Opinions on Winter Tires;Sweet Deal

[jcrules78]

Hey,
I got a killer deal on Tire Rack Online for 4 studded Firestone Winterforce tires (215/70R15). 54 dollars a piece, 15 dollars for the studding service per tire. Shipping was 54 bucks. I live in Maine and plan on rocking my 97 Panther in the snow this winter. Anyone else here have studded Winterforce tires on their panthers in the winter? I was curious about how they perform and how many seasons people have gotten out of them (I have heard good things so far). If anyone is looking for cheaply priced but good quality set of winter tires, this seems like one hell of a deal on tirerack.com
JCRULZ

[Lincolnmania]

i've run them without studs just on the rear wheels......pretty decent tires

[CheeseSteakJim]

My F150 had those (not studded) on the back. I received them on the rear wheels when I got the truck, and there they stayed for the three years that I owned and drove that truck. They were pretty damn good in the snow and they didn't look any different in the ~20k miles I drove the truck. I recently found them on Tire Rack too. I was amazed at how cheap they are. Very good tires for the price if you ask me.

[Gsmagnum]

I had them (no studs) on a Buick LeSabre. They worked great on FWD.
FWIW: Most states don't allow studs.

[Piece-it pete]

I ran those exact studded tires on my 97 Grand Marquis, they worked excellently.

Pete

[1987cp]

Looks like they're currently $62 each.

Isn't it inconvenient running a directional tire?

[Gsmagnum]

Not if you don't rotate side to side.
I tend to rotate front to back myself as I just don't trust the belts going the other way.
Maybe that is just paranoia from buying cars that had tires with broken belts.

[SVT98t]

I have a set, without studs, that i ran last winter.
Pure awesome. I can't wait to add a set to the front.
I had the open differential and it still plowed through most anything. I never got stuck this past winter. And by stuck, i mean, someone had to come get me out kinda stuck.
They're the reason i actually made it to hockey on time. because i know that with the shit tires i had on, THere was no way in hell i would have made it.

GREAT BUY.

-ryan s.

[1987cp]

Not if you don't rotate side to side.
I tend to rotate front to back myself as I just don't trust the belts going the other way.
Maybe that is just paranoia from buying cars that had tires with broken belts.

Interesting, I had no idea tire belts could break! At least, not under any use I can think of.

[Gsmagnum]

I don't know if it is breaking or moving. But when a tire gets bulges that aren't supposed to be in the sidewall, I think it is moving. When it causes an out of round condition, I consider a belt broken.
I hate seeing a vehicle go down the road with the tire bouncing up and down from what I would call a broken belt.

[1987cp]

Oh. I've only seen one tire with a bulge in the sidewall, and it had been on the car at least 10 years, and the car had been stored outdoors most of that time. It was a cheap whitewall Goodyear of some description that had always had lousy wet traction.

Come to think of it, a long time ago I did see a tire with a bulge in the tread, so that might have been a broken belt. I remember a parent having stopped at some random shop in some random town for some random reason and a random guy coming out and insisting that they needed a new tire right then, and pointing to a bulge in the tread. At the time (I was about 10 or 11), I just assumed that shop employee was potentially suspect, but now that you've gotten me thinking about it, it sounds like it might have been this broken-belt condition you speak of. No clue why that should have happened to a tire that appeared to be in otherwise acceptable condition (don't recall any hint of baldness or dryrot, and I've replaced more than one set of dryrotted tires in recent years that seemed otherwise 100% intact).

[SVT98t]

Ive had a few belts shift before. Especially before i fixed the front end steering problem.

These tires still kick ass, BTW.

-ryan s.

[Piece-it pete]

I tried snows on the front a few years back, the soft sidewalls would turn under occasionally, like on a freeway onramp under acceleration, I switched back to good regular tires on the front. Ymmv.

Pete

[Gsmagnum]

I'll second that the Winterforce tires are awesome. Mine will be going on my brother's Cadillac. (the one's from the Buick)

[pantera77]

Winter Force's up front. Glacier Grip II's out back plus a track-lock = unstoppable beast.