Dedicated winter tires?

When I bought my Taco with the typical KO2-on-4Runner Pro 17" wheels, the dealer basically told me I was stupid to pay for a set of DM-V2 Blizzaks that I had installed on the stock alloys (because I picked it up in December). What I've found is that I only turn on my four wheel drive system in the winter to lubricate it, I could have bought a RWD truck. But I learned to drive on a RWD Delta 88 with bias ply tires back in the day, no yaw control.

I don't actually think money comes into it at all. I have two sets of wheels that each see 50% of the km. I am not really spending any more money in the long run.

One of us! One of us! One of us!

 

Good sale on blizzaks at crappy tire at the moment

 

Not Tires but a word about wheels. Alloys suck at subzero temps. Steelies are the way to go if you wanna avoid Winter flats. Even then you should remove the tire & clean the Rim periodically as salt kicks the shit outta them. No Winter tire works good when it’s devoid of air.

 

While I appreciate you are a man of science, and certainly aluminum rims can cosmetically corrode on salty roads, I’m not seeing this as a legitimate worry with deflation. Would not the tire protect the bead groove from corrosion?. Help me out here:

When it is sub-zero, 80% of the vehicles on any given road, where I live, are still on alloy rims and these people certainly are not demounting their tires from their rims periodically throughout the winter to clean the beads. I’m not sure this is really a thing anymore, but educate me how I’m wrong. Why do I not see evidence of this phenomena?

Honest question.

 

Really can’t say. But consider yourself lucky. My last Ranger was the worse ever. 3 outta 4 wheels leaked 4-6lbs every night until I pulled off the tires & cleaned the wheel rim. Not much pitting but they still leaked. Layin on the beadlock doesn’t help either as it retains salt even worse. Bad enough that the tires are square from extreme cold let alone flat too.

 

Why?

 

Fair observation. I’m gonna think on this this winter, as I’ve got my snows on the factory alloys.

 

Wheel refinishing outfit told me that once the Rim becomes too pitted, they won’t even refinish them as the Powder Coat won’t stick right. Key is to not let ‘em get that far if you’re runnin’ Alloys. Steels are cheap enough & don’t expand & contract as much as Alloys.

 

Thanks for that reminder. I do, however use that weight as ballast against my plow.

 

It's winter 8 months a year where I'm from. Gravel, rock salt, brine, beat juice you name it. I've never had an issue with running alloys in the winter. Easily 90% of other vehicles on the road are running alloys and I've never heard of it being an issue. I'm not sure I'd be that concerned about it.

 

Ours sure does. Here is a typical road in my region for about 4+ months a year. Thats packed down snow and it's there for the season most times. They basically use graders here to "plow" the roads. You can imagine what if gets like at the intersections where exhuast is melting the snow/ice only yo have it freeze right back up.

People get around here just with RWD, and or front wheel drive, some with crap tires. For me the money is well worth it. I've seen people stuck on a few degrees of grade at a light before. Personally for the money it's worth the money to (mostly) be able to start and stop my Van when I actually want to. Heck, sometimes I need 4wd and winter tires just to get out of my driveway (it's steep). Your conditions may vary!

 

I've always run all weather all terrains on my truck, year round. I won't run anything without the mountain and snowflake on them. I had a set of Duratracs that worked great in the winter, until they didn't. Once they wore down to a certain point they lost all ice traction. I have a set of Cooper Discoverer AT/W now, and they were great last winter, no complaints at all, and they're a lot quieter than the Duratracs were.

 

If I were going to go with a set of dedicated winter tires, I would most certainly go with a studdable set, and get them studded. In my experience, nothing beats even a cheap set of winter tires that are studded.

 

In Wisconsin, studs are illegal unfortunately. I've also heard that studded tires aren't great on dry pavement.

 

You give up a very slight amount of dry grip, in order to get the best performance on ice. You should not be worried about dry grip performance in a Taco, it is not an F1 car.

 

That's a strange thing to say. Why would I compromise traction for the vast majority of my driving for an improvement in conditions I rarely encounter?

I do about 90% of my winter driving on dry pavement, and almost none on sheer ice, which is the ONLY place where studs would be a major advantage. I also tend to drive slow in icy conditions and faster in dry conditions.

I've had a very good experience with non-studded winter tires. If I lived somewhere that the roads didn't get maintained, and were consistently coated with ice, studs would be more appealing.

Every region has different conditions. Non-studded snow tires are the best option where I live.

 

Sorry it wasn't clear. You are giving up 1 or 2 percent dry grip to get the best performance on ice available with any technology. You are not going to wreck your truck when the roads are dry and the weather is sunny. You buy tires for the worst conditions you expect to encounter, to reduce the risk of sliding into oncoming traffic to as low as reasonably practicable.

Every tire has tradeoffs. This tradeoff is worth it, it's not even close.

Here's an article from a reputable source, the weather in Saskatchewan is no joke:

http://www.skstuds.ca/2015/10/05/studded-tires-on-dry-and-wet-pavement/

And here is the Norwegian tire test from this year:

https://translate.google.com/transl...ggdekk/dette-er-de-beste-vinterdekkene/181924

"Michelin goes to the top with its X-Ice North 4, a tire with as many as 255 studs, ahead of Conti and winter specialist Nokian."

 

I guess studded tires must be much better than they used to be. It would make sense as tires in general are constantly improving. I don't have any personal experience with studded tires, so I was just going off what I've heard.

Unfortunately, they're still illegal here. Fortunately, Nokian has really nailed it with their non-studded winter tires.

Thanks for clarifying that for me!

 

Totally agree. I work in Adirondacks and then on weekends highway drive to casinos. My Taco averages about 35k per year and I don't miss work due to weather. I prefer Firestone destinations at2 in a 245/16. Great tire for highway and dry winding roads and will keep you on the road in freezing rain and slush. Snow doesn't bother me its the changing conditions and ice that gets you here in upstate NY

 

I bought a new 2wd S10 in '86. Totally helpless in snow, even with winter tires & weight in the bed. About the 3rd winter, I went studded. Night & day, it made that truck a bear in all but super severe conditions. The dry pavement manners were negligible, period, other than a little noise.

I have a set of Cooper AT3s on the stock steelies for winter. Didn't run 'em last winter at all (mild). Gonna give 'em a refresh (paint) and bolt 'em on soon. We're due for a dandy here in Ohio. (plus 2020 being what it is, shit can go sideways at any moment)