Winter tyres lasted well.

[Leslie]

I have just taken of my winter wheels (didn't even bother swapping last year) and by my calculations the fronts have done nearly 31,000 miles and have just over 2mm of tread and the rears 25,500 miles and have 5mm of tread.
I have to say I've been impressed by how long they have lasted especially being used all year round where you would expect them to wear quicker . One of the rears had faking powdercoat causing a leak and i found the inside edge on that one is smooth but the other wearing more evenly . They are non runflat budget winter tyres made by rotalla (Ice plus s220) adn id buy them again

By comparison the last set of fronts only lasted 5k before the outside edges were scrubbed off and this was due to running runflat pressures (32)which are far too low for non runflats . I pump these to 38/39 psi and that seems about right to get good life and not trash the inside edges.

Of course it rained the whole hour it took me to swap them over and damn these wheels are heavy the 21's I put on the rears are 38kg each ! A locating dowel I bought to screw into the hub makes life so much easier and all the bolts undid easily as I torqued them to 140nm not 3 ugga duggas the tyre shops use on everything

and the last wheel in the stack I went to fit had gone completely flat after 18 months with 120kg on top of it Yes I know you should stack them on the tread but I don't have the room and they tend to fall over and damage the faces.

[Leslie]

One of the fronts after 30k Really need 3 tyres now may call it 4 and one wheel is badly corroded , another a bit corroded and the other 2 are ok . Don't think the car will last another 30k though with a rumbling transfer box , broken aircon and a rusty bootlid corner

20260816_192625.jpg

[X5Sport]

Nice. My 2011 set have never been changed and haven’t been fitted to car for at least 7 years. I suspect they are well past their ‘use by’ date now.

[Leslie]

I found Winters tend to age crack much sooner than ordinary tyres due to the higher natural rubber so I wouldn't run them much after 8 years and watch them carefully , the front here was made in 2020 so 6 now ,once they get to 5 years id run them all year round to wear them out while they are still useable.

There seems to be much less need for winters now here although I do go quite far along a grass field the odd time to hitch a trailer up and you would get stuck very easy with summers

You definately notice when the tread is low when you hit any standing water , I hit a patch on a bridge expansion joint in a bend and the car understeered a little then regripped and made me very nervous for that short space of time

[Alan Gunn]

Tyres set with 3mm difference won't help the transfer box.

[Leslie]

Yes true Alan although Ive only guessed going by the wear indicators for summer and winter , it was usually 2mm when checked but I think the fronts have wore faster as they got nearer the end.
At 182,000 miles now so the transfer box clutch feels like its well worn and vibrates as You exit junctions turning from about 15 to 30 mph were it is then locked and drives normally , its been like that a year or more now.
I see cheap new chinese transfer boxes on ebay but they seem too cheap ! not sure how they can make them for the monies ..