Tires for winter

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thewwkayaker

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What tires are people using or recommend for the occasional winter trip up a pass?

I'm torn - a full winter tire would be best but if you aren't do a lot of winter trips it's pricey to get two sets of wheels and tires.

All-Weather AT tires meet the requirements (3 mountain symbol) required for driving up the passes but of course isn't as safe as a winter tire but then can be used for the majority of trips.

Two tires I've looked at:

Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac E-rated
BFGoodrich A/T T/A KO2 E-rated

I carry chains all the time but they aren't useful for driving even half the hwy speeds.

Thoughts?
 
If your truck is 4 x 4 and you aren't going off the maintained blacktops, I would think a M + S tire would suffice. However at some point in time, depending on weather, road and if you have 4 x 4, you may need to chain up. How much you plan on driving your rig in winter/snow/ice conditions and if your schedule would allow for a day with better driving conditions.
 
PackRat said:
If your truck is 4 x 4 and you aren't going off the maintained blacktops, I would think a M + S tire would suffice. However at some point in time, depending on weather, road and if you have 4 x 4, you may need to chain up. How much you plan on driving your rig in winter/snow/ice conditions and if your schedule would allow for a day with better driving conditions.
Click to expand...
It's 4x4. Normally it's not insured (the truck) over the winter (we have a tiny car and a Subaru, both with winter tires for winter) however this is the first winter we will have the camper and I was thinking of doing a couple of winter trips (so I'd insure it for say 4 days at a time) to backcountry ski which entails winter hwy passes and maybe some plowed and unplowed FSR. Chains for the FSRs for sure but given the passes get plowed (although usually they have a layer of icy and snow despite their best efforts) you don't normally put chains on since your speed is then limited to 30km/h (20mph?) and everyone else is close to the speed limit or maybe 80km/h instead of 120km/h.

Legally if I have tires with the mountain snow symbol then I'm OK however everything I've read says they are not even close to what a real winter tire is like. Again though I'm only planning on the odd trip in the winter, otherwise the truck and camper stays in my driveway uninsured.

I'm leaning towards an All weather A/T tire but seeing what others might have experienced if they do some winter camping trips.
 
I have had the Duratracs, and a lot of other tires, on very snowy roads. Very impressed compared to the other tire you mentioned. I have several FJ Cruisers and had KO's, BFG Mud, TSLs, MTRs, Fierce, Toyos. Duratracs were best for me.
 
I have used both dedicated snow tires (Blizzacks) and AT (BFG AT KO2's load range E 235/85r16) tires on my Tacoma Campers - and what you are hearing is true, the dedicated snow tires will always far out perform AT and 'All Season' tires in the snow. That being said, there is still the question of value - is it worth it to buy the snow tires? If you are purposely heading out in the worst conditions (ie chasing powder) multiple times a winter, then it is absolutely worth it. On the other hand, if you can avoid the worst of it by waiting for the plows to come, or waiting a day for things to clear up, and only a few times a year, then it is less clear.

One other thing to consider is that your 'summer' tire will last much longer if you only use them half of the year - so if you think you will own the truck for more than 2 sets of tire life, then the cost is really only the cost of the wheels (or tire changes) for your winter tires. Given all the Bro's who immediately change out the wheels on a new truck, you can usually pick up near new factory wheels for cheap. I think I have paid at most $200 for sets of factory alloy wheels.

If you are going to stick with AT tires, at least look for the Mountain Snowflake symbol on the tire - which means the tire has passed some minimal standards for snow/ice traction. The Mud and Snow rating is just a measure of tire void percentage, and really doesn't mean much for winter performance. Most sizes of BFG AT tires have the mountain snowflake rating.
 
As Rando says, look for the mountain/snowflake symbol. M&S is definitely not the same. I have great luck with BFG AT KO2 tires. When I don't need a more aggressive tire, I buy the BFG AT.

You should update your profile with location. There may be location specific things to consider as well.
 
I have Cooper Discoverer A/T3s on my 2012 Ram 2500. They do very well on snow covered frozen lakes and on hard pack snowy roads in Minnesota. Don't do well on bare ice but no tire without studs is going to do squat.

jim
 
thewwkayaker said:
What tires are people using or recommend for the occasional winter trip up a pass?

I'm torn - a full winter tire would be best but if you aren't do a lot of winter trips it's pricey to get two sets of wheels and tires.

All-Weather AT tires meet the requirements (3 mountain symbol) required for driving up the passes but of course isn't as safe as a winter tire but then can be used for the majority of trips.

Two tires I've looked at:

Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac E-rated
BFGoodrich A/T T/A KO2 E-rated

I carry chains all the time but they aren't useful for driving even half the hwy speeds.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Don't know where you live,but if it's California remember you need to carry chains.
The CHP can make you put chains on even with 4X4.
Frank
 
I'm a dedicated winter tire kind of guy. Right now I have the Avalanche Xtreme studded tires for my Tundra for the winter and Nitto Ridge Grapplers for the other 3 seasons. I guess it depends on where you live, the roads you drive, and the possible consequences when winter snowflake AT tire decides it's had enough of the icy corners.
I did find myself on a high mountain pass in a snowstorm with my Ridge Grapplers and they worked out pretty good...but they were no match for my studded winters.
 
Sorry I'll update my profile soon but I live in BC Canada (Vancouver area).

I was only looking at tires with the mountain/snowflake designation as it's required to travel thru the passes here.

I carry chains as I indicated earlier but normally you don't put those on when hwy driving unless you need that level of traction.

I'd like to find some cheap rims - no luck so far - if I do I'll put on some snow tires. Time to phone the junkyards I guess.
 
"I was only looking at tires with the mountain/snowflake designation as it's required to travel thru the passes here."

Same here. You have to have traction tires (mountain/snowflake) or carry chains during certain times of the year.
 
We're running KO2 on our RAM 2500 and are happy so far, but can only compare to the OEM tires that were total crap. Located in the Mid-Atlantic, so not big snow country but have run into some snow here and on trips west. They do really well on a variety of surfaces: mud, dirt, sand, rock. Hard pack and loose.
 
thewwkayaker said:
What tires are people using or recommend for the occasional winter trip up a pass?
Click to expand...
I use the Toyo AT2 year round including the odd winter hwy trip. They are M+S so meets the minimum winter tire requirement in BC - where I gather from your posts you are most concerned with (?) - so keeps me legal, plus I always carry chains. fwiw used to be snowflake only but that was changed a few years ago. Note some private ski hill roads might e different.

So far so good, but If I was worried about it I'd buy a dedicated snow tire or stay home (I've done that, even for the city, nevermind the North Coquihalla etc)
 
M+S meets the snow requirement in BC. That was really surprising to me so I looked it up. I'm still really surprised. M+S is almost meaningless...well, related to winter.
 
Ace! said:
M+S is almost meaningless...well, related to winter.
Click to expand...
likewise for mud, at times...

winter? ok for snow but natch a cold weather rubber compound and siping would be better for ice.

all depends on conditions and where and how you're going ...

and I'm not being flip. if I was worried I'd pony up the $ or stay put (or turn around, no shame in that). so far tho, we've been ok. :ninja:
 
I ran siped Cooper AT/3's for several years and they worked well for snow in the mountains of the PNW. Switched to Cooper ST MAXX for the last winter before I moved south and they did pretty well but are a better offroad tire.
 
I looked at the coopers for my GX460, but at least in the sizes I was considering they do not have the mountain snowflake rating and they also were not available in the skinnier aspect ratios.
 
So the new cat is "All Weather" which is different than "All Season". Most All Weather tires are sipped and rated with the snowflake/mountain peak but don't have as many sips (e.g. BFG KO) and lack the rubber compound that remains soft in the cold. Thus Winter tires lack aggressive tread to allow for more sips and have the winter rubber compound. This means that for offroad adventures in the spring, summer, fall they won't work well and of course will wear faster. I think the biggest drawback of the All Weather is the rubber compound though and that compound is not available in All Weather tires.

Given all of this, I guess I'll have to hunt for rims and get some winter tires.

Mich X-Ice seems to be holding it's top spot for years. This the best for trucks though?
 
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