A couple of posts have mentioned that one reason that NDCC tires have less than ideal traction in snow and wet pavement is the solid rib that runs along the centerline of the tire between the lugs. In essence, on hard pavement you are basically running on a solid treadless tire without any cross sipes to flush out snow and water to improve traction.
Back in the day, I had an old GMC 6600 series HD 2x4 truck with 20" tires. Some of the tires were fairly bald, so I bought an electric tire regrooving tool to deepen the grooves so I could keep using them a while longer (the tires were marked "Regroovable", I didn't use the truck much, and a new set of tires would cost more than the truck was worth).
My thought would for the NDCCs be to cut some diagonal grooves across that solid center rib. Not sure of the pattern, or how wide or deep to cut the grooves - certainly no deeper than 1/2 the depth of the lug. Maybe a criss-cross pattern alternating from the "lead" side of one lug to the "trailing" side of the opposite lug, alternating directions between each pair of lugs. Just something to break up that solid rib in the center of the tire and make a channel for snow and water to escape. Don't know how long it would take, but the electric tool I had worked pretty quickly, probably about 1/2 hour to regroove a standard commercial straight rib tire.
And yes, regrooving tires IS legal. Most new quality commercial large truck tires are marked "Regroovable". Don't know about NDCCs though, I'm sure the military never did such a thing. But I'm pretty certain the NDCCs have enough rubber that I could do this at without any risk as long as I was careful enough not to cut too deep (which I wouldn't).
What are your thoughts? I'm sure it can be done safely, do you think it would help improve traction in snow and wet pavement?
For more info:
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/sipe/
http://www.can4x4.com/articles/siping.html
ADDED 4/16/06 - I just went out and looked at the OE NDCCs on my truck - they are all marked "Regrooveable"!
Back in the day, I had an old GMC 6600 series HD 2x4 truck with 20" tires. Some of the tires were fairly bald, so I bought an electric tire regrooving tool to deepen the grooves so I could keep using them a while longer (the tires were marked "Regroovable", I didn't use the truck much, and a new set of tires would cost more than the truck was worth).
My thought would for the NDCCs be to cut some diagonal grooves across that solid center rib. Not sure of the pattern, or how wide or deep to cut the grooves - certainly no deeper than 1/2 the depth of the lug. Maybe a criss-cross pattern alternating from the "lead" side of one lug to the "trailing" side of the opposite lug, alternating directions between each pair of lugs. Just something to break up that solid rib in the center of the tire and make a channel for snow and water to escape. Don't know how long it would take, but the electric tool I had worked pretty quickly, probably about 1/2 hour to regroove a standard commercial straight rib tire.
And yes, regrooving tires IS legal. Most new quality commercial large truck tires are marked "Regroovable". Don't know about NDCCs though, I'm sure the military never did such a thing. But I'm pretty certain the NDCCs have enough rubber that I could do this at without any risk as long as I was careful enough not to cut too deep (which I wouldn't).
What are your thoughts? I'm sure it can be done safely, do you think it would help improve traction in snow and wet pavement?
For more info:
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/sipe/
http://www.can4x4.com/articles/siping.html
ADDED 4/16/06 - I just went out and looked at the OE NDCCs on my truck - they are all marked "Regrooveable"!
