lbs on each tire, and at 5psi there's enough pressure and flex on the carcass to allow the individual sipes to get a grip. That's my thinking.

Good to know, I thought my KM2's did pretty bad in the snow and ice. I was comparing them to my old KM's with siping and those tires were awesome.

If I keep my KM2's I will for sure get them siped. Might try a different tire though.

I was never blown away by their snow performance last winter either. They worked, but they never really hooked up in my opinion.

Do you a specific tire in mind? Sticking with 35's or are you debating on going bigger. I still haven't heard what the plan is for the new rig.

 

[fubar XJ]

Seen this debate before ... it gets testy

Anyway, thanks to the OP for reminding me. Gonna get mine siped this winter if possible. I haven't heard anyone say they siped their Swampers, but I still have decent lugs and I'm always nervous driving with them in the winter, especially with the rear locked.

I've had two sets of siped Swampers, TSLs and SXs. In both cases I went with standard siping, 1/4" deep, 1/4" or so spaced cross-cuts on the center chevrons only. It added a lot of traction on all road/off-road surfaces.

 

[nochance9]

Hmmm.... maybe i should think about siping my km2's. I mean 10$ a tire is the right price! I'm just weary of tire life cause i've never had hands on experience with a siped tire...

 

[RenoXJ]

Hmmm.... maybe i should think about siping my km2's. I mean 10$ a tire is the right price! I'm just weary of tire life cause i've never had hands on experience with a siped tire...

Same here. I love my KM2's as-is.. Hmmm

 

[winkosmosis]

They don't sipe tires here, but I remember seeing an ad in a Discount Tire in Salt Lake City about tire siping. IIRC, you can get the sipes at different angles. I'd think the more angled the sipes, the more resistant the tread will be to chunking, but the tradeoff would be less acceleration/braking traction.

 

[winkosmosis]

If I had mud tires, I think I'd sipe them manually, to get optimal angles that fit the individual treads
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/sipe/

 

[Detour]

Another thing to consider is the heating and cooling of a tire over a years time, if not over 6 months. This can change the compound of the tire as well, charactoristics change over time, not just because tread is lost. I'd find it hard to compare individually siped tires from one to another, region to region............but certainly not biased against the concept.