Ok, so I found a deal on 5 tsl's w/ rims for a 1000. But 4 of them are siped. They are all brand new and never touched the ground. What exactly is siping? And how exactly can it effect the life of the tire?

Ok, so I found a deal on 5 tsl's w/ rims for a 1000. But 4 of them are siped. They are all brand new and never touched the ground. What exactly is siping?

Siping is slicing the tread of the tirefrom side to side and is used to improve traction..

And how exactly can it effect the life of the tire?

It shortens tire life..

Third image on Google image search. :rolleyes:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Images/siping_2.jpg

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/TireSiping.shtml

As for the longevity of the tire; I’ve heard many people saying it will heat up the tire or make it wear out sooner. Which is just BS, plain and simple. Especially with tires with large tread blocks like most Interco tires.

The cuts in the tire tread let it conform to the ground easer, so the tread doesn’t have to stretch as it comes in contact and leaves contact with the ground, thus not creating as much heat. And a colder tread will not wear down as quick, especially on pavement.

Now that said, if you get a tire sipped with an auto machine, (which cuts the tread in a uniformed pattern). The areas of the tread where the sipping meets the edge of the tread blocks, (depending on the design of the tread blocks) can tend to tear off. (BFG muds are a good example) Especially when the vehicle is driven in harsh terrain.

If you are using a hand held grooving iron to cut the sipes, you can of course choose where to cut and were to leave the tread alone, to negate this problem.

Some good links;

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/sipe/
http://www.altonstire.com/altonstire/sub.aspx?id=1435
http://jeepsunlimited.com/zj/techtip/siping.htm
http://www.mepco4x4.com/tech/Tires101.cfm

it's a really good process, the info above is good to go by.

also, siping helps with heat dispertion so technically the tires will not wear out faster. if anything, they should last a tad longer.

you're in TX, hit up your local Discount Tire. we sipe tires for $10/tire (with the exception of larger tires, but that's up to each store)

Try Les Swchawb
I think they sell tires

Ok, so I have heard 2 different opinions. Yes or no they shorten the life of the tire and to what degree? And does siping help at all in the mud? Thanks everybody for your help

Ok, so I have heard 2 different opinions. Yes or no they shorten the life of the tire and to what degree? And does siping help at all in the mud? Thanks everybody for your help

Yes, it does shorten the life but I doubt you'd notice the difference. As for mud it probably won't matter. Siping a tire is a good thing. Don't let it stop you from getting the tires. Look at the area were they have been cut and make sure they didn't go too deep and hit the cord. Also ask the seller to sipe the spare so if you have to use it they will still match.

My experience pretty much backs up what Bob Large said. Had it done on a machine to some BFG muds, it helped with traction but there was a little bit of chunking where the sipe was cut to close to the edge of the tread. Didn't really notice any difference in tread life on the BFG's. I also had the tires on my wifes Subaru siped, 100% highway use and IMHO it made the tread life longer on those (street) tires in that application.

EDIT: No advantage that I can see for mud.

Sorry to be repeating myself, but sipping will not make the tire tread wear down faster.

I can't find the link, but about a year or two ago I saw a test where they sipped two of four Goodyear MTR's, and two of four bias Super Swappers. They rotated them ever 3 thousand miles and ran them for 40 or 50k miles. Then measured them.

The siped tires looked worse (because small peaces of tread had broken off) but the siped tires had thicker thread. As I remember it was in the range of 3/16 for the bias, and a bit less for the radial. But I could have that backwards.

it is true that siping DOES make the tire last longer. siping will not be noticable in mud, but ice (where swampers are notorious for sucking) it makes a hugh difference. and pavement it makes a good difference too.

We sipe on average 20 + tires a day and all the researce our company has put into siping has proven that siping makes the tire last longer due to allowing the tire to cool down faster and not run as hot.
Allows a lot more extra traction since theres more so called teeth hitting the ground to grab. but yes if your using it for wheeling and your spinning the tire alot they will chunk a minor bit but nothing to bad at all only the edges seem to chunk. Ive sipping my off road tires and wwheeled with them and have no problems at all with chunking.
If u have any other questions give me a call at work at 1-541-955-5200 (i work for les schwab tires so feel free to call and ask for jeramie and ill try and answer any questions u have).
THERES NOTHING BUT BENIFITS FROM SIPING

THERES NOTHING BUT BENIFITS FROM SIPING

Which is why many tire manufacturers are touting that they tires have siped tread patterns from the factory!

Links about siping benefits and tread life:
http://www.kaltire.com/retail/services/siping.php
http://www.4x4review.com/tech/siping.asp
http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/zj/techtip/siping.htm
http://www.michelinman.com/assets/pdfs/doc_xice.pdf

it is true that siping DOES make the tire last longer. siping will not be noticable in mud, but ice (where swampers are notorious for sucking) it makes a hugh difference. and pavement it makes a good difference too.


Also, siping helps with traction on wet pavement (or rocks). Like already mentioned, siping gived you many smaller biting edges as opposed to one large tread block. If done properly, siping will not adversly affect tire life, and greatly improves traction.
I'd get them.