Montana, Who Remembers These Old School Winter Tires?

You may be having trouble getting an appointment to get your snow tires put on for the winter season.

Anecdotally, we've been hearing stories about people who show up at local tire shops at 8:00 a.m. and they are told that the shop is already booked for the entire day. We've also heard of lines 25 cars long. We've also heard that a local tire shop recommended that you show up at  7:45 a.m. in the morning and they would let you know what options were available. 

Thinking about the need for snow tires, my co-host Chris told me a story about his dad's tires back in the day. He had tires that had walnut shells manufactured right into them. His dad went to a mechanic in Las Vegas and they'd never seen them before, so they tried to remove the walnut shells.

It may sound like an absurd idea, but there is actually a Canadian tire company that still uses "walnut" technology. The company is called Toyo and they make a line of winter tires called Observe that use walnuts in their tractional technology. In an informational video, they point out that walnuts are one of nature's hardest materials, and the way they treat them makes them ideal for snow tires.

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We may not see "walnut" technology in American tires again anytime soon, but it's interesting to think about, and at least one Montanan used them.

Tip: keep some kitty litter in the back of your car. You can always sprinkle that on the ground if you get stuck somewhere. We are expecting some wintery weather this week so be careful on those roads.