Dominate Snow With This Simple Hack. With @thedirtheadshed

Thanks so much for having me on. Sounds like we’re both getting set up for a winter of fun!!

siping the center lugs is pretty popular in my area. The outside lugs tend to get more torn up. Best setup I've seen is siped centres and studded outer lugs.

Used to do grooving and siping in our tire shop something like 30+ years ago and the difference was always considerably better. As mentioned above, keep your siping blades to a minimum (2-3) with a wavy or zigzag pattern with minimal space between blades. Sipes shouldn't be too deep...you only want the top bit of tread moving. You can re-sipe every season depending on tread wear.

Born and raised in Alaska here, and have used mud terrains in snow quite a bit. I took a set of cheap Ironman’s and siped the center lugs for fun one year and it blew me away. For a “hybrid tire” I would definitely suggest starting with a big lugged tire (like the old maxxis big horns), siping the centers and grooving the outers.

Dude, I love how you are knowledgeable enough to be interesting and informative and yet you are totally honest and humble about what you don't know. That's a cool combination. Love your videos man.

We use to take the ideal tire groover and re-groove the lugs deeper and square up the lugs as well. Then you flip the grooving blade up side down so you have 2 blades and then sipe the lugs 2 lines at a time. That way you have a deeper lug and you can put a lot more siping in each larger lug by not cutting them in half with a groove. P.S. I live in Northern Ontario Canada and we run actual purpose built studded snow tires 5-6 months of the year.

Nate, back in 1990 I worked for a old mechanic that had a shop in Auburn, Wash. His brother had a muffler shop next door, called Stan's Muffler. The Old mechanic's name was Phil, and he came up from California. Phil was a die hard believer in siping tire's, not just for off roading but all tire's. He would explain the benefits of siping a brand new set of tires for the customer and if they bought it he would sipe all four tires. As I remember ( that was a long time ago) it helped shed water, gave better traction , and increased tread life! The machine he had, had a metal blade that was very thin and attached to a unit that would follow the radius of the tire tread. Sorry don't remember who made it. Phil was in to sand rail racing when he was in Cali, He said siping the sand tires gave them a whole new dimension of traction. Thought this little tid bit might be useful to ya,

I've hoped for a collaboration between you and Dirthead Dave for a long time, now. Hope to see more in the future!

Great topic! If you look at studless winter tires, they are full of sipes. Grass tires are siped as well and I think its the same idea. For your tires, 2 or 3 blades with the zigzag pattern on a lug. Some lugs only get partially cut, some get skipped, and some all the way across. Keep the edges thick and the siping near the middle of the lug so it keeps it's strength. Just my 2 cents, but I like the idea you have going. Also wouldn't run them in the summer with sipes.

I remember the first time I went to the PNW. It was winter and my buddy noticed my puzzled face. He asked me what I was thinking. I said some cars drive by like normal, others are making this wierd noise. He laughed and said, oh yeah, you're from Texas, those are snow studs. I was like, wth are snow studs? Lol.

I’ve been snow siping for more than 20 years here in Alberta. That, coupled with extremely low tire pressures make an incredible difference in vehicle ability in the snow.

I got my Falken Wildpeak MT01s center siped the first chance I got. makes a huge difference in slick conditions, well worth the cost of having it done!

I have siped every set of tires I have bought for the last 35 years. I am a firm believer. Street or off-road it does not matter. SIPE those tires. You wont regret it. Love your videos. I have learned so much

Look into why extreme winter rated tires (one with the 3 peak mountain snowflake rating) have sipes. They work for sure. The sipes offer a place for the thin film of water that forms on the surface when you drive on the ice or snow to go, and offers more "leading edges" as you said. But the thin layer of water is the biggest factor.

We sipe here in CO. Been doing it for years and it definitely helps in the snow, especially when running an MT, which isn’t always ideal for the snow.

One of the best set of tires I had on my jeep was a cheap set of mud tires that I had siped. Fantastic on snow and ice.

Haven't used sipped tires on an off-road rig but I had it done on my thunderbird's snow tires and they made a massive difference in snow driving compared to the standard snow tire it had.

Always such amazing content and videography Nate! Keep up the awesome work! 🤘🏼

As a truckdriver in Scandinavia that drives a lot in the Norwegian mountains in the winter I'd say that I have some experience in that area ;-) In Norway we use siping a lot! There is no question that it's a very effective way to improve the tires for the winter conditions. I know most people think it'll shorten the life lengths of the tire when used on highway, but actually it's the opposite as it helps the tire to cool down. So siping is really a win-win ... I've been grooving tires a little, but i'd be careful not to overdo it so the tire ends up to week and falls apart, as you also mentions in the video. I look forward to see how "invention" will perform.

I started grooving tires years ago for PNW spring snow wheeling. Absolutely makes a difference. Depending how zealous you get, I’ve alternated siping direction on each lug. Seems to work