Will your winter tires make it through another season?

Watch wear bars and keep track of tire rotations to be sure, writes Brian Turner.

You may feel safe, secure, and even a little smug driving around with four winter tires. But if they’re the same ones you’ve been using for a few seasons, you may notice a little less grip than before. How long should snow tires last, and how can we get the most out of them?

If you travel near the Canadian average of 20,000 to 25,000 kilometres per year, and drive in a region with at least four months of winter road conditions, you can expect to get at least four or five seasons out of a reasonable-quality winter tire. Like their all-seasons counterparts, they are equipped with raised wear bars on tread faces to indicate replacement

time. Most owners will discard older snows long before they completely wear out due to a perceived — and often true — degradation of performance. Some models of winter tires can actually increase their icy grip as they wear, thanks to tread designs that expose more tread-face blocks and channels the deeper you go.

Winter tires are generally made of a much softer rubber compound than all-seasons, hence the lower wear ratings. Few tire makers even advertise or post expected distance use to avoid consumer conflict. Michelin is one of the few exceptions; its best wear rating is only 60,000 kilometres.

So, how can drivers get the most wear and value out of their snows? It’s simple: just keep track of tire rotations. We still drive a lot of front-wheel-drive vehicles and they are all notoriously hard on tires, unless they’re rotated regularly (usually around 10,000 to 12,000 km). On minivans and larger crossovers or unibody SUVs, the rear suspensions can be exceedingly stiff to support full three-row seating loads and cargo. Tires that live too long on the rears of these vehicles can develop outer wear patterns that can cause vibrations and noises.

Make sure your tires are marked with their vehicle positions and keep track of the distance travelled in relation to the manufacturer’s rotation specs.

Avoid warm/hot weather driving on winter tires, too. That soft rubber compound that makes snow tires work well in extremely low temps can be its downfall when things warm up. A few days or more of driving during a mid-winter thaw won’t cause many problems, but when spring finally springs, get your snows off and your summers on. The seven-degree Celsius rule is a good one (and that’s plus, not minus). When temps are above this temperature regularly, it’s time to swap out your winters.

Consider LT tires if your ride is heavy enough. LT, or light truck-rated snow tires tend to last longer because of their harder rubber. Their design takes into account the weight of the vehicle to improve their grip. Even if you’re driving a full-sized, half-ton pickup that came with P (passenger-rated) tires, you might be able to step up to an LT type for 12-month use. Be warned, though: Their extra weight can increase fuel consumption slightly and their stiffer side walls can move ride harshness up a notch.