Tacoma DCSB Winter Driving:Is there a significant difference in the snow between M/T and snow tires?

I've lived in Maine my entire life (where there's generally snow on the ground from December through April) and have never run dedicated snow tires in the 30+ winters I've been driving. A good all terrain tire has safely gotten me through without incident. I'm my opinion, common sense and driving properly according to the conditions are more important. I ran General Grabber AT2 on my 1999 F150 prior to my 2011 Tacoma. With my Tacoma, I've been running Toyo Open Country AT 2's. Both have done just fine in all winter conditions.

Just my experience....

 

As others have said, it really depends on how much snow you get. Where I live we average 100” a winter, and it’s not some small mountain village it’s a metropolitan area of over a million people.

You hit the nail on the head. Snow tires make a drastic difference in every way, that being said I’m running wildpeaks instead of snows for various reasons. However I do have 13 years of winter driving experience both with and without snow tires.

 

Snow tires are best in snow. That said... the best tires in the world won't help if you drive like a moron. Adjust your driving to the conditions, if the roads are really shitty and you don't need to go out, don't. Some weight behind the rear wheel wells helps greatly (I use water softener salt). Sand or salt is great because you can also use it to add traction if you get stuck. Remember, even if you don't drive like a moron others will.

 

Well then why did you buy mud tires?

 

This guy knows whats up with snow tires.

There is no comparison when it comes to hard packed snow and ice. Our prius with studded snows will drive circles arount the 4runner on packed snow and ice. Once it starts to get deep the larger tread blocks can be helpful.

I live in the mountains in Colorado, and will be running studded snows for the winter. You may not always need them, but when you need them, you really need them.

 

I don't plan on going off roading in the winter time. Where I'm from it doesn't snow in the winter time.

Anything else?

 

Nobody is impressed that your "mud tires" look badass at the grocery store. There's basically not a worse choice of tire for the driving that you're going to be doing. If you have to ask, then the answer is that no you should not be driving around in the snow with your mud tires.

 

Just get them siped and be extra cautious when driving. You will be just fine. Snows perform better, sure. But you will make it through the winter as long as you know how the tires perform on snow. Empty parking lot practice will be invaluable.

 

I appreciate your suggestions everyone I am goin to consider moving sooner or just buying the tires and taking the loss. Will also look into the siping on my next day off. Does that cause more rapid ware?

Not sure what exactly your problem is.

I purchased M/T's, went off roading. It is now winter and it will snow. I am reluctant to purchase snow tires because I may move to where it doesn't snow at all, within a month and a half. I do not want to spend on snow tires to then sell them at a huge loss so i was wondering if I could get by with my M/T's just doing the basic necessities, wont be doing any off roading in the winter time, if it will get me in a tough spot. I've been offroading in the past and it simply does not snow where I come from.

Is that simple enough for you? I was asking for opinions and for people to share their experiences. I didn't think I would come across someone who would be dead set on criticizing me for choosing not to off-road in the winter with snow.

 

Kind of. When you start going offroad again in the summer your lugs will be weak and break and tear. On pavement, not really.

If you are going to move just drive in the M/T's but go slow. No reason to be ashamed of going slow in a truck, onlookers dont have to pay the repair bill if you wreck.

I ran a wrangler on MTs in winter for several years and Jeeps are already squirrly. Just drive safely and give yourself extra room to stop.

 

6 weeks is a much different timeline than I might be moving soon so we are all responding based on the information given.

I will put it this way - back in 2002ish I was driving a Civic on my 1 hour commute. I needed new snows but couldn’t afford a full set so I bought 2 now and was going to get the other 2 next month. I hit black ice under 3” of snow while crossing a bridge. The car did a slow slide at 60mph with the rear swappping sides for at least a half a mile. I slowly was able to move across 3 lanes on the hwy and was aiming for a snow bank against the ditch. The guy coming up the on ramp wasn’t paying attention and was about to drive right into me so I tried pulling it back on the hwy. End result was it finally did a 180 into the cement center barrier. The whole time people were passing me as if I wasn’t even there even though it was pretty clear I was in an accident but just hadn’t hit anything solid yet. Those second 2 tires cost me over $10,000. IF I had 4 snows I would have been fine or IF I had none I just would have slid everywhere and known to stay home that day. But since the 2 tires had so much better traction than the other two they stuck while the others slid making the car wag the tail instead of a little slide at both ends.

My suggestion to you is figure out your moving plans NOW. You will make a decision which seems like a good one and then when you are sitting at the side of the road with a destroyed truck you will re-evaluate as you wait for a tow truck. Take a cab or get a ride if it snows. The cost is much lower than paying a deductible or out of pocket for what isn’t fully covered. I know you are getting all sorts of advice from those who say it will be fine with MT’s. Where will they be if you wreck? They will still be at their computer saying that’s shitty man. Remember you aren’t experienced in snow whereas many of us are which makes it much more dangerous. As an example I had a Jeep YJ with Bridgestone duellers full MT. I couldn’t climb the slight rise in my driveway with a 1/4” of snow unless I was in 4wd.

Another thing to remember is until your have a bunch of snowfalls and salt etc on the roads you still have oils in the top layers of asphalt which with a little snow are slick as shit. Those first few snows are treacherous until you leach those oils out and flush them away. Every vehicle leaking a drop here and there leaches these drops into the asphalt. Look at a dry summer in the city and then a good rainstorm. The water runs off like a rainbow for the first little while.

IF you experience snow and you have to go out here is some advice. Close to wherever you start out find some clear road and drive it hard. Hard acceleration and hard braking. Try to break the tires free. It is the ONLY way to truely know how much traction is available. Anytime you feel the conditions changing try this. Be warned you could spin out or lose control so keep the speed low and make sure you have nothing you could hit around you. I do this each and every snowstorm because snow is never consistent. Temperature can cause snow to behave differently. Some snow packs hard and some stays fluffy. Some is slick as shit and some is actually amazingly grippy. I hate driving when the temps are a few degrees either side of freezing because the conditions can change so much. Make it seriously cold and the conditions can improve and be more consistent.

I wish you the best of luck. I hope it stays dry and clear until you move and whatever your decision you make you still have a shiny truck after the move. Remember many of us have lots of experience and mistakes under our belts. I have had exactly one winter “incident” in 30 years of driving as well as many years of racing and testing the limits of traction so I felt I had an insane feel for traction. I still feel I do but then I hit that one spot and OH SHIT as I ride out a big slide or try to slowly regain control. Winter driving tends to let you get away with a ton of shit until it slaps you around and reminds you that you are it’s biatch.

 

I'm not criticisizing you for not offroading. I'm being critical of driving in the snow, on public roads, with zero experience, and a dangerous tire choice.

 

100% truth. I've run street tires, M+S, all terrains with the snow flake and muds on 4WD trucks over the decades and a plain old Civic with real snow tires blows them all away on packed snow and icy roads. It's no comparison. We got our first Subaru this year after a Civic and then a 2WD Jetta. That thing on Blizzaks, even without studs, is almost scary good even on ice. In a way it's nice since I can run M/Ts on my truck and not have to worry since we can just take the car in the winter.

 

Exracer2 pretty much says it all so no need to rehash the whole damn thing. Indigenous folks have hundreds of words that describe different kinds of snow & in Canada, you quickly learn to know them all one way or another. Lake effect, freezing rain, black ice, & just plain 'ol "foot to the floor" blizzard just to name a few. Every year folks die around these parts due to sliding off the road & trying to walk to civilization for help so we do get kinda passionate about it. The big equalizer that hasn't been mentioned is cold. Real winter tires work in temp's below that any other tire can. Big difference in tire compound. That's why you better have them off your vehicle come early spring or just throw them away later. Certain areas & Provinces mandate snows but everyone around here knows without dedicated Winters, stick to plowed & sanded roads only. Winter ice roads are an entirely different animal. Solid advice is know your road, know your vehicle and most importantly, know your limitations. Drive safe everyone!

 

So basically siping is going to turn my M/T tires into "just for looks" as they will be brittle in the rocks and will stay in good shape only if I decide to keep the truck on the pavement? lol

 

haha kind of, you can still use them for offroading and crawling but they will get torn up rather quickly due to the siping.

 

Mud terrain is terrible for snow.

The rubber compounds just turn rock solid and most muds have no sipping so you will just slide on ice.

All terrains would be better for winter but nothing will be as good as a true dedicated winter.

I run Nokians in the winter and duratracs other times. Live in southern ontario and head to central/northern ontario constantly where the temps are -30C and deep snow. Sadly since I don't have my truck registered in that area I can't get studded tires but all those areas I go normally have studded tires. But I've had no issues with my Nokians.

 

Leaning towards snow tires.

This is the tread on my M/T's some sipping but very little, rated M+S and reviews say the rubber is softer than other M/T's. What about chains? would that help?

Almost forgot, these have holes for studs.

 

I really thing you're over-thinking this. If you were looking at an extended solution, I'd say for sure, get snow tires (or better yet, just good A/T like BFG KO). But a few weeks/months? You'll be fine on the MT's. I ran BFG KM2's for a winter. Slipped a lot more for sure. I was extra careful and was just fine. If I were considering holding onto those tires, I would've had them siped.

Here's an article on siping. Lots of info available on google.

http://www.trucktrend.com/how-to/wheels-tires/0810-8l-why-sipe-your-tires/

Chains help a ton. But are you really going to install chains every time it snows? Good to have with your recovery gear. I'd hate to install/take off on a regular basis, though. Plus, you can only go 20-30mph with the chains on.

 

That's where I fucked up. Should of gone with BFG KO2's. Too late.

Someone told me the other day that I cannot use chains on the front tires of these new Tacomas. Is that true or just fud?