Tires and winter driving

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Kestral
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Tires and winter driving

Postby Kestral » Wed Nov 08, 2017 9:32 am

Just some advice on tires and winter driving from someone who has seen a substantial ammount of snow driving in his life.

The best option is obviously snow tires and a narrow tread is always best since the truck weight per square inch is at its highest and you will especially notice it when turning or braking.

All Terrain tires would be second on my list for winter this is what I run year round. Once again skinny tires are best my stock size is 245/75/16 and I stick with that size and it seems to work out great. A wider size would be better in the dry esp on the highway but I prefer not to compromise my snow performance. Now as far as all terrain tread pattern this can be a difficult one. Several tire brands offer the Mountain On The Snowflake rating and this tells you the tire is supposed to do better in the snow. I say supposed to be better but I have had some tires without the snowflake rating that were fantastic. And several over the years with the snowflake rating that were just ok in the snow. Your best bet is to read many reviews to see what AT tire to try.

It is my experience that a good AT tire that has excellent rain performance usually does pretty good in the snow. Keep something in mind there are different levels of AT tires some are not that aggressive and some are border line mud tires. My sister has some Kelly Springfield AT tires that are borderline mud tires that are fantastic in deep snow but loud! On road and not much good for anything ells. So read reviews before you buy. I run Cooper AT3's and I find them great in the dry, rain, and real good in the snow are there better yes but it is a real good compromise tire that does quite well in every driving situation I have faced.

All season tires are my third choice and can be difficult to find a winner in snow. I recall once asking this guy who had some no name all season tires on a plow truck thinking he was going to say just how bad they were and he says they are fantastic in the snow! I was like wow you just never know? Again read reviews some all season tires are fantastic in many categories esp quiet on the road but are not much good for much ells. But keep in mind if you only get a little bit of snowfall per year it is really not much of an issue.

Keep safe this winter and remember even cheep tires if that is all you can afford are better then bald tires.


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palmerwmd
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Postby palmerwmd » Thu Nov 09, 2017 5:51 am

Great Post Thank you!

My Pathy technically doesnt need new tires since the old ones are still quite fresh looking at under 20k miles.. but I am toying with the idea of replacing them since they are all season light truck tires and I was thinking more of a trail tire or even an AT for my Pathy.

I also like the Hankook DynaPro ATM which I had on an XTerra in the past. They look great.. but I never challenged them in snow or moderate off road.... but my Bridgestone Rugged Trails did super well in the "snow storm of the century" in Northern Virginia a couple years ago where I was the ONLY car on the road for over an hour and drove thru unplowed roads with a foot to a foot and a half of snow in my 05 Xterra.
I was in 4x4 for the full 2 hours drive over snow covered public roads.
Thats why I am also considering what I call a "Trail Tire" vs a true AT. Not sure is thats really a tire class though..

Another consideration I really care about is puncture resistance as I am a a bit of a prepper and can't imagine changing a tire while I have no 2nd person to stand quard while the golden horde is approaching :P

I understand AT tires in general are more puncture resistant than any other class of tire.
Any Standouts in this area you can mention?or is the Cooper AT3 you mentioned pretty good in this area as well?

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Postby Kestral » Thu Nov 09, 2017 6:15 am

BFG AT's are real puncture resistant but do give off more noise then a lesser aggressive AT tire. They also ride a bit harsher being a three ply sidewall.

Then Hancook DynaPro ATM is a real good option that does exceptionally well in many areas the only thing that kept me from buying them over the Coopers were just to many complain on line that they get noisy after 40,000 miles.

You may want to look at the Nitto Tara Grappler and maybe SMJ can comment on them he has had good luck with his. I could not get a good local deal on them or it would have made my short list.

The Cooper AT'3's get great reviews both on and off the road check out some of the YouTube vids.

Another good option is the Toyo Open Country AT2 although there wet performance after 40,000 miles can be suspect by some.

Most tires mentioned do quite well in lite off roading. Some are not good in mud at all. Look on YouTube on how good the Coopers do in mud for an AT tire they do exceptional.

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palmerwmd
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Postby palmerwmd » Thu Nov 09, 2017 6:34 am

Thank you!

I am not really looking for heavy offroading but more for emergency offroading like if I need to cross a interstate median that may be wet grass or a bit muddy in a emergency situation where failure would be very bad.
And of course the puncture resistance that AT tires are known for.. though I am unclear what, if any, gradient exists there among tires in that class.

I came to trucks from the sports car community a couple years ago (were I was a SME) so this is of course a very different world.


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