Driving in wet snow - What tires works best?

[east or bust]

FWIW BFG reworked the TA/KO

Old KO



New KO2



The new tires are winter rated, would be interested to see how much better they do than my current TA/KO's. 4wd and lockers help a lot.

[EaglesPDX]

went with the Blizzak's...Drove home without being in 4wd, got onto the ranch and the truck is handling incredible. Driveways sheet ice and it came to a stop nicely. Tested some start and goes all without being in 4wd and am just amazed at how much a $700 investment can change my ride. Cheers I won't ever drive in the snow without these bad boys. Only took 15 seasons to figure it out...

I ditched the AWD altogether after getting Nokian's one year. Any of the top rated high tech snows (Blizzak, Nokian, Michelin) will do a great job without AWD.

[XXX-er]

IME up here during 5 months of snow/ice/smoo the 4x4 is great on secondary roads at lower speed but I don't run my truck in 4x4 at hy speeds where most of the more dangerous driving is done and I don't think too many people do

As a road warrior I found I was better off with a golf and 4 of the best snow tires I could buy which were HAKS but the real message is buy real snow tires of some kind

[NoPostholio]

This info is all speculative until the next version of la rawj shows up to verify.

[summit]

BFG All terrains are a bit scary in slush and ice. I run the Blizzak DM V1 in the winter on both of 4x4s. Huge improvement.

da bomb

[whyturn]

Nokian a performed flawlessly in icy conditions in low temps. No slide or issues. Like a tank

[sb]

I likes studded tires so much i gots me a set for my phat bike.

[FussyDutchman]

Probably covered earlier in the thread so apologies if so, but I put some general altimax arctics on 3 weeks ago after a lot of online research...so far, serious bang for the buck @ $134 per installed. I haven't had them in anything deep yet but they've chewed thru 6"-8" several times already without a blink.

[bodywhomper]

FWIW BFG reworked the TA/KO
New KO2

The new tires are winter rated, would be interested to see how much better they do than my current TA/KO's. 4wd and lockers help a lot.

bumping sorta relevant thread. anybody have experience in wintery snow/ice/slush/rain performance with TA/KO2 or the other AT tires that are severe storm rated?

i have unimpressed experience with year-round use of "all weather" nokian wr's that are winter rated on my older subi legacy: winter traction was not as good as blizzak's or non-studded studdable generals (i bought the nokians at the beginning of a big winter), they wore through the softer winter compound mid-way through the summer (didn't drive them a lot), and they lasted maybe 15k miles (3 years of use) before wearing down past the lowest wear bars.

am i going to have similar unimpressed experience with the winter rated AT tires (for a truck not the subi)? this is besides the general bad idea of buying a winter rated tire at the end of spring for immediate use ....

cheers

[El Chupacabra]

The winter snowflake rated truck tires don't have (AFAIK) a softer compound like true winter/snow tires. I think they earn the rating based on tread voids.

I think that just about any A/T truck tire works fine in snow and year round. The. BFG AT and Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor are the only two snowflake rated truck tires I've used, and both were fine - neither was as good as a winter tire like a Blizzak, but then they aren't supposed to be.

[TAFKALVS]

Goodyear Duratrac if you are in deep snow often, Hankook I-Pike if you want a bad-ass dedicated snow/ice tire.

I like having a dedicated tire for Spring/Summer and then a winter tire for Fall/Winter. I think you get more life out of both sets of tires that way, and you're not making compromises about durability or traction. But I live in an area that gets black ice, freezing rain and slush over ice somewhat often and I want maximum traction in the winter.

[snowaddict91]

Both the above posts have good info. The duratrac is an awesome year-round tire for places that see snow.
I will throw a plug in for the general grabber A/T2. Better IMO in the snow than a BFG, pretty close to the duratrac but available significantly cheaper in many sizes. They have the snow-flake and are studdable. They seem louder than most a/ts I have ran but my montero seems to accentuate road noise, not sure I would even hear them in my F250.

[bodywhomper]

Thanks. forgot to add that i ran michelin ltx's on a light truck that i had from about 2000-2007 (low mileage use). probably 1/3 of their mileage was in snow/slush/ice (sierra/tahoe). i thought they were ok in tahoe/sierra winter roads, until i put blizzaks (can't remember the model) on a fwd sedan. the difference in braking traction was remarkable.

[snowaddict91]

All the tires mentioned in the last few posts have considerably more aggressive tread and softer compound than michelins. Not blizzak soft though.

[TAFKALVS]

Thanks. forgot to add that i ran michelin ltx's on a light truck that i had from about 2000-2007 (low mileage use). probably 1/3 of their mileage was in snow/slush/ice (sierra/tahoe). i thought they were ok in tahoe/sierra winter roads, until i put blizzaks (can't remember the model) on a fwd sedan. the difference in braking traction was remarkable.

I really love Hankook I-Pike snow tires, and they can be bought in SUV and Truck sizes. They are ultra sticky on icy roads but have big tread voids to help in the loose stuff. If you're looking for blizzak type performance I'd take a look at them.

[LightRanger]

Thanks. forgot to add that i ran michelin ltx's on a light truck that i had from about 2000-2007 (low mileage use). probably 1/3 of their mileage was in snow/slush/ice (sierra/tahoe). i thought they were ok in tahoe/sierra winter roads, until i put blizzaks (can't remember the model) on a fwd sedan. the difference in braking traction was remarkable.

Inexpensive answer: GG AT2s. These are on my old Cherokee that my brother drives now. Good tires.

What I'm putting on our 4R next: Duratracs or the new BFGs. Haven't decided which yet. I've had the old BFGs on two different trucks. Decent, but better options now. But the new ones seem to be getting solid reviews and are comparing favorably to Duratracs.

I assume you're looking at load range C or E?

[bodywhomper]

I assume you're looking at load range C or E?

yep

i see that the gg at2 and bfg t/a ko2 have some severe snow rated and some not, depending on the sku. anybody know why? my memory is that the severe snow rating is quantitative, based on braking scores.

i'm also considering toyo oc a/t ii. they are similar price point as the gg at2. with those, i'd get a dedicated set of snows (i'm optimistic that we get more snow in the sierra next winter!).

[adrenalated]

i see that the gg at2 and bfg t/a ko2 have some severe snow rated and some not, depending on the sku. anybody know why? my memory is that the severe snow rating is quantitative, based on braking scores.

I know that for the BFGs, the load E tires generally are not severe snow rated, due to the harder compound needed to achieve the E rating. I don't know if that's the same for the Grabbers, but it wouldn't surprise me.

What sort of truck is this going on? The E load rating may not be necessary for you...

ETA: so far the best light truck tire I've had in snow was the Hankook Dynapro ATM (which is not a severe snow rated tire). I'm comparing to Falken Rocky Mountain/Wild Peaks, an older Hankook studded snow tire (may have been the I*Pike, but I'm not positive), and an older Goodyear Wrangler AT. Yes, you read that right, I found the Dynapro ATM to be better than the same brand's dedicated snow tire on everything except pure black ice. I'm planning to give Duratracs a go the next time around.

[TAFKALVS]

I know that for the BFGs, the load E tires generally are not severe snow rated, due to the harder compound needed to achieve the E rating. I don't know if that's the same for the Grabbers, but it wouldn't surprise me.

What sort of truck is this going on? The E load rating may not be necessary for you...

ETA: so far the best light truck tire I've had in snow was the Hankook Dynapro ATM (which is not a severe snow rated tire). I'm comparing to Falken Rocky Mountain/Wild Peaks, an older Hankook studded snow tire (may have been the I*Pike, but I'm not positive), and an older Goodyear Wrangler AT. Yes, you read that right, I found the Dynapro ATM to be better than the same brand's dedicated snow tire on everything except pure black ice. I'm planning to give Duratracs a go the next time around.

I'm not surprised that an AT works better than a snow tire in snow if you've got the right conditions. Where the dedicated snow tires win is on ice or black ice where there is minimal or no loose surface to get traction on. We were running a set of winter rated AT tires on our AWD Grand Cherokee and my wife hit a patch of black ice going slowly and completely lost control and spun into oncoming traffic. I don't think that would have happened if we had real snow tires on it, based on some of the other vehicles we have had with studded snow tires (mostly I-Pikes).

Also, I think a huge factor with a truck is to make sure you've got the bed loaded down pretty good. A truck with no weight in the back, particularly a 3/4 or 1 ton with stiff springs is spooky on snow.

[Muggydude]

I agree with what's been said here for the most part. Had wrangler at/s foe two winters, first they were decent, second atrocious. Blizzaks were far and away much better, though this year I hardly needed them. Amazing traction though, could go as fast as I wished with confidence.

Rubber horse stall matts are a must for the truck bed. I use 3, 100 lbs each. Take up very little space laying flat, and protect the skis a little too.

[snapt]

ETA: so far the best light truck tire I've had in snow was the Hankook Dynapro ATM (which is not a severe snow rated tire). I'm comparing to Falken Rocky Mountain/Wild Peaks, an older Hankook studded snow tire (may have been the I*Pike, but I'm not positive), and an older Goodyear Wrangler AT. Yes, you read that right, I found the Dynapro ATM to be better than the same brand's dedicated snow tire on everything except pure black ice. I'm planning to give Duratracs a go the next time around.

I've run Dynapros, which in my smaller size are snowflake rated, and they're a fantastic 3 season tire. That said there's still no comparison between them and the budget snows I run in the winter (General Arctic Ultamax). Dynapros are a good option to run April-November as they can handle snow pretty well with AWD, but the snows are a must mid winter for me in the Tetons. I did do a winter commuting the pass with the Dynapros and it wasn't terrible, but the snows made life much more comfortable.

[Danno]

Inexpensive answer: GG AT2s. These are on my old Cherokee that my brother drives now. Good tires.

This is what I chose for my rig. And while I have nothing to compare them to for this vehicle (bought in December), I felt like they were great in the snow.

[oldblue]

Check out the new Cooper AT/W as well if you want something to run year round (I haven't used em but they are getting pretty good initial feedback).

Having run the Grabber At2 for a few years I'd say stay the hell away. The rubber compound turns to hard plastic after a short time. Its an old tire design that doesn't fare well off-road either.

[galibier_numero_un]

bumping sorta relevant thread. anybody have experience in wintery snow/ice/slush/rain performance with TA/KO2 or the other AT tires that are severe storm rated?

i have unimpressed experience with year-round use of "all weather" nokian wr's that are winter rated on my older subi legacy: winter traction was not as good as blizzak's or non-studded studdable generals (i bought the nokians at the beginning of a big winter), they wore through the softer winter compound mid-way through the summer (didn't drive them a lot), and they lasted maybe 15k miles (3 years of use) before wearing down past the lowest wear bars.

am i going to have similar unimpressed experience with the winter rated AT tires (for a truck not the subi)? this is besides the general bad idea of buying a winter rated tire at the end of spring for immediate use ....

cheers

Agreed about the "all weather" Nokians. They're ok, but nothing special in Winter. I have the WR-G3's and a set of Hakkas. Apparently, the previous generation WR-G2's were a bit more biased toward Winter than the 3's are.

I hoped the WR's would encourage me to transition off the Hakkas later in the Fall and earlier in the Spring to preserve them, but ... the Hakkas are way superior to the WR-G3's for Winter driving.

As Greg-L said a couple of pages back, who's really in a position to provide a valid comparison (same car, multiple tires, identical conditions)?

I've played with Blizzaks at the Bridgestone Winter Driving School in Steamboat (on AWD and Rear Wheel Drive). They're good too. Big surprise, eh?

The big rap on the Blizzaks is that the magic siping effect on ice is gone by the time you're half way into the tread. That makes a pricy tire even pricier. Of course, around that point, you've lost a bit of tread, so loose snow traction (on any tire) is compromised to some extent. It would seem as if a viable Blizzak strategy would be to re-dedicate them to warm weather use once they've lost their Winter effectiveness. Then again it's a viable strategy for other snows as well.

I've never played with Michelins (X-Ice, etc.).

Cheers,
Thom

[LightRanger]

Here's a solid, recent AT tire test (not snow-specific):
http://expeditionportal.com/where-th...eets-the-road/