Are These Dry Missoula Roads Ruining Your Studded Snow Tires?

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Several Missoulians waited in line for days after that first snowfall to get studded snow tires put on, but the roads have been pretty dry ever since. That got us wondering how bad it is for the studs if there is no snow. Will these dry roads wear down the studs to the point they won’t provide traction when the snow finally does arrive?

We reached out to one of Missoula's oldest and most trusted tire stores, Roemer’s Tire Center, to get some answers.

“We've been talking about that also ourselves, and there have been a lot of people who are concerned about that,” said Co-owner Jenny Hockman. “It is cold enough temperature-wise that the snow tire rubber compounding is okay itself, and I do know that they designed the studded snow tires to be driven on some dry pavement. Otherwise, I think for the time being everybody is okay with the temperatures to go ahead and keep them on for now. I can't imagine we're not going to get any snow but I guess it has been a weird season.”

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The Tire Technicians at Roemers are Keeping their own Studded Snows On

Hockman said the technicians at Roemer’s have been driving on their own studded snow tires just like everyone else.

“Most of us here run studded snow tires and we are going to continue to keep ours on for a little bit longer just to see what the weather does,” she said. "I think that yes, there may be a little bit of wear and tear on them but like I said, it's cold enough that I think it's okay to keep them on. If you're planning on traveling a lot and you're going to put a lot of miles on the tires, then that might be a time to think about switching them back.”

Hockman acknowledged that the process of switching from regular tires to studded snow tires isn’t cheap. She said they charge about $105.

We Also Spoke to the Public Works Director for Streets

We also reached out to Brian Hensel, Missoula Public Works Director for Streets, about the possible wear and tear on Missoula’s dry pavement with thousands of vehicles driving with studded snow tires. Hensel responded by saying, "I’ve never noticed any additional pavement wear that I would attribute to studded tires."