Tire Studs

[chopped]

I was wondering if anyone has studded their own snow tires. I know that it is expensive but in the long run could be cheaper as they get allot now a days to do t
I'm speaking of auto tires 13 14 15 inch ones.
And are there several sizes of studs also?
I couldn't find much on line about the guns found one on ebay 66 dollars I think , made me wonder does the fingers spread and the your manually put in a stud? Or do you load the gun and shoot?

 

[mrutkaus]

All I know is you can't stud a used tire, it has to be new as any dirt etc in the stud hole will eat into the tire when a stud goes in it.

Mike

 

[600rider]

When I got out of high school 27 years ago I worked at Sears auto center and we had to stud tires for customers. We had a stud gun with a hopper mounted on a tower, the hopper spun around and the studs fell into slots in the side and then into a tude that conected to the back of the gun. you put the tip into the hole and when you pulled the trigger the fingers would open up and the stud would go into the hole. we used a little oil on the tip of the gun to make it easier to insert into the hole. The spinning efect would get the studs in the tube the proper direction. Rather a simple opperation when you see it in action. On occassion we would have customers ask us to take studs out after the snow season ( they had to be off your vehicel by april 1 here in PA)we used a screwdriver to pop them out or a long hollow punch the diameter of the stud, just slid it over and pop it out oil here helps also.

 

[mikescruggs]

I think studding your own tires would require special equipment. A used tire probably poses two major concerns for studding. The first is the holes maybe filled with stones and the second would be the change in tread depth.

When buying winter tires I always get them studded.

Mike