when do you mount your winter tires?

[mmorriso]

previously i have mounted winter tires from Nov 15 - April 15 depending on the weather, however, i was thinking of stretching this interval from Nov 1 - April 30 to coincide with service intervals.

any thoughts?

[weebl]

Would depend on where you live, though the dates you are saying sound just fine.  For me, I generally put them on after night time temperatures drop below freezing and it does not warm up above 8 during the day.  That works out usually anywhere between Thanksgiving and Halloween for me.  They come off after the opposite (as well as no snow being forecast in the 2 week long range forecasts).  That ends up usually being mid April to the beginning of May here.

[tpl]

End October... before the rush starts.

[2hondas1BMW]

As late as possible...until the first snow forecast. I hate the feeling of winter tires...so squishy. 

[johngenx]

If I'm going to be driving exclusively in the city, the end of October or beginning of November.  I might mount them if I'm taking a mid-October trip to the mountains though, as we've had some pretty serious driving conditions at that time.  Same in the spring.  We've seen some terrible mountain roads in mid May, so I'll keep one car on the snows for some extra time.  Usually the Subaru has them on first and off last.

[Railton]

If your car normally runs dedicated Summer rubber like mine I switch them in October around Thanksgiving and don't change them over till the beginning of May. And that's living in Toronto.
The low temps are not the problem, it's the frost/snow on the road in the mornings before the sun burns it off.
Railton

[DKaz]

I did a changeover several times last year, first one when temps looked like they would be consistently under 7C, then back to rims for about a month when temperatures were quite mild, then back to winters for a second bout of cold weather before going back to summers for good. It's a bit of a pain since I live in a condo but an impact wrench is probably the best thing you could buy for quick changeovers (hand tighten using a torque wrench). A powerjack might be a good thing as well to lessen the labour as well.

If you bring it in, I dunno, if they do the changeover for free when you go in for oil service anyway then why not? Otherwise I'd keep your all seasons/summers on as long as possible.

[TheMAN]

lol, yeah wait to the first snowfall then and complain when you can't find a shop that has time to get you in.

[2hondas1BMW]

Well my dad and I mount them on ourselves, and we got "all seasons" so I am okay when it gets colder. 

[DKaz]

Wait I misread, you don't have separate wheels for your winters and summers? You get the remounted/rebalanced every season?? Why??

All seasons should be renamed 3-seasons.

[weebl]

Agreed!  Get a second set of wheels for the winter tires, even if just cheap steel ones.  Well worth the cost.  Let's you do the changeover yourself, so you're not waiting at a tire shop when everyone else is going.

[donx]

I did a changeover several times last year, first one when temps looked like they would be consistently under 7C, then back to rims for about a month when temperatures were quite mild, then back to winters for a second bout of cold weather before going back to summers for good. It's a bit of a pain since I live in a condo but an impact wrench is probably the best thing you could buy for quick changeovers (hand tighten using a torque wrench). A powerjack might be a good thing as well to lessen the labour as well.

If you bring it in, I dunno, if they do the changeover for free when you go in for oil service anyway then why not? Otherwise I'd keep your all seasons/summers on as long as possible.

I have 2 sets of tires for my Honda Pilot and Porche Boxster, changed tires for them all by myself twice a year. It has been such a pain to lift the cars, because I used the jacks come with the car, they are indeed for emergency usage and not for the twice-a-year tire changes. I do have power torch wrench, which really helped. Now I am thinking of buying a good powerjack, there are so many of them, really don't know which one to choose, can anybody recommend a good one? Thanks!

[HeliDriver]

I'm not sure what you mean by a "powerjack", but I would think a proper floor jack is best.

One thing to consider when shopping is the height difference between your two vehicles. When I was looking for a floor jack, it was tough to find one that went low enough to clear the front lip on my lowered Civic, yet also raised high enough to get the 31" tires off the ground on our Xterra.

Not sure if the height difference between your Boxster and Pilot is as extreme, but you might want to get out the tape measure before you purchase.

[donx]

I'm not sure what you mean by a "powerjack", but I would think a proper floor jack is best.

One thing to consider when shopping is the height difference between your two vehicles. When I was looking for a floor jack, it was tough to find one that went low enough to clear the front lip on my lowered Civic, yet also raised high enough to get the 31" tires off the ground on our Xterra.

Not sure if the height difference between your Boxster and Pilot is as extreme, but you might want to get out the tape measure before you purchase.

Thanks for the reply SiRCivic. What I meant powerjack is that it must be easy and fast to lift and lower and car with the less effort, so it will be less painful and saves time. As you noticed, my challenge is also to find the one that will work for both a SUV and a sports car. Well, I normally don't drive my Porsche during the winter, the winter tires I got for it had barely <100 km on them in last 2 winters (I can leave summer tires on it and store it through the winter), so my main focus is to find the best jack for the Pilot.

[DKaz]

Power jack!!!
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/AutoTools/CreepersJacksStands/PRD~0091008P/12%2BVolt%2BCar%2BJack.jsp

I wonder if it's worth getting a manual hydraulic jack.

[donx]

Power jack!!!.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/AutoTools/CreepersJacksStands/PRD~0091008P/12%2BVolt%2BCar%2BJack.jsp

I wonder if it's worth getting a manual hydraulic jack.

thanks for the link, looks like it is sold out, I actually don't mind the manual one at all, as far as it is easy and strong. Thanks.

[DKaz]

Yah, and it's $79.99 too, I think it was on sale for 50% off last week. I don't mind the manual spare tire jack either but would make changeovers even more effortless.

[initial_D]

Power jack!!!
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/AutoTools/CreepersJacksStands/PRD~0091008P/12%2BVolt%2BCar%2BJack.jsp

I wonder if it's worth getting a manual hydraulic jack.

Wow! Talk about a useless power tool.  A waste of power ... Finding a perfect spot for a floor jack is the most difficult thing, a regular hydrolic jack can be operated with just 2 fingers. I would rather buy a third drill with that money.

[initial_D]

I did a changeover several times last year, first one when temps looked like they would be consistently under 7C, then back to rims for about a month when temperatures were quite mild, then back to winters for a second bout of cold weather before going back to summers for good. It's a bit of a pain since I live in a condo but an impact wrench is probably the best thing you could buy for quick changeovers (hand tighten using a torque wrench). A powerjack might be a good thing as well to lessen the labour as well.

If you bring it in, I dunno, if they do the changeover for free when you go in for oil service anyway then why not? Otherwise I'd keep your all seasons/summers on as long as possible.

Pit lane in the garage? 

[2hondas1BMW]

Wait I misread, you don't have separate wheels for your winters and summers? You get the remounted/rebalanced every season?? Why??

All seasons should be renamed 3-seasons.

Me? No, we got seperate steel wheels+winter tires...we swap them out ourselves every season.