Winter tires vs. offroad

are those factory SR wheels ? ... If Yes = did you have them painted?

 

Yes, they're off of a 09 SR5.this is the paint I used.

 

Living in NH and having a place in northern ME...I'll never drive in the winter without snow tires anymore. Heck up in Quebec which is only an hour away- they are mandated (and they saw a huge drop in accidents after enactment). I don't own my Tacoma yet (it's on its way) but I have run three different snow tires on my Saab and I love them. Not only are they good in the ice and snow (did I mention ice...as in you at least get some traction) but when its really cold the compound stays flexible so even dry road cold weather traction is dramatically improved.

Anyone run Hakkapellita 8s? I'm interested in their durability...

 

I wish we had that same requirement here. Fortunately in our state, instead of a set of snow tires, you are allowed to hang a gun rack in the rear window for traction. I don't know how that helps, but most here swear by them.

 

Yes, they're off of a 09 SR5.this is the paint I used.

 

What size do you run? the standard size for my truck is the 265/65R17, and I can't seem to find them in that size.

 

I've lived in Maine my entire life and have been driving through 30 winters and have never used dedicated winter tires. A good A/T has always worked just fine for me. Just need to drive according to conditions.

 

Agree. Maine here too. An aggressive AT tire is fine in snow for a while. But, the last 20 years we have been in the woods a mile and a half in on a dirt road. With frost under snow cover most of the winter, EVERYONE except a couple of guys who chain up, has winter tires. The AT tires just don't handle the ice as well. Most of us also stud at least one of our cars or trucks. It's just a way of life on dirt roads that have steep inclines. In this photo, it's solid frost under the truck. AT tires can't handle this ice well enough for me.

 

You can get snowflake rated AT's , like the KO2 for instance

http://youtu.be/3FD98t_nwNM

 

Your truths and logic is unappreciated in a discussion of half truths and exaggerations. Stop making sense !

 

I'll be disappointed if he isn't "sorry"

 

;-)

 

This makes sense for your situation for sure. OP only mentioned typical snow driving conditions

 

Yep....and city conditons with a truck IMO, only require a good AT tire. But, as I have posted before, it's actually cheaper tire cost wise, over the life of the truck to have two sets of dedicated tires, winter and summer.

 

Yeah, I've always been a fan of dedicated snows and summers on all of my other vehicles. It's just, none of my other vehicles have really had "off-road" or "all-terrain" as a viable option. It seems that I should stick with snows anyway. I drive a lot, and do have a lot of ice and snow. I'm considering general altimax arctic. Looks like a good, beefy tread. Specifically, this setup: If steelies weren't 40lb rims, I'd consider them, but that will make an not-insignificant difference in fuel economy.

 

Sounds like a good plan, but those rims ... Just get some stock take offs from a 2nd gen ... Cheaper and would look better.

Also, wheels have about a 1/10th of the impact on fuel economy as tires do ... the mass further out from the hub is what really impacts things.

 

I guess it's because my truck is inferno... I don't think they look that bad...

 

I run these on the lakes up where I live for going to work and back . Excellent tires Winter .....Ultra GRIP ICE WRT studded P265/65/R17

 

Funny you should mention these tires. I have a set of 265/70-16 on my Tacoma for the second year, that I previously ran for five years on a 2004 4Runner. I am thinking, some day they just have to wear out but I see two more years still.

They are excellent all around and very reasonably priced. They are noisy with the studs but much less without. I need studs but if I did not live in a dirt road would never buy studded tires. Excellent tire....recommend them highly.

I have them on the same steel 16 inch rims I had for the 4 Runner. They are OEM and are 11 years old and look like shot but still poking along on the cheap. I would go with steel winter rims again. Best of luck.

 

My wife has these on her Venza. We like them because they ride and handle like a summer tire in dry roads...excellent travel tire and only slightly more noisy then summer tires. Good choice too.