Grooving my 11.00's for snow

[booger]

sounds like you bought yourself an 'Ideal'...I had the same problem. I got my hands on a 'Rillfit' groover, cut like butter !

 

[booger]

Here's the pattern I run during the winter months.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/46633-9-00-x-20-snow-tread.html?highlight=grooving

 

[Flat Black]

sawzall blade with teeth ground off so its more like a knife blade

heat a good chisel with a oxy or map gas torch and use it to sipe or groove

dremel or die grinder with thin cut off wheels

some other ideas here: www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=849847

Youtube tire grooving, tons of ideas there too.

ideal are POS irons, take it back or throw it in the trash...

you can also sipe a tire for better winter traction, grooving is more for off roading according to some.

 

[emr]

You are right on with a slight improvement these tires are crazy awesome I have run many thousands of miles on em in all situations, I always well almost always take the time to air em correctly for the terrain, that is the only key, these tires have more than proved themselves in the biggest test there is, the longest running design with out a change period, ever i think, And like the funny threads I get a kick out of """These tires got me stuck "" They are good for a laugh every time, I have never slid ever in all weather, i take the time to drive my trucks with care and always pay attention to road conditions, U will never have an issue following the basics, these tires perform better end better when aired way down, they are for sure the most durable tire out there also, Loaded duels can be aired down to 15 lbs and still carry the load safely thru the roughest terrain, radials just can NOT do that, as good as they are radials , and they are, ALL tires have give and takes, these tires are as safe as U make them, they look cool and are, As for the 250th here that put more miles on the road than anyone in history and have the citations to prove it , say the guys with experience stayed away from the trucks with radials for 2 reasons , one they wore out wayyyy faster and the drivers had to spend there rest time changing tires , the guys with the deuls , in the first war they still had alot of trucks with ndccs , they liked the 177s the best, but took the old style over the big radials every chance they got , 2nd reason catastrophic side wall failure under extreme conditions, this they say never happened with the old tried and true ndccs, these are facts, all like something and I run the 1400s because they look cool, but if I had to decide on one tire to get me the furthest , I would go with the non radial ndccs, for sure,

 

[booger]

emr,


....and that's why I run 1600's in the summer, they look COOL. In the winter, grooved 9.00's or 11.00's. Plus occasionally in the winter I need to run chains. I don't think I could afford, or lift, chains for a 16.00x20

 

[rattlecan6104]

I really dont know why you guys are crying about the ideal iron, I just now grooved my first tire with one, took about 20 minutes for the whole tire, I read and followed the instructions and no issues at all. I used pattern #4 BTW.

 

[rattlecan6104]

just finished another tire, but as I was grooving this one I got to thinking, how deep are you guys cutting into your tires? I am using the #4 blade and set the depth to 1/4 inch, I really dont see the need to cut all the way down into the tire.

 

[booger]

I went 1/2". If you go that deep with the Ideal, it will start bending on you. How about some pictures?

 

[rattlecan6104]

ok, that makes more sense, I stuck with 1/4 inch since I have some tires that this is as deep as I want to go considering current tire wear. Most of the others I could go deeper, but I really dont want to fiddle with a hot iron, and I am too impatient to wait for it to cool each time I grab another tire.

BTW I am doing the cuts freehand, so they will look a little "off"

 

[R Racing]

emr,


....and that's why I run 1600's in the summer, they look COOL. In the winter, grooved 9.00's or 11.00's. Plus occasionally in the winter I need to run chains. I don't think I could afford, or lift, chains for a 16.00x20

Hey Booger, do you not like the 1600s in the snow ??

 

[booger]

Hey Booger, do you not like the 1600s in the snow ??

On flat ground in the snow they're wonderful. As soon as you get on any kind of grade in the snow they suck. I've got a 17% grade just getting out of my driveway and when the snow gets packed or slick, the 1600's are like skis. When trying to climb a decent grade with maybe one or two feet of snow, the 1600's bounce and hop and chatter where the grooved 900's dig and go. For what I need to do in the winter time I think the 1600's have way too much surface area. I realize some people like to run big wide tires so they can 'float' on deep snow and that works as long as you stay on flat ground.

just my two cents,
Greg

 

[m38mike]

After driving with my stock NDT's thru the snow to get to work today, and spinning 360's on the highway, I am definitely looking to get a grooving tool and get to work on those tires. I had forgotten just how bad stock tires are on snow and ice. I think I'll copy your pattern and see what that does for me.

Anybody tried doing this with a circular saw? I may give that a shot. Just cuz I've got one.

 

[rattlecan6104]

hey booger, after looking at your pics, and my tires, it looks like you used a wider groover, mine was with the #4 head, about 1/4 inch wide, how wide did you go?

 

[DBLDUECE77]

I have been considering cutting my ndt's as well i may use your third design i think it will work i live way up in north idaho and i need all the traction i can get!

 

[Varyag]

I am running g286s that you can get pretty cheap. They have pretty good performance so far. Better then NDCCs in every way.

 

[booger]

hey booger, after looking at your pics, and my tires, it looks like you used a wider groover, mine was with the #4 head, about 1/4 inch wide, how wide did you go?

Your probably reffering to the pattern in this thread. Those tires I completely cut the center rib out. I would say I cut 1 inch wide and a half inch deep. I don't run that pattern on the hiway, they wouldn't last very long. The pictures with this post are the tires I run in the winter. I don't remember which number cutter I used, I suppose the grooves are 1/2 inch deep and 3/8 wide.

 

[booger]

I am running g286s that you can get pretty cheap. They have pretty good performance so far. Better then NDCCs in every way.

Aren't those closed lug ( hiway ) tires? Don't imagine they would do very well in mud and snow.

 

[spicergear]

Booger, good work! Cutting tires has big benefits.

Guys supporting XL...they SHOULD be cut too. What do you have? ...at least you don't have a full solid rib up the center so they will bite more but you have four giant flat tread blocks per row with only ONE biting edge. I had 1100x16's on Velvet early on and could hear the XL's squeak on wet grass as they slipped. I cut them (it's posted in another thread...somewhere on here) to give more biting edges and the difference was VERY noticeable!

 

[rattlecan6104]

Aren't those closed lug ( hiway ) tires? Don't imagine they would do very well in mud and snow.

My thoughts as well, however if you are doing the majority of your time on the road, I can see where having two sets of tires/wheels would come in handy, the g286's for normal road conditions, and when you are gonna go out and play over the weekend, its only an afternoon to swap them out. I just might consider this route, my recent trip to california and back wore down my NDT's pretty good.

 

[simp5782]

When we do the super swamper boggers we cut the little lug out. We use a slide hammer with a chisel end and head it up with a torch and just try to cut through the rubber lug and if its slow. just pop the hammer on it and itll force it. dont know why you couldnt use it for grooving. heat it up and then slam the hammer thru to create a slice