Anyone ever sipe their tires?

sipe siper siping

"Back near the dawn of the automotive era, a boater by the name of John Sipe was looking for a way to make his deck shoes more slip-resistant on wet boat decks. He came across the idea of cutting parallel slits in the rubber soles. He tried it and it worked! One thing led to another and the use of "Siping" for automobile tires soon caught on.

Siping is a process that involves no removal of rubber, just the creation of slits into the tread blocks. It is very common in all-season and M+S automobile tires, but not too common in off-road "Mud Terrain" type tires, which feature large, monolithic tread blocks. However, there are benefits to be gained from siping

The siping cuts allow the tread blocks to flex and conform to the ground easier than a monolithic tread. In wet and icy conditions, the siping cuts act like "squeegees" to cut through the water and allow contact with the surface below. They also help dissipate heat and prolong tire life.

siping was more popular years ago, when tire treads were not nearly as sophisticated as today's computer-designed patterns. Nevertheless, a large number of trucking fleets use tire siping in an effort to improve traction and extend tire life in their fleets. Saf-tee Siping, said the procedure is used across the country by a large number of tire retailers that have siped millions of passenger tires through the years. Discount Tire and Americas Tires, two large chains, still offer the Saf-tee Siping service as well as a number of Goodyear dealers"

Reason I thought of this is summit part number RLM-80833

"redline manual tire siper

Tire Siper, Manual Operation, Aluminum, 6 Blades, Each

Improve your traction!
Now you don't need the local tire shop for tire siping. You can do it yourself with these handy Red Line Motorsports Manual Sipers. That's especially important if the tires are used, because many shops won't sipe used tires. These lightweight, compact sipers feature a unique design that's is easy to use with its six common utility knife blades that are easily adjustable. These sipers are constructed with a lightweight aluminum frame and curved hi-tech plastic base pad that allows snag-free operation."

n e ways thinking of how I can do this my self.... Came up with this. Though I haven't built it yet.

Gonna do it to my Firebird tires. They say 1/4in at a time is plenty, just repeated as used.



I thought 3 would be easier with a home made tool. Dunno how hard or teadious it will geat. I may try more.

 

If you've never seen a tires inner workings, i'd suggest you snag an old tire from a pile out behind a tire shop, and cut the crap out of it first. Just to get a feel for how far down it is to the belts. I did some tire repair at a shop back in the day, and once you saw metal belt (on the outside), you're screwed, so just be sure you don't.

This "siping" seems familiar, all new tires have the small slits in them, but yea, only on the tops of the tread "chunks". I guess worn tires won't anymore.

Geez $75?
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...0&autoview=sku
I can see why you want to make your own... Well, to save $75, not that I strongly feel this is a good idea to take a sharp knife to your own tires... Something about that just makes me feel uneasy

 

Well you never go more then 1/4 in at a time and you stop doing it once within 1/8in of the bottom of the tread block.

This is not for bald tires, its for making half tread or even slightly worn tires bit again like brand new.
Your not gonna cut belts, cord or what not if you follow the rules and stay 1/8 in above the bottom of the tread block. Which they would be just about shot then n e ways and time to be replaced. This is not for making bald bad tires new again. Its for making good tires bite like new again.

Yep I ain't paying someone [$75] to do what I can do myself cheaper with a little thought and some tools..

Save the money for the things you can't do.

But some tires shops will do this for you, just ask.

Stuff is all over the web if you look. Popular with off road guys.
I just learned of it today when browsing the summit catalog.
I have a set of nice half worn Dunlops on my Firebird that will get this treatment soon. Ill have some good testing situations long as it stays cold n icky.

 

Well I tossed this together from scrap. Gotta be careful cause razor blades are sharp, duh. But ya don't want stuff moving around when building so I left it loaded. You can see the wire I used to index them. It helps allot. To cold to try it yet for real. Not that it won't work, just how hard is it. Figure the angle of the blades should keep drag to a min but I bet ya need to change them out for each tire. I made my handles short cause I wanna try leaving the tires on the car. Ill use tape to index start n stop spots.

 

Ill give it a wirl later today. Suppose to be 40f today.
Man Im gonna be sweatin.

 

if tire siping is so great then why wont the tire manufacture warrantee one that has been siped, they say it ruins the integrity and stubility of the tire.

 

Why did some iron duke 4 cylinder cars come with 4:11 posi stock but not the V8 or v6s???

Why do tire sellers, online dealers and truck fleets still use Saf-tee Siping???

If your tires are still under warranty and not performing like they should, well DUH warranty them and get new tires.

Why would anyone do that to a tire that works fine and still under warranty that can be replaced?

You tell me, why?

I wouldn't F with anything under warranty that can be replaced.
But if you can't get them replaced when they start to under perform, what good is it to worry about voiding it?

I doubt someone is gonna do this to new tires unless they pay the place that sold them, to do it. That ways it covered.

 

example the 4 new tires on my v8 car won't be siped, in 4-5 years when they don't bite like they did and the warranty is up............ sipe ho

 

^ 4-5 years on tires?! What tires are you using?

 

Tires that see 2k milage a year?

 

Some freaks get more then a few oil changes on a set of tires... Closer, perhaps to the 100,000 kms that most normal tires are rated at
These are the people with V6 F-bodies who don't need to worry about frequent tire-fry-ulation.

I don't think you'll be able to notice any difference after you do this, but be sure to mention it if you do.

 

Siping will improve the winter performance of your tires, but it will hurt cornering performance on dry pavement. The sipes will allow the treads to flex sideways more. Most of the modern snow tire designs (actual snow tires, not M+S all-seasons) use a zigzag-shaped sipe instead of just a cut straight across to "lock" the treads together during cornering.

How well it works will depend on the composition of the tire, too. Most summer and all-season tires use a hard compound that gets even harder in cold weather, so the sipes won't have much "give". Winter tires that come with sipes use a much softer composition.

 

I got Dunlop SP Sport 5000s, high performance all weather tires, z rated.
And yea I don’t drive very much or far. But they no longer have the same bite the first half of the tread had. I could drive however I wanted, rain, snow or shine. My only problems in the winter were everyone going so slow. I could stop and turn like it was dry out. But they don’t have that bite anymore where I can just yank the wheel and know they will stick. They are still fine dry but I’m a bit more leery in the wet and snow. I really don’t trust them like I want for this winter. Wasn't suppose to drive it much this winter but mod for the V8 car have been pushed up.

And I don’t have $450 to buy a new set right now.
New they were $65 each, now they want $100-$120 each.
[Guess the word got out]

They also got a nice PSI rating 5/6-50 psi with out deformation.

 

That's why my V8 car has a set of new $45 each tires.
Just a waste to buy nice fancy tires to just smoke them away.

 

I used to run the siping machine when I worked at discount tire co. All the guys running big mud tires in the winter did this on the center treads. It makes a big difference in the snow. We also did a lot of passenger tires siping the full tread length. They say the tires actually last longer under normal driving conditions because they do not build as much heat in the summer time. I siped the tires on my ex gf's iron duke '84 firebird and I thought that it did pretty good in the winter driving. It's not going to be nearly as good as a set of dedicated snow tires though and if you like sliding or spinning around in the summer time, the siping will ruin the tires much faster. I think if you drive normally, siping can only help ya.

 

Siping is a old semi truck trick that most dont do anymore. I am just the type of person that if i need a snow tire i will buy them for the reason of snow and if i want a performance tire i will get some for that. not try and modify my studded snows for a spark show in the quarter mile.
But if it works for you then more power.