Winter Tires.

Winter tires are better for sure but it really depends on what your doing. I spend all winter ice fishing, and lake Winnipeg gets nasty. I like to be out away from people so I'm breaking new trail most of the time. I can't count the amount of people I've pulled out that said well I have winter tires I don't get why I'm stuck? They don't help when your pushing 3ft of snow and you have no clue how to drive in said snow.

This is how I ended up with skinny mts on my taco. They do great In deep snow and thats what I need. I will always stick to saying in my previous experience duratracs are the best all year compromise, thats why they are the most common tire for trucks around here. K02s don't compare. I would love to try the new rt model but they don't make them in 255/85r16. And no studdable winter tires aren't a harder compound to the accept stud. My hakk 10s were very soft.

 

Exactly.. If you live in an area that never gets below 7C then lots of regular tires will do the job. The rubber in true winter tires is designed to stay flexible at temps well below 7C. And up here in Toronto or at the cottage it can get to -35C. Regular rubber is like a hockey puck at those temps and you know how well they stick to the ice. I never go off road. So in the summer run the bridgestone alenza plus.
And winter my yokohama G075.

Same here . I run a narrower tires in the winter 245 vs 265 . Better for traction and generally cheaper to.

True again. A wide tire in snow behaves like a wide tire in rain. Instead of cutting thru the rain/snow it builds up in front of the tire and can cause a total lack of traction

 

265/75/16 Duratrac Studded & Sipped, works Awesome…

 

& although that pic doesn't show it very well, on the main part of tire there are “scallops“ for lack of better word. There are designed to help get snow out from lugs, not let it get packed in there. Duratrac replaced the old Workhorse & lot of R&D went into them. Talked to main Goodyear guy when they first came out. My F350 has a set & I have summer set. Hell my spare is Studded to but that a different story.

 

The problem with duratrac studded is they are the E rated usually and you have to run fairly low pressure for the studs to make good use.

I agree with duratracs for severe use especially off groomed roads, but for city ice they just arent great due to the hard carcass. I used to run duratracs as summers in western canada as a reference.

 

I've been tossing around the idea of buying a siping tool and doing the center blocks on my g003s. One of our contractors at work runs semi trailer tires on his 3500 cummins dually and had them all siped. He said it's amazing in winter.

 

I got the C rated ones. That why there are Lots’O options for everyone’s different needs. I totally get it.

 

I've found some e rated tires are softer then others. 35/12.50r17 ko2 was terrible even at 31 psi, those were the worst tires I've ran. So wide they couldn't get out of their own way in deep snow. 285 duratracs weren't as bad but still rough, performed better then 35s in almost every terrain.

My 255 g003s are downright soft at 33psi, I was pleasantly surprised. Plus my taco is 400ish pounds lighter then my old zr2. We could chalk that up to being narrower but I hear 255 st maxx are very rough. My old man ordered a studded set of them for his shitty old dodge in 255/85r16 I'll have to take it for a ride and see for myself when they get mounted.

 

I work in the bush and can have ice and snow in the morning, mud and slush in the afternoon hence the sipped duratracs. No they aren't as good as a dedicated winter tire on icy roads but that dedicated winter tire won't stand up in the mud.

It is a compromise.....I also carry chains though I hate putting on chains.

 

I have had many of my friends with new cars up here in toronto ask me for recommendations for winter tires.
The only thing i will do i suggest they get the smallest diameter steel rim their car model will accept and then point them at someplace like the tire rack. They can read the test reports and the many reviews and decide for themselves what criteria is most important to them. Some value price, tread life , noise , snow, ice etc etc. I don't ever recommend what I have since each of us has different driving conditions and criteria and whats available for my tacoma is almost always different for their RAV4 or Blazer (recent requests).

 

Any recommendations for a winter specific tire for 17" rim. Currently running cooper at3 4s 255/75r17 for winter/summer. Been fairly happy with them besides they wear pretty fast during summer. Looking to go winter/summer tire set now.

Id be okay with a 255/75r17 size or should I go OEM size for cost savings?

 

Going to be many choices but here are mine. Yokohama G075. 245/70R17 (same diameter as factory 265/65R17)
Reason for choice. Last set lasted quite long for a snow tire. economical as far as snow tires go. Not at all noisy for a snow tire.

 

Discount tire has these on a really good price... Its usually one of the more expensive ones. Surprised it was at the top when i sorted by price (low to high)

Being retired I should have given more thought. to how much i drive (4000 miles a year) before I got the Yokohama's...Excellent tires, nothing wrong with them but even my last set had 40% tread left at 8 years and I was commuting. These will have even more now.. If i could go back i would have gotten the blizzak's

 

Nokian is to winter tires as Tacomas are to midsize trucks.

The 10 SUV model is available in 265/70 or 265/65, with or without studs.

They also have their LT3 in a 235/80 if you are going off pavement in the snow.

 

So what is the difference in a true winter tire and the three peak snowflake rating? I see like the BFgoodrich all terrain and similarly the cooper at3 4s have that rating but I don't think they would perform as well compared to the michelin x-ice or nokian 10 suv?

 

Pulled all info from tirerack.com

Snowflake symbol only indicate a minimum 10% greater acceleration traction. So a tire that is 10% better or 100% better earn that symbol.
Braking and turning not measured as part of that rating

A true snow tire uses a low temp tread compound since regular all season tires lose most of their grip below 7C and are generally heavily sipped.

https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/what-is-the-threepeak-mountain-snowflake-symbol

In 1999, The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) and the Rubber Association of Canada (RAC) agreed on a performance-based standard to identify passenger and light truck tires that attain a traction index equal to, or greater than 110 (compared to a reference tire which is rated 100) during the specified American Society for Testing and Materials traction tests on packed snow. The standard is intended to help ensure drivers can easily identify tires that provide a higher level of snow traction, and tires meeting that standard are branded with the three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) symbol.

Some important information to remember about 3PMSF branding.

• Testing measures a tire's acceleration traction on medium-packed snow only. Braking and turning on snow, along with ice traction are not components of the test.
• Tires branded with the 3PMSF symbol are expected to provide improved snow traction beyond a standard M+S branded all-season tire, however 3PMSF-branded all-season and all-terrain tires cannot match the traction of dedicated winter / snow tires in all winter weather conditions and should not be considered a replacement for where and when a dedicated winter tire is needed.

tread compound comparison video

https://www.tirerack.com/videos/index.jsp?video=454

 

Missed this. Why would you go blizzak? Because they are better and you hardly drive? Im having analysis paralysis and trying to save money but also want the best tire as I do a lot of driving in snow to go skiing(50+ days a year of usually 2-5 hours of driving).

 

They are one of the best and but have the softest stickiest tread compound for top 45-50% (they call it multi cell) of the tread and regular snow tire compound underneath. So with me driving very little now the shorter tread life wouldn't be a concern any longer. So a lot of driving would mean shorter lifespan and higher cost.
I gave away my last set of tires at 8 years with 40-50% of tread remaining. So with the good part of the blizzak only good down to 50% of so they would perfectly match my treadwear expectations.


From Tirerack

"NOTE: The first 55% of the Blizzak DM-V2's tread depth features the NanoPro Tech Multicell Compound while the remaining 45% features a standard winter tire compound. When the Blizzak DM-V2 is approximately 50 percent worn, a depth indicator molded into the tread design lets the driver know that the remaining tread is reaching the end of its ability to provide beneficial snow traction"

See the chart below for treadwear ratings and factor in your budget and how much you drive


https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=W&VT=LT

 

I've tried multiple winter tires. Nothing compares to Nokian studded tires for winter driving conditions

 

-23° Other day..