Anyone got a tire studding gun?

[markbvt]

Hey kids -- don't suppose anyone here has a tire studding gun I could borrow?

It's getting to be time to prep the winter tires for my XRL, and I don't feel like spending $100+ on the self-tapping studs that Aerostich sells. But I want to spend $300 to buy my own studding gun even less.

If anyone could loan me one or even offer suggestions, I'd be most obliged. (Yes, I do have an air compressor to operate it.)

--mark

[gregp]

Car studs are Ok if you intend to ride on pavement, or for frozen dirt. Rally studs are needed for packed snow. Screws go dull and/or rip out unless you stay on frozen ponds and lakes (unless you have complete hard packed snow coverage on your trails).
I do this to the rear tire of my dirt bikes:
http://iillyyaa.smugmug.com/gallery/...49354987_GEhbp

It is cheap and effective. I just run 1/2" screws in the front tire.

[netra709]

Watch ebay for a used auto stud gun if thats the type of stud you want to use. My gun that shoots rally studs cost me $675. I would lend someone my wife before they would get that gun.

[markbvt]

Car studs are the way to go for me because I am planning to ride on the street -- commuting and occasional longer rides. Rally studs or ice screws won't work for obvious reasons.

--mark

[AHAMAYs2]

Can i borrow your wife then?

[Currently]

Can i borrow your wife then?

Depends if she lets him!

[netra709]

Can i borrow your wife then?

No, you would have to keep her. She is of the non-working variety, and she is spent. I could tell her that I'm going to have to donate a nut to dana farber to make the house payment this month, and 5 minutes later she would ask if we could buy new tires for her minivan with the nut money. Tim

[FTMS]

Watch ebay for a used auto stud gun if thats the type of stud you want to use. My gun that shoots rally studs cost me $675. I would lend someone my wife before they would get that gun.

Do you have some info on the gun you have? All that I seem to be able to find for guns is the car type.

[gregp]

For road use, besides the Aerostich studs, I found these:
http://www.maxigripicestuds.com/

[Awesome]

Car studs are Ok if you intend to ride on pavement, or for frozen dirt. Rally studs are needed for packed snow. Screws go dull and/or rip out unless you stay on frozen ponds and lakes (unless you have complete hard packed snow coverage on your trails).
I do this to the rear tire of my dirt bikes:
http://iillyyaa.smugmug.com/gallery/...49354987_GEhbp

It is cheap and effective. I just run 1/2" screws in the front tire.

How do those go in the various trail terrain in the winter? Powder, hard pack, ice?

[markbvt]

For road use, besides the Aerostich studs, I found these:
http://www.maxigripicestuds.com/

Those look great. Unfortunately they're not much cheaper than the Aerostich self-tapping studs. Still way more cost effective to use regular car tire studs, if I can borrow a studding gun from someone.

--mark

[gregp]

How do those go in the various trail terrain in the winter? Powder, hard pack, ice?

I presume that you are asking about the Tapcon set up. Both the 10-32 bolts and the Tapcons work well for trail riding, and will last through one winter if you go easy on the throttle on any bare ground or rocks that you encounter. Either of these set ups will not work well, compared to ice screws, on frozen lakes or ponds, but they will allow you to ride without falling down every 10 feet. For winter riding, conditions are extremely weather dependant - sometimes I make it a point to get out early in the morning because I know that conditions will deteriorate quickly once the sun comes up and things start to get soft.
The best thing about rally spikes, the Tapcons, or the 10-32's is that as conditions under your tires change from powder, to icey spots, to bare ground, the feel is very consistant, and similar to riding normally.
Every now and then we get conditions that will allow you stay right up on top of the snow and blaze between the trees, even where there is no trail! A thick blanket of frozen snow covers up the rocks, sticks, logs, and other things that would normally have you picking your way through the woods. These conditions are rare, though, so you have to be willing to go out whenever they arise.
While a set of Rally spike tires will last you for a couple of years (if you treat them right), the Tapcon and bolt set ups are one season only, and discarded when spring arrives.

[Awesome]

I might have to consider that. I'll have a set of tires screwed for the ice riding, but ice conditions are real tempormental.

[netra709]

Do you have some info on the gun you have? All that I seem to be able to find for guns is the car type.

There used to be a really good article on the Trail Rider magazine site about this, but it appears to be gone.
http://www.brunowessel.com/catalog/i...l&categoryid=2
Those are the people you will need to contact if you want to stud your own tires. They have the gun's, studs, drill bits and stops. The gun you will want is the EP-9. It can shoot either rally/mx studs or auto studs. Its around $700. The other type of gun they sell is for auto studs, and you will struggle like hell shooting rally studs with it.
The glue you will need is available at grainger. Locite blackmax. Don't get it in your eye, or you won't see out of that eye anymore.
Studding your own tires isn't for everyone. Forget about just easily shooting studs effortlessly. Its a shitty job. But if your like me, and want the best winter tires available, the ability to embarress your friends in the snow, and want it cheaper than a pair of Trelleborgs, do it.
Done right, with glue, and installed properly in a good tire, they hold up incredibly, even on bare ground. We have been using the 18mm rally for bare ground in rear tires and 23 to 25mm mx studs in rears for packed snow. Finding the right tires is tricky. Too soft and you rip the studs out, too stiff and the rubber won't squeeze the stud well. Maxxis desert it's seem to be a good tire that we have had luck with.
If you end up buying a gun, feel free to ask if you have questions. Tim

[RandyO]

Mark, a guy in Groveland, MA just picked up a stud gun, he's on the rounders forum

http://www.yearroundriders.com/forum...0&gopid=95189&

he's only a half hour ride from me, you'd have to make a day trip out of it probably

[RandyO]

got my tires studded yesterday, stickin a drill into a tire doesn't seem right

but here's the result, I din't put any studs in the outer knobs

[markbvt]

Nice. I picked up a set of studded Pirelli Scorpions on Saturday from a guy on ADVrider who lives here in Burlington. He ran them last year and isn't bothering with them this year, so he gave them to me in exchange for the front tire I bought with the intention of studding.

I'll spoon them on when we start getting real snow.

--mark