Dear Tom and Ray:

I have a car question, about which I am sure I’m correct, but I need one of you to point that out to my husband — and if I am by chance wrong, then he never needs to know! We live in Colorado, and as such, take occasional trips to the mountains with our kids to ski or snowshoe — we plan on taking only a few trips this year, so for winter tires, I don’t think it’s necessary to get studded tires.

We get about 300 days of sunshine a year, and if it does snow, it usually melts in a day (two at the most), and we have dry roads again. I say we get the best winter snow tires without studs, and just be extra careful when going up to the mountains to ski — the roads usually are snow-packed but not icy. My husband says it only takes losing control of the car and driving off the mountain once to prove I’m wrong, so he’s sticking with the studded-tire option. Just agree with me and get it over with . . . Thanks!

RAY: It’s over with, Kristen. We agree with you.

TOM: The problem with studded tires is that while they’re good on ice, they’re lousy on everything else. And the vast majority of the time, you’re driving on something else.

RAY: If your tires are lousy for 99 percent of the winter driving you do, you’re taking a lot of risk to be safer that other 1 percent of the time.

TOM: Fortunately, there are other options for when you actually encounter ice. One is to stay home. I mean, skiing and snowshoeing are great, but so is joining NetFlix and renting Downhill Racer.

RAY: Or, you can get a set of temporary tire chains. Keep those in the trunk, and if you ever encounter deep snow or ice, pull over, kick your husband out of the car and tell him to put the chains on.

TOM: You can get a set that goes on without having to jack up the car. He can do it by the side of the road. And while he freezes his knees off, breathes in the car’s exhaust and gets splattered by passing Ford Expeditions, you and the kids can play animal, mineral or vegetable. And try to guess which one Dad ends up being.

RAY: Seriously, temporary chains or cable chains will give you as much, if not more, traction than studs will on icy roads, and they spend most of the winter off the car, where they belong.

Time for a timing belt

Dear Tom and Ray:

You guys always make me laugh! And now I’m desperate for some car advice I can trust. I have a ’98 Volvo V70 with 112,000 miles. A mechanic just told me I’m on borrowed time, as I have not changed the timing belt. He said it should have been done at 105,000 miles, and could break and screw up the engine at any time. Also, he said I should replace the water pump, as it would save the labor cost later on. I am afraid to drive the car at all . . . the quote was $600, which I just can’t do right now. I am a widow, so I don’t have a “hubby’s car” to drive instead. Thank you for your time, and keep up the laughs!

TOM: Unfortunately, Vicky, your mechanic is absolutely right.

RAY: Your timing belt should have been changed by now, and if it breaks, your valves are going to be crushed like the ice cubes in one of my brother’s pineapple-salami breakfast smoothies.

TOM: He’s also right that you should change the water pump. That pump is run by the timing belt. So if the pump seizes, that can also break the belt. And you’d hate for that to happen after you went through the trouble and expense of installing a new timing belt. So, we always replace them both at the same time.

RAY: The same goes for the timing-belt tensioner. That’s a cheap little device that keeps the belt tight enough. If that fails, your engine’s a goner, too. So, be sure your mechanic replaces the tensioner as well.

TOM: But you’re right not to drive the car until you fix it. If you think $600 is a lot to come up with, imagine having to come up with $3,000 to rebuild the engine. Good luck, Vicky!

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