Can I use snow winter tires with painted wheels in the mountains of Park City, Utah?

Park City, Heber, Big Cottonwood Canyon and Little Cottonwood Canyon are the winter playground of many an intrepid adventurer. However, if you’re driving to Utah for your winter skiing or snowboarding extravaganza, winter tires will be a must for most vehicles, especially if you want to get the most out of your high-performance vehicle in winter conditions. And if you’re anything like us, we believe a high-performance vehicle should have gorgeous, high-performance finishes on it, including a first-class paint job on its wheels.

There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to use snow or winter tires with painted wheels. However, bear in mind that anytime a tire installer removes or replaces tires from a wheel, there is a high potential for scratches and damage to any rims, not just painted wheels. Because of this, you should be supremely confident in your tire installer’s expertise and care in replacing summer tires with snow tires. Be sure to check out a tire installer’s reviews on Yelp or a similar review site before entrusting your beautiful rims to them, paying special attention to any reviews from painted-wheel owners.

Even the best tire installer may inadvertently nick or scrape your wheels, since the tools they are using to pry the tire off the rim are heavyweight metal-on-metal, which even in the best circumstances can obviously cause a scratch or two at the barest minimum. 

Since there is such a high risk of wheel damage, we would suggest allowing a window of a couple of weeks between having your new tires installed and your actual trip to Utah. This will allow you to have your wheel paint finish repaired (if needed) before taking your vehicle out on the glorious open road.

If it’s too late, you’ve already had your tires replaced and the installer caused damage to your rim paint finish, have no fear - bring your vehicle up to Salt Lake City, scratches and all, and the mobile wheel repair experts at Salt City Wheels will come directly to you and have your wheels looking as good as new in a jiffy. Just give us a call before you leave to schedule your mobile wheel repair appointment, and our experts will be standing by upon your arrival to the Wasatch Front, ready to send you up into the mountains with nary a scuff in sight. 

Give us a call today at 801 425 3044 to schedule your appointment with our skilled scuff-repair superheroes!