Tire swap

[AXMACD]

Who's taken their winters off so far? When do you plan to take them off? How did they hold up?

My front Blizzaks are shot but the 2 rear ones are fine for another winter. I'm doing the change over tomorrow. I don't have the TPMS sensors installed in my wheels but I didn't have a problem with the light coming on this winter.

[Dman1]

My Yokohamas are still on and will likely be on for the next couple of weeks (before the first of May). They are in excellent shape, with this only being my second winter with them, and they should last several more years.

I also do not have the TPMS sensors on my winter tires, and although the light came on on occasion, it was not distracting or annoying in any way. Well worth the hundreds of dollars that I didn't spend.

[wasabi21]

I took off my Nokian Rs today. Of course snow is in the forecast for the next day or two, albeit just a dusting. The snows were new in December '11 and have only 2700 miles on them. I got 9 winters out of my last set of Hakkapeliittas snow tires but they were on a VW Passat.

I also run a diferent set of wheels/tires for the winter in the 17" configuration also without the tire pressure sensor. Definitely no big deal. I had to use the OEM scissor jack to do the tire swap as the floor jack I have only raises to 14" high. Maybe I'll put some grooves in a piece of 4x4 and see if my small floor jack will work. The scissor jack is just so slow.

[luck123]

I pulled my Toyo Open Country G-02 Plus winters this past weekend. Conveniently, we got some torrential rain that cleaned the salt and junk off the road so it was perfect timing (don't like exposing the OEM 19s to salt). I pulled them because we have been getting some rather warm weather, and the soft rubber will wear quickly. Normally, I wait until 3rd or 4th wk of April. They are holding up surprisingly well after 2 winters.

I have the TPMS on my winter wheels but I got mine off ebay for less than $100. They were used OEM but came with service kit (new nut, rings and washers). Still work perfectly. I check my pressure regularly, but for peace of mind when I have my son in the HL, I considered it a worthwhile expense.

[Dman1]

Originally Posted by Dman1

My Yokohamas are still on and will likely be on for the next couple of weeks (before the first of May). They are in excellent shape, with this only being my second winter with them, and they should last several more years.

I also do not have the TPMS sensors on my winter tires, and although the light came on on occasion, it was not distracting or annoying in any way. Well worth the hundreds of dollars that I didn't spend.

Just swapped my Geolander winter tires for my crappy OEM Toyos...it will definitely be the last summer for the A20s, with the left side at 4/32" and the right at about 5.5/32" (since I rotated my spare into the mix on that side). Bring on summer.

[Dman1]

Originally Posted by Dman1

Just swapped my Geolander winter tires for my crappy OEM Toyos...it will definitely be the last summer for the A20s, with the left side at 4/32" and the right at about 5.5/32" (since I rotated my spare into the mix on that side). Bring on summer.

Every time I do the switchover, I am amazed to see my mileage improve so dramatically. I get approximately a 3.0L/100km improvement when switching back to my no-season tires...from around 16L/100km down to around 13L/100km (18MPG to 22MPG). This is with mixed driving, but mostly city driving. That being said, the reduction in mileage during the winter months is well worth it to ensure that my family is safe while traveling in the winter.

[wasabi21]

I'm finding just the opposite. The OEM 19" wheel/tire combo weighs more than my winter wheel and tire set up. Gas mileage is running about 1 - 1.5 mpg less.

[Dman1]

Originally Posted by wasabi21

I'm finding just the opposite. The OEM 19" wheel/tire combo weighs more than my winter wheel and tire set up. Gas mileage is running about 1 - 1.5 mpg less.

Wow. That's quite a gap between my setup and yours. My winters are the same size as the 17" base wheels. My OEM wheels do not appear much different in weight than my winter wheels. Some tires do have different rolling resistance than others, but still, that's quite a gap. I wouldn't think that the marginal difference in the weights of the wheels would make that much difference.

I'd be interested to see other peoples experiences with their mileage increase/decrease after doing their tire swap.

[dball711]

The weight may be marginal but it's unsprung and that can make a big difference. I switch tires on my 3-series winter 16" rims to summer 18" rims and see a slight 1-2 MPG loss with the summer tire combo.

[Dman1]

Originally Posted by dball711

The weight may be marginal but it's unsprung and that can make a big difference. I switch tires on my 3-series winter 16" rims to summer 18" rims and see a slight 1-2 MPG loss with the summer tire combo.

I am still surprised at the difference in mileage and the fact that the summer tires get worse mileage. My setup is as follows:

Summer - OEM 19" Limited Rims with OEM 245/55R19 Toyo A20 tires
Winter - Black Steel 17" Rims with 245/65R17 Yokohama Geolander tires

As I did a quick search, apparently, the Geolanders have one of the worst rolling resistances in the industry, hence my dramatic increase in mileage with my summer tires. I am not sure what the rolling resistance is on the OEM A20 tires.

http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/arch...p/t-66358.html

[wasabi21]

Originally Posted by wasabi21

I'm finding just the opposite. The OEM 19" wheel/tire combo weighs more than my winter wheel and tire set up. Gas mileage is running about 1 - 1.5 mpg less.

I guess I ought to qualify this statement...Back in winter when temperatures were below 20° the 17" winter tires would show mpg equal to what I've recently been getting with the OEM 19" tires. It wasn't until temperatures were in the 40° range that the winter tires started showing 23.5+ mpg. I've noticed improved gas mileage just in the last few days with temperatures in the 70s.

[Dman1]

Originally Posted by wasabi21

I guess I ought to qualify this statement...Back in winter when temperatures were below 20° the 17" winter tires would show mpg equal to what I've recently been getting with the OEM 19" tires. It wasn't until temperatures were in the 40° range that the winter tires started showing 23.5+ mpg. I've noticed improved gas mileage just in the last few days with temperatures in the 70s.

I've been getting pretty much the same mileage in January than I did the week before I took off the winters and it was 10C all week.

[Subaryota]

Originally Posted by wasabi21

I took off my Nokian Rs today. Of course snow is in the forecast for the next day or two, albeit just a dusting. The snows were new in December '11 and have only 2700 miles on them. I got 9 winters out of my last set of Hakkapeliittas snow tires but they were on a VW Passat.

I also run a diferent set of wheels/tires for the winter in the 17" configuration also without the tire pressure sensor. Definitely no big deal. I had to use the OEM scissor jack to do the tire swap as the floor jack I have only raises to 14" high. Maybe I'll put some grooves in a piece of 4x4 and see if my small floor jack will work. The scissor jack is just so slow.

Bringing back an old thread.

Can't find the answer to 2nd Gen HL.

What's the MINIMUM lift height to get the tires to clear the ground? I have an aluminum jack that'll raise to a max height of 13.75" and that won't clear. I've had to use the scissor jack; soooooooo slowwwwwww. I'm looking at a 2.5Ton jack with a max lift of 18.25". Wondering if that'll be enough.

Info:
MY12 HL Sport on OEM tires. No suspension mods.

Thanks for any info.


Cheers

[samhighlander]

I've got one of the Harbor Freight ones, and it supposedly does 14 3/4", and it BARELY gets the rubber off the road. In fact, for safety reasons, I'd say it's not a safe jack to use. I think an 18" jack should work perfectly.

The problem is, the suspension on our highlanders have a lot of travel, so even though your jack makes contact with the jack point, it takes several inches before your tire lifts off the ground. Hope this helps!

[Dman1]

Originally Posted by Subaryota

Bringing back an old thread.

Can't find the answer to 2nd Gen HL.

What's the MINIMUM lift height to get the tires to clear the ground? I have an aluminum jack that'll raise to a max height of 13.75" and that won't clear. I've had to use the scissor jack; soooooooo slowwwwwww. I'm looking at a 2.5Ton jack with a max lift of 18.25". Wondering if that'll be enough.

Info:
MY12 HL Sport on OEM tires. No suspension mods.

Thanks for any info.


Cheers

I have 2 ton hydraulic jack which I put on top of a 2x10 plank that I had lying around. You need to be careful that the jack doesn't roll of the plank since it is on wheels, but you just need to be careful.

Not ideal, but it works for me.