With 96 inches of snow expected this season...

Are better tires than stock Dunlop AT20s needed?

I've asked about tires before, but this time I wanted to put it into context.

I plan on getting chains, but have not decided which chain/cable to get (suggestions accepted)

265/65/R17, got 4 60lb sandbags in back.

 

Good thread I need to give advice to somebody about snow tires and I know nothing.

BUMP

 

Yes , the Dunlops suck in the snow . The shallow tread packs with snow and you are now on slicks .

 

How about the Firestone Destination A/Ts. I really want those tires, but it's hard for me to separate with ~$800 installed when I've already separated with so much for the truck

 

Sounds like they do alright in the snow .

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/wheels-tires/77024-firestone-destination-ts.html

 

In Colorado the snow is low water content. I've run BFG AT/KOs for the last 8 years on my trucks with great results. In a wetter snow they may clog up more tho.

 

That's the problem here on the coast , the snow is usually heavy and wet .

 

Last year I had these tires on my Ram (Destination AT). They were awsome in Snow. I just put the Grabber AT2 on my truck for this year. I heard good snow reviews from Tire-Rack.

 

Growing up in snow country for 15 yrs is a good experience but Im not around it much any more. But I can give ya a few pointers on what I learned over the few years from myself and my grandfather who used to plow snow for the state for over 50 years in Nor Cal.
First thing is you half to decide if your going to be mainly on packed road snow or fresh stuff in the mountains as in offroading. And also how deep of snow your going to be in overall.
Packed road snow you want to stay with a A/T tire that is either factory siped or done by a tire shop like Les Schwab. This will allow you to grip the packed snow better. A bigger Lug tire like a mud terrain will get less traction on packed road snow.
Now if your doing more fresh snow like powder and offroading cutting trails a good M/T is good for this as it grabs thru the snow better and is self cleaning for dirt and rocks. Also if the snow is heavy and wet the M/T works well. But if Like some A/T that are more on the bigger lug these will work as well. I have seen a cooper tire up here in NorCal that is called an A/T and it favors more of an M/T pattern.
For A narrow tire compared to a wider tire is another decision. Wider is not the best on packed road snow on our lighter trucks. This comes in to play with trying to get a grip and breaking thru the packed snow as to where a narrow tire will do better.
Now offroading a wider tire isnt to bad with a M/T I have used both on small pickups and bigger pickups. But Again the narrow tire for me has still worked better as it cuts thru the snow down to the dirt where your traction is at.
Tire chains are a very good idea as they get you the best traction over any tire you have but your just limited to your speed,location, and if you end up driving on pavement more it is real noisy. Why I say location is in some states you can not run them. But for Oregon and Cali and Nevada you can. I carry them all the time as they work well for offraoding in the mud and for the snow. I run the Heavy duty ones though which are like 3/16 thick for the cross links.
One more thing, you want to try and not spin your tires as this will heat them up and make things worse. As this will make your tires melt the snow and make them loose traction.

Good Luck

 

damb nice wright up.very well put.

 

It seems to me without going with a all out snow tire, duratracs should be about your best choice. With the 2 sipes per tread block, I think they will do great. Sipes are the most important thing with choosing a tire to use in the snow. Strait sipes work ok but having sipes in a zig zag pattern is the best exspecially on ice. /\/\/\/\/\
I run blizzak ws60 on my AWD galant and it goes through any kinda snow/ice with ease. The only thing that stopped me last year was the ride height. I figured when snow was starting to come over the hood, it was time to go in. This year, I have a taco on duratracs so I should be just fine.