Studs or not?

Looking for some input before I pull the trigger:

There is a set of studded Cooper Discover M+S Snow Groove 265 70 R16 in claiming great condition (1 season) for sale in my area for $250 obo. I've been pondering running dedicated snows this winter for I use to do a rim/tire swap on all my old Toyota trucks before tire monitors systems.

What is on my truck now is a winter-rated A/T but that did me little good when I hit black ice & had a little fender bender

Has anybody used these specific tires? Vermont laws let you run studs so thats not a problem and I do run studs on my car (nokian) just never on my truck. In the past, its been Blizzaks. Because of the accident, I think I need something with a little more bite. FWIW, I do a lot of inclement driving because I snowmobile and ski, plus many backroads which are not paved.

 

Sounds like a good deal, but check the Cooper site on what the depth tread is new, and a gauge to measure what these used ones are.

Father in law is on his second set (unstudded), he got over 30K out of them running year round. Good tire, probably not as good on hardpack/ice as my softer compound Blizzaks, but the Cooper M+S lasts longer and better off-road tread.

Your call on studs, depends on your typical winter road condition. How often is road glare ice... I used to run them, great when every side/back road was packed snow/ice for whole winter some 10-20 years ago, but now they salt the hell out of every road. Studs dont do much in the snow/slush, mainly for ice, and studless technology has come a long way.

No more pitted driveways and buzzing on dry roads for me, but if you want ultimate winter traction over the drawbacks, The extra $100 may be worth it.

 

Pretty much the same story here on studded tires. I used to run them in the winter back in the 80's and 90's.They were fantastic when I lived in the sticks. But now on maintained roads they reduce handling a lot more often than they help so I havn't bothered getting any for this truck.

 

I have a set of studded Cooper M+S on an F-150 and they are a good tire. A few years ago we moved out a less maintained road and I had to put studded tires on my wife's car. I got Hankooks and I'm very happy with them. So when I got my Tacoma I got Hankooks. Not sure if they are any better, I think both are good tires.

I got the truck too late last winter to put them on and the snow is just starting to fly, so not sure how they will do. As a matter of fact I just put them on today.