Snow Tires / Steel Wheels for 2010 Tacoma

Any suggestions or comments on snow tires -- I live in Vermont and have been looking at:

Cooper Discover M&S
Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1
Hancook I Pike


any other suggestions>

also looking for steel wheels or good snow tire/wheel pkgs.


thanks

 

I am in Vermont too and ran Firestone Winterforce Studded 245/75/16 for 4 seasons mounted on oem steel rims for my tacoma. I sold them on CL before the season started.

In the past I have used the Blizzaks & Hakkapelitas on a previous Tundra and run General Arctic Altimax on my Honda Civic.

The reason I ran studded on the tacoma was I towed a lot up in the Northeast Kingdom in severe weather. Any of the tires mentioned are good ideas. I was thinking of going with another set of Blizzaks for my new truck. Would love the Coopers too or the Ipikes...see you got me wondering too.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your purchase.

 

I run on Blizzak DM-V1's in the winter. 265/70/17 picked up a 2nd set of Sport 17s for the winter.

 

The Cooper M+S are a solid performer in the snow and Cooper in general is known for making great tires for snow and wet conditions. I run their Discoverer AT3's year round and love how they perform in the snow. I live near Boston but spend a lot of time traveling between Boston, Albany and Plattsburgh so I see a decent amount of snow in the winter.

 

<- running 265-75-16 Cooper snow tires with studs. Happy so far. Discount made me a killer deal on them after big o dropped the ball. Only reservation about the ipike is it's directional and I like more traction for reverse than that provides in crappy conditions.

Wanted to add this is my first season with them so no idea about real world mileage out of them yet.

 

I just put on my first set of winter tires ever, Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1's 265/65/17. I cannot compare it to any other winter set, but it definitely is big difference from the stock Duellers. Blizzaks are quite popular up here. My friend swears by them and was one of the reasons me and my dad got a set for our trucks this winter.

For wheels I would just look for a set of stock alloy 16 or 17's take offs. They usually go for a good price here on TW.

 

fwiw, i had a set of General Altimax Arctics on my Audi A4 when I lived in Wisconsin. The car already handled good in the slick stuff bowdown: Quattro AWD), but it turned into a damned slot car with the Generals. Foot-deep unplowed turn lane? No problemo. Snow so deep it clogged up the intercooler ducts and the lower half of my radiator grille, but big deal. I got through.

 

Thanks,

I have found the following options:


in 245/75/R16

Hankook RW11 $793 on Steel Wheels
Cooper Discovery $852 on Steel Wheels
Blizzak DM-V1 $773 on Steel Wheels
General Altimaxx $924 on Steel Wheels


upsize
Nokian Hakka R in 265/70/r16 on Steel Wheels $1,016

 

I live in Vermont also, and I actually had no problem with the stock Duellers last year. I did want a better all around tire though, so this year I got a set of Hankook Dynapro ATMs. I don't anticipate any problems, but it hasn't really snowed yet other than that one storm in October.

I do have a spare set of the steel wheels I am selling for $130. If you have any interest let me know, I'm in the Brattleboro area.

 

Why would you go to 265/70R16? It's the same diameter as 245/75R16 but wider. For snow you generally want a narrower tire.

 

if youw ant dedicated snow tires on rims then i would get skinnier and taller

you could always just get some AT's like some guys here have and run them year round in your stock size. i would vote for the spare sets of Blizzak's

 

Check out the Yokahama Geolander IT snow tires, I love them!

 

I also ran firestone winterforce tires, while hunting in the north maine woods. seemed to be a really good snow tire.

 

I live in Newfoundland and we get some crazy weather. I have never once been disappointed with my Firestone Winterforce Studded 245/75/16 tires mounted on black steel rims. Loved those tires a lot.

 

Coops are really good times, currently have them on my truck with 275lbs in the box. Never have slipped and great stopping traction.

 

Considered the largest size because of the Nokian's having outstanding traction even with the larger size.

Haven't had any previous experience with Hanook Pikes or Hanooks in general, and have some concerns of the Blizzak on treadlife - had heard that they wear fairly fast.

 

Just bought my 3rd set of Firestone Winter Force $99 @ Tire Rack. Had them on my 97 and they would go while the axles plowed snow. I will say they are noisy but I can deal with that for the traction.

 

Ran the Firestone Winterforce last year in narrow width (P245). My region didn't get deep snow last year, but traction on slush and ice was poor. In RWD the traction was worse than my FWD Mazda Millenia with all-season tires.

If you do most of your driving on pavement, out of the three I'd pick the Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1. It has a better compound than the other ones for dealing with slush and ice, though at the expense of reduced treadlife. There are two sets of wear bars on the tire. The first wear bar indicates the first tread depth layer of porous compound has been depleted. The second wear bar indicates the regular tread has been depleted.