gotta get snow tires

Not going to get into all the issues about not having enough money. Lets just say been living off 30-40 bucks a week on food since starting these car payments a couple years ago. But gas was at 1.50/L looking like it was heading to 2+. Made sense to be doing payments on this car than how things were.

Anyways.. gotta get snow tires though this winter and oct 'll be a triple cheque month. I'll have about 600 to 700 to do something about it. Right now have the stock bridgestone turanza el 400 p195/55r16 with 35k km. Went around with those the past couple winters. Almost got killed several times. Definitely going to be getting at least a couple studded tires on the front.

Here's whats running thru my head right now... I gotta figure out what my options are here. Do i put those snow tires on the wheels i got now? Then ya got those tire pressure monitors. Sounds like i gotta get them to take those out cause it costs to put 'em in and stuff. Cause if its not at the dealer they have no clue how to deal with these things. Then ya got the light on the dash that comes on. I guess ya just gotta ignore it. The computer doesnt mind you driving around with things not right? Can get those black winter wheels and put the tires on that. That's gonna be too cost prohibitive, for 4 wheels and 4 studded tires. Can't do it. Its gonna be way over a grand. Then i seen somebody in this forum mention how they got the wider 205/55/r16 tires that are more common and cheaper. They're putting those on the stock wheels? So i should get those tires and put them on my wheels and take out the tire pressure monitors? And then there's the choice of places to do it at. Ya know if you bring it to the dealer they'll ring up the tab and it would be 2grand the way they do it. So i dont know.. i gotta figure out what i gotta do then maybe call around. Like where do i go to get this done that's cheaper. Around here there's canadian tire and sturgeon tire, maybe fountain tire, thats probably more expensive. Probably canadian tire but maybe it'll be cheaper at sturgeon. I'm thinking maybe i can get the 4 studded tires put on these wheels with no tire pressure monitors. I wonder what that would cost. Maybe can still afford to put the pressure monitors in? Probably cant afford it so would have to go with 2 studded tires on the front or something. I know how people love that but got no options right now. Somebody's gotta crunch some numbers here, total final costs including labour and gst cause it could be the difference between life and death. I need some help here cause risking dying on the road yet another winter.

 

here's what shows up if you search at canadian tire.. its like 200 bucks a tire. Then you get putting in studs, taking my tires off the rims, putting new tires on the rims, balancing, labour, taking out the tire pressure monitor, gst, pst, wind up costing 1500 bucks for snow tires, 2000 if you do it at a dealer i bet.

Your search for "2008 TOYOTA PRIUS 4-1497 1.5L DOHC Touring; 3795 lbs.; 106.3 in. (195/55R16) Load Index: 86 Speed Rating: V". returned - 7 Results:
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Continental ContiWinterContact TS 800
Product #08-8875-4
Reg. $182.46
View See more Winter Tires - Special Order
Michelin X-Ice Xi2
Product #08-7610-0
Read all reviews
Reg. $183.30
View See more Winter Tires - Special Order
Continental ContiProContact™
Product #08-7547-2
Reg. $204.99
View See more All Season Tires - Special Order
Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3
Product #08-7567-4
Reg. $206.40
View See more Winter Tires - Special Order
Continental WinterContact TS 810
Product #08-1297-2
Reg. $234.75
View See more Winter Tires - Special Order

 

and then somebody said stock toyota lug nuts come loose on other's winter tire rims?

 

ok i'm looking around. Seems like the only time i see p195/55 is with r15 not 16 like the ones i've got. Whats up with that? Guess i gotta go with the 205/55r16.

So checking the canadian tire, sounds like there's just 3 kinds you can put studs in.


Hankook I*Pike RC01 Winter Tire
205/55r16 91t
Product #06-2008-0
See more Winter Tires or compare Reg. $109.99


Goodyear Nordic
205/55r16 89s
Product #06-2072-4
See more Winter Tires or compare Reg. $136.99


General Altimax Arctic Winter Tire
205/55r16 91q
Product #06-2025-8
See more Winter Tires or compare Reg. $159.99


Looking at steel rims they're like 60 bucks a piece. Wondering about the different types they have. There's:
pattern: 16x7. 6-5-1/2,
pattern: 16x6-1/2. 5-115
pattern: 16x6-1/2. 5-4-1/2
pattern: 16x6-1/2. 5-100
Not sure what all that means. Think it has to do with lug nut pattern. I'll have to check which kind the prius would be. Either way, cant afford it right now so gonna have to pass on that.


Right now i'm looking at 110x4. 440. Seen someone say its 10 bucks a tire to stud them. 480.. taking my tires off, taking my tire monitors out.. putting them on my rims.. balancing, labour, gst, pst.. should just barely be able to pull it off. Maybe i can get the monitors put back in.. I wonder what the price difference is with the monitors in or out.

I dont like the whole way this isnt the same tire size as i have now. Although looking around they seem oddball sizes that weren't in the drop-down menu and when i did see them they were like 200+ bucks a piece. I dont know.. i dont like putting wrong sized tires on different rims. Whatever though sounds like this is what i gotta do. I'll ask them what the price difference is horsing with these damn pressure monitors.

Anybody got any better ideas with all this?

 

looking around about this tpms stuff and its just a gizmo on the inside. If i'm using my same rims then it'll probably be less of a hassle than people who have a 2nd set of winter tires and would have to transfer them or something. Ya gotta wonder if these non-toyota tire places 'll be able to handle it or they'll wreck them putting the tires off and on. oh well i'll just leave them in there.

 

ok so what are the pros and cons of putting winter tires on the rims you have as opposed to getting their own steel rims? Does it wreck them by putting them on and off? I think people just like to put the set on themselves. Well maybe by next year i'll get a set.. although i dont like the way they look either. Whats the big need to get rims of their own instead of just putting them on the stock rims. Whats that cost anyways? i'm thinking maybe 20-30 bucks or something? Like should i really get a set? Do the tires get wrecked? Cause if ya gotta mess around with this tpms stuff and they wouldnt have them on the steel rims.. plus those black ones look worse.. might make more sense just to switch the tires onto the stock rims every winter. The only drawback i can think of is it'll wreck the edge of the tires, plus they could change it over themselves.. but then ya got no tpms. hmmm. yes i'm worrying about winter tires today. lol

[later edit] oh yeah thats what it is, they gotta balance it and stuff.. probably gonna wind up costing me 50 bucks each winter plus wrecking the tires. hmmm.. but still theres that tpms thing. ya gotta wonder whats the better thing to do.

[later edit] yeah you're better off getting a set of steel rims even though theres no tpms. be doing that by not this winter but the next. Just in time for the car to start breaking down. should have did that 2 years ago.

ok for the steel rims, which ones would i have to get?

pattern: 16x7. 6-5-1/2,
pattern: 16x6-1/2. 5-115
pattern: 16x6-1/2. 5-4-1/2
pattern: 16x6-1/2. 5-100

dang.. might as well scrub up a bit more coin and get those right away during the next couple months instead.. so sounds like i gotta save up a grand, eh? Guess i'll have to cut into that food budget. Plus i gotta get some sort of different kind of lug nuts or else those non-stock steel rims 'll fall off?

[later edit] hmm its just a bit too much at the moment that extra 300 and some. I can pull it off with this triple cheque by putting them on my stock rims for now,.. that going the extra and getting the steel rims is gonna cut into 2 months worth of household bills and backed-up utilities. The winter after this one i'll work on getting rims. What a mess.

 

Ordering from the states after shipping cost, duty for crossing the border, customs brokerage fees, probably winds up costing more. With something bulky like tires probably wouldnt be worth it. Anybody try ordering tires from there and get them shipped to canada, find the savings was worth it?

 

ok i'll keep that in mind. Looking up the

185/65R15
Hankook I*Pike RC01 Winter Tire
Product #05-1811-4
See more Winter Tires or compare Reg. $82.99

thats 110 bucks difference for the 4 compared to 16. The wheels are the same price. 83x4+40studs+240rims.. You're looking at 612.. plus balancing, labour, taxes etc. Sounds like i'll be able to pull it off. Anybody have any problems with 15's when the stock rims are 16?

The 185/65R15 size seems familiar because at the canadiantire site when checking for tires in the drop down menu i had chosen the base prius model and it said that was my tire size. I was thinking how come my tires are different the later notice the drop down menu had 'touring' which would say 195/55R16 i've got now. Looked on my new car paperwork and nowhere it said my model was touring. So yeah i guess i could go with that tire size because it seems compatible. Thanks for the tip. I'll be going with those now. lol

 

ok what kind of steel wheel is the prius? And what do these differences mean. I looked it up so know what the tire numbers are.. But not sure about these.

15-in. Multi-fit Steel Rims
Product #09-5919-8
pattern: 15x6. 5-4-1/4
pattern: 15x7. 6-5-1/2
pattern: 15x6. 4-100
pattern: 15x6. 4-4-1/4
pattern: 15x6. 5-110
pattern: 15x6. 5-4-1/4
pattern: 15x6. 4-4-1/2
pattern: 15x6. 5-100

 

Ordering from the states after shipping cost, duty for crossing the border, customs brokerage fees, probably winds up costing more. With something bulky like tires probably wouldnt be worth it. What would the total be from tire rack?

 

Went down to the couple main tire places here in town for a quote and it'll cost about 850 for the 15's on steel rims with studs. So thats what i'm going to be doing.

When I was down there was asking about summer tires. Sounds like these oddball 16 inch wheels, the tires wind up costing twice as much. I'm wondering if i should get a second set of 15 inch rims for summer tires and putting those 16's away. Anybody do that because of the price difference? I'm looking at 800 bucks here for all seasons on my stock 16in rims. Wondering if i could get a second set of 15 rims with cheaper tires for that price. Then the years after would be a big savings on tires. What are you guys doing who cant afford these $220 tires all the time?

[later edit] oh also the guy looked up the steel rim bolt pattern and it says
15x6, 5-100
is that correct?