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Old 10th April 2023, 22:05   #1
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Switching from winter to summer tyres

Most countries abroad have to deal with the changing of clocks twice a year, but if one lives in a cold country like Sweden, one has to get used to the concept of changing tires too, twice a year! Every year, the window for switching to winter tires starts from 1st October, but becomes a must from 1st December (or earlier, if winter conditions prevail) and until 30th March (or later, if winter conditions prevail). After 15th April, one cannot run on winter tires, unless winter conditions prevail, that is, it becomes illegal to stay on the winter tires past the point it's deemed necessary.

Two different types of winter tires



There exist two different types of winter tires; ones with steel studs, and the other type called friction tires, which are non-studded. The friction tires, like their studded counterparts, are marked with the M+S designation, but are not nearly as good as the studded winter tires, if there's ice, besides snow.

Tire hotels



If you don't like to get your hands dirty with the tire changing, you can get them changed at one of the many tire changing shops, some of them which exist all year round, and many more of them which are temporary units which spring up around the time of the tire changing window, and wind down when the season gets over. A number of the all-year-round units even offer 'tire hotel' services, where you can stash the set of tires that come off your car, till it's time for them to go back onto the car again. This ensures that you don't even need to take the trouble of lugging four tires all the way to the tire shop. Just a tire swap costs anywhere between 200 to 400 SEK, and if you'd like the tires that come off to be washed, it costs an additional 100-150 SEK. Subscribing to the tire hotel service which includes all of the above costs between 800-1200 SEK, per season, which means twice that much for a year, every year!

A middle path?



I like to leave the tire changing to the tire shops, but I store the tires myself. I bought a tire dolly off amazon, which allows me to stack the tires vertically, while ensuring a safe separation between the tires. The dolly also bears each tire on a separate arm, meaning that the tires don't rest on each other. I got the summer tires onto the car today, so it means I don't have to worry about them till at least October! I inspected the tires for wear and remaining depth of the buttons, and my winter tires are good enough to last me two more seasons, while my summer tires might need changing after this season.

Switching from winter to summer tyres-20221014_181911.jpg
The tire dolly

Switching from winter to summer tyres-20221014_142210.jpg
The studded tires that came off today.

Switching from winter to summer tyres-20221014_174548.jpg
The summer tires.

Switching from winter to summer tyres-20221014_181048.jpg
Checking the tire depth.

Last edited by supermax : 10th April 2023 at 22:18.
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