WINTER TIRES, Get them or not????

Hi,

We plan to leave for Florida on or about the 10th of December via
Route 81 south and will be there for five months.

We pass through the mountains of Virginia and Pennsylvania on the way
down.

My concern is, Is there usually snow in the mountains in early
December, as we have all season radials. Should we purchase winter
tires before we start out? When we get to Florida, we cannot drive on
winter tires as they will wear down. We do not want to bring the all
season tires with us, as they take up too much space in trunk.

We cannot fly as airlines may not take pets at that time of year.

What do you recommend?

Roger

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hi,
>
> We plan to leave for Florida on or about the 10th of December via
> Route 81 south and will be there for five months.
>
> We pass through the mountains of Virginia and Pennsylvania on the way
> down.
>
> My concern is, Is there usually snow in the mountains in early
> December, as we have all season radials. Should we purchase winter
> tires before we start out? When we get to Florida, we cannot drive on
> winter tires as they will wear down. We do not want to bring the all
> season tires with us, as they take up too much space in trunk.
>
> We cannot fly as airlines may not take pets at that time of year.
>
> What do you recommend?
>
> Roger
>

Use the NO Season tires that you already own. Even in the worst of
blizzards, the Interstates usually stay clear enough that you will not have
a problem. The problem is on some of the secondary roads, where the
snowfall will accumulate several inches before the plows come through (if
they come through at all). But you won't be worried about the secondary
roads on a long trip. AT WORST, if you happen to drive right into a
blizzard that has snowfall fast enough to get ahead of the plows . . . stop
for a night to allow the plows to catch up. But it's somewhat unlikely that
you will see a storm that bad in early December. -Dave

You should be fine with all-season tires that have a generous amount of
tread left on 'em (a tire nearly down to the wear bars, regardless of
how excellent its compound and tread design were to begin with, isn't
going to perform well in soupy conditions).

Since you speak of going *down to Florida" and passing through these
mountains en route, I assume your unmentioned home has given you some
experience at winter driving. Unless a snow/ice storm has just come
through, you'll probably find the experience familiar enough (and if a
major storm does coincide with your trip, you might find that a motel
with good cable TV is the better part of valor no matter what kind of
tires you're running). Note also that such storms are often at least
semi-predictable and can be avoided if your travel dates are flexible.


Cheers,
--Joe

wrote:
> Hi,
>
> We plan to leave for Florida on or about the 10th of December via
> Route 81 south and will be there for five months.
>
> We pass through the mountains of Virginia and Pennsylvania on the way
> down.
>
> My concern is, Is there usually snow in the mountains in early
> December, as we have all season radials. Should we purchase winter
> tires before we start out? When we get to Florida, we cannot drive on
> winter tires as they will wear down.
>
> What do you recommend?

Where could you live north of PA that you don't already know about
this? Or did you just move there?

I get the idea you don't really *like* driving all that much, so you
probably tend to avoid it. Under those circumstances, you probably
wouldn't do much damage to snow tires while in FL. OTOH, if you're not
on a tight deadline, you might get delayed a day or two, at most, on
the way down *if* you get hit directly with a heavy storm and you're
running all season crap tires. Your choice. Neither is a particularly
bad thing.
--
C.R. Krieger
(Pragmatic)

ADDENDUM:-
To whom ever who cares. I purchased yokohama winter tires.


Roger