Do I really need 4 Snow tires

[bm2boats]

I have a 2003 Chevy Cav. The car handles GREAT on snowy roads. I wanted to get 2 studded snow tires for the Front of the car. I been to 2 tire dealers, American Auto and truck and GoodYear. They both tell me I need 4 tires and they Can't sell me 2. The car is Front wheel drive. Not all wheel or 4 wheel drive. Can some one expand why I need 4 studded snow tires?

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by bm2boats

I have a 2003 Chevy Cav. The car handles GREAT on snowy roads. I wanted to get 2 studded snow tires for the Front of the car. I been to 2 tire dealers, American Auto and truck and GoodYear. They both tell me I need 4 tires and they Can't sell me 2. The car is Front wheel drive. Not all wheel or 4 wheel drive. Can some one expand why I need 4 studded snow tires?

Well part of it is safety regulations and government rules and regulations.
On a front wheel drive.
If a tire shop is installing only two new tires with more traction they have to be installed on the rear first.
A safety regulation about the rear may lose traction if new tires are not installed on it and installed on the front.
If you have a wreck from a car skidding out of control on a curve they can be sued if they did not put the new tires on the rear.
Another thing on newer cars the tires need to be a matched pair for ABS brakes and traction control and low tire monitors to work right.
So it all boils down to what they said you will need to install them on all four wheels if you have them do it.
If you really need the studded snow tires I would just get a extra set of wheels and have the mounted on the extra set wheel and put on the car yourself when needed.
The studded tires are outlawed some places and are not very good to run on a dry highway at high speed.
Just to be used as needed but do help on Ice.
Good luck.
MT

[RightWingZionist]

Bullshit. Just go to a small local tire shop.
You don't need studded tires in NJ.
You can also save money if you go to tirerack.com and order them like I did.
Shouldn't be no more than 15-20$ for balance and install for each tire.

If a tire shop is installing only two new tires with more traction they have to be installed on the rear first.

That makes no sense on FWD.
The only tire laws I know are that you need to replace the tires when they reach 2/32" tread, and as far as studded tires: in areas with ICY conditions I believe you can have them at certain periods in the winter season. That makes sense. Sorry, but the rest sounds like BS.

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by RightWingZionist

Bullshit. Just go to a small local tire shop.
You don't need studded tires in NJ.
You can also save money if you go to tirerack.com and order them like I did.
Shouldn't be no more than 15-20$ for balance and install for each tire.

That makes no sense on FWD.
The only tire laws I know are that you need to replace the tires when they reach 2/32" tread, and as far as studded tires: in areas with ICY conditions I believe you can have them at certain periods in the winter season. That makes sense. Sorry, but the rest sounds like BS.

You are back in the stone age on your ideas and laws and rules and ruling of the NHTAS.
A lot of large tire chain stores will not just mount 2 new tires on the front.
They will only put them on the rear.
And it has been proven that is where you need the best tires on a front wheel drive for safe driving.
If the tires on the rear have less traction you stand more of a chance of the rear losing traction before the front.
It has already been tested in court and whoever mounted the new one on the front is holding the bag if there is a accident and the lawyers get a hold of it.

I am not in it just stating the facts and the reason why they said the person need to put all 4 matching tires.
So do not think I am full of BS.
Before you do some research on it and get the facts.
MT

[RightWingZionist]

A lot of large tire chain stores will not just mount 2 new tires on the front.

Go to a small one like I did.

..proven that is where you need the best tires on a front wheel drive for safe driving.

Umm we were talking about snow traction, so you want good traction on the front tires on the FWD car to pull the car in snow.

rear losing traction before the front.

That's great for drifting. I have the same situation on my car.

lawyers get a hold of it.

Oy vey with the lawyers. We need tort reform.

So do not think I am full of BS.

No I just think you sound too beauracratic and federally (accent on 'a'). What you might of misunderstood is that I think some of laws you mentioned is BS.
The government shouldn't tell me what damn tires I want to put on the front and or back!

[sickcallawayc12]

the government does a lot of things we don't want them to do. They do it anyway and we have to obey unfortunately.
Don't be an idiot, buy 4 tires. Most places won't sell only 2 tires anyway you have to buy 4; only way to get just two is to get them used. I've put only 2 studded tires on the front tires in a fwd car before (my first ever car) and it doesn't really help as much in snow as having all 4 of them studded. What tires do you plan on having on the back? You also can't just think about pulling forward. You also have to stop when the light turns red or at the stop sign, etc and you're gonna want traction on the rear to help when slowing down. Really dangerous when turning/going on a curve also, rear traction is key. Tires are hands down THE most important factor for maintaining traction on snowy roads let alone ANY road surface regardless of the drivetrain type, vehicle type, awd system, abs, traction control, manual torque distribution, BMW computerized traction control, etc. It's very easy to spin out a vehicle in snow; shit i've already spun out my blazer unintentionally twice in 4wd and i bought my snow tires brand new a month ago.

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by RightWingZionist

Go to a small one like I did.
Umm we were talking about snow traction, so you want good traction on the front tires on the FWD car to pull the car in snow.
That's great for drifting. I have the same situation on my car.
Oy vey with the lawyers. We need tort reform.
No I just think you sound too beauracratic and federally (accent on 'a'). What you might of misunderstood is that I think some of laws you mentioned is BS.
The government shouldn't tell me what damn tires I want to put on the front and or back!

10-4 on rules and regulations.
A person can not turn around without running into one of them.
Some good and some bad.

But the mounting better tires on the rear is for peoples own safety.
Not about traction in a snow drift.

Well when I first heard about it I thought the idea was BS to but.
But take time to think about it.
It is as much for other peoples safety as there own.
If they lose control on a curve and slide into other people it involves everybody on the road.
Anybody could meet a car that has lost traction because the rear tire broke lose and is coming head on or sideways or backwards at them
So the life they save may be your own or other people to.
MT

[RightWingZionist]

Your rear breaking lose is much safer than having your fronts understeer while cornering as you might hit parked cars while making a turn or hit a barrier while taking a curve in the highway.
No matter what damn system you have, the brakes are applied to the FRONT so you dont fish tail. Only your handbrake controls the rear 100%.
If you fish tail in a FWD car, you can actually accellerate to pull the rear straight; that's also part of drifting.
When I first got my car (used), it had summer tires on the front. It snowed 5 in the morning and it wasn't plowed. There was like 2 CM of packed snow. I could not go faster than 25 w/o the font swaying -the rears were fine. When I made a turn at 5 mph the car heavily understeered and I hade to actually get the rear tires to slip so I could sharpen my turn or I might of hit a parked car. Of course I changed the FRONT tires the next day and everything went fine later on.
I see your a shop owner so I can understand why you want people to buy 4 tires from you. $

[bm2boats]

OK, But I thought that if I had Front disc brakes in the front And Drum in the back, that the Disc brakes will be doing the "Main" stopping. So In thinking in that line, You only need Studded tires in the front. But I was wrong. That you all for your insight. And ty for your time
Vic

['97ventureowner]

One problem I foresee with this "new regulation" is that it could cause a glut in used tires and many may just be tossed out in an unenvironmentally friendly way. Some people may think that they can no longer use the tires that they have on the vehicle and may opt to just get rid of them. What happens if you get a brand new set of tires and say 10,000 miles "down the road" something happens to one of the tires rendering it useless. Does that mean you now have to get all new tires to match the tread depth for traction? If so, there's more used tires entering the waste stream.
I've put snow tires on all my vehicles that I have driven in the winter. With upwards of over 150'' of snow on average yearly, they come in handy where I live. I've only put on a pair, and have never had a problem getting around in the winter whether the vehicle I am driving is front or rear wheel drive. I plan to continue putting them on as a pair on the drive wheels and since I change over the tires myself, it should continue to be easy to do so. I always make sure the other set of tires on the other wheels has sufficient tread depth.

[RightWingZionist]

Originally Posted by '97ventureowner

One problem I foresee with this "new regulation" is that it could cause a glut in used tires and many may just be tossed out in an unenvironmentally friendly way. Some people may think that they can no longer use the tires that they have on the vehicle and may opt to just get rid of them. What happens if you get a brand new set of tires and say 10,000 miles "down the road" something happens to one of the tires rendering it useless. Does that mean you now have to get all new tires to match the tread depth for traction? If so, there's more used tires entering the waste stream.
I've put snow tires on all my vehicles that I have driven in the winter. With upwards of over 150'' of snow on average yearly, they come in handy where I live. I've only put on a pair, and have never had a problem getting around in the winter whether the vehicle I am driving is front or rear wheel drive. I plan to continue putting them on as a pair on the drive wheels and since I change over the tires myself, it should continue to be easy to do so. I always make sure the other set of tires on the other wheels has sufficient tread depth.

Omg But then the shops will lose money if you don't adhere to the bullshit rules and regulations MT mentions.

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by RightWingZionist

Omg But then the shops will lose money if you don't adhere to the bullshit rules and regulations MT mentions.

For your information.
I do own a repair shop but I have no interest in and do not sell tires.
And the reason large tire shop will not mount the tires with the best traction on the front is not about profit or selling tires or what will give the car the best traction taking off or in a snow drift or on ice at slow speed.
It is because they can get there ass sued off by a ambulance chasing lawyer if there is a bad accident with a car that has had just new tires installed on the front.
Which has been tested and proven that on a slick curve at high speed can cause the car to swap ends.
As far as slow speed take off and stopping anybody should know that better tires on front works best on a front wheel drive and remember most of the braking is on the front of a car.
But In the slick winter I add some weight to the rear for better control when stopping. Because the rear end will slide and sometimes fishtail.
If a person wants just two new tires or studded snow tires on the front only he can install them his self.
But remember that if a tire shop does it they could wind up getting there rear end sued off.
That is the reason the posted was told he would have to buy all 4 tires to get the studded tires put on.
BS regulations or good saftey regulations if you do not like them write your congress man about it.
I have nothing to do with it. It is not my fault or doing and I do not make any money out of the hole deal. I am out of it.
MT

['97ventureowner]

Another fallout from these regulations is that it could deter many people from even considering using snow tires in the winter, which could be bad in some parts of the country. Case in point is myself. I just bought a 2006 Chevrolet Uplander. I searched around for tires and spare rims to mount them on. Do you know how hard it is to find extra factory steel wheels for one of these vehicles? Let alone do you want to guess how much they will cost for one if I SHOULD find one? It's bad enough new snow tires for this vehicle will cost me double for what they did on my previous vehicle, a Chevy Venture,(they are basically the same vehicle, the big difference is they went from a 15" tire to a 17" tire.) Nobody in my locale stocks my size as it is an "oddball" size and they have to "special order" them if they can even get them. So when you look at the big picture and the "average" car owner, how many do you think would be able to afford an extra pair of snows and possibly an extra set of rims( to do the job properly)on top of the one pair of snows they might own or can affors now? A lot of families are just getting by paycheck to paycheck and this added cost will deter a lot of them from something they might possibly need. Also factor in extra storage space, (and possible extra cost for it,) to keep the set of tires not on the car in season. It's too bad lawyers have taken hold of everything and ruined it for the consumer all in the name of lawsuits, and high court settlements, putting the fear in everybody, and businesses of being sued.

Originally Posted by MT-2500

BS regulations or good saftey regulations if you do not like them write your congress man about it.
MT

Won't do any good. They seem to be more interested in sex with their pages, voting themselves a pay raise, or planning their run for re-election