Dedicated Winter Tire / Rim Set-Ups

This will be my 4th winter with this specific set and I anticipate zero issues. I just wish they looked better on the truck! They looked fine on my old once since they were the stock wheels.

I run without sensors, but I like living on the edge.

 

Not until today! They work great. Drove through 6-8" of dry snow as well as 1-2" hard pack and truck handled just fine (I have studs on mine).

This is just one data point but so far I'd recommend them. Snow clears well from them...but, it is only 12F, so it is dry snow. I'll try and report back throughout the winter/spring.

 

Am I doing this right?

 

I ran those tires on my 2002 Tacoma DC and my 06 Tundra, they did great in all types of driving in WV, I ran them year round and got around 30,000 miles out of a set, with a set studded you should be able to go on icy roads just fine as well as snow covered roads, only negative is they seem to need balanced more than other brands, good tire for the money.

 

I see WV in there, and noticed the username, but be and eer's fan?!?!?!

 

Yes I live outside of Fairmont and grew up near Bluefield, went to school and my wife works at WVU, been driving Toyotas since 1996, one Tundra(06 AC), 4 Tacomas(96 reg cab, 02 DC, 09 DCLB, 16 DCLB).

 

I run this setup and I will NEVER go back to regular winter tires. Ever.

My wife has Hakka 7 studded tires on her SUV and with AWD, it handles ridiculously well when driving in the Canadian Rockies.

You don't know what you're missing until you drive with these tires.

 

Just going to use my methodLv's and purchased Hankook directional snows

 

Also running the Nokian Hakkepelita SUV7 and I'll echo the comments above, after using them it'd be hard to go back to regular tires in the winter months

I've got them studded and mounted on a set of silver steelies along with TPMS sensors

 

I'm running stock TRD OR rims and just upgraded to 265/75/R16 KO2 tires and am super happy with how they perform in snow. We got 8" last night!
I feel like the KO2s will work great as a year round tire in both winter and summer driving conditions.
When the weather gets better maybe I'll upgrade my rims.

 

I'm running Blizzak DM-V2 in 245/75 R16 on a set of TRD Off Road rims. Went slightly taller/narrower than stock off road tires. They've been great in the lake effect snow we get here in West Michigan.

 

When you switch the Stock Wheels and Tires back on will the Truck recognize the Original Sensors?

 

In my case, my tire shop copied the ID numbers off my OEM sensors and programmed them into the sensors he put in my steel wheels, so I'm pretty sure it won't require reprogramming the OEM ones, the winter wheel are copies of the summer ones.

 

I bought a ATEQ Quickset tool which will 'read' the stock wheel sensor IDs off the ECU and had the dealership record the steel wheels new sensor IDs, which were negotiated when I purchased the truck, then wrote those into the Quickset tool. Then it's just a matter of pushing the summer/winter button when swapping wheels.

This way I can just swap them over myself and not have to worry about scheduling and paying for the reprogramming each season.

Quickset

 

I picked up a set of used Firestone Winterforce LTs with studs on factory steel wheels for $600 on craigslist. They were already painted MGM to match my truck

Only downside is they are LOUD

 

I'm really happy with these tires (Nokian Hakkepelita 8 studded). A little more noise than an unstudded tire but no other downsides that I can detect. I find myself using 4WD a lot less because I just don't need it with these tires.

If your are looking for the ultimate winter tire, these should be on your short list.

 

I put Blizzaks on my stock wheels at stock size. They work awesome in snow, slush, rain, and on dry!

Bought some method roost wheels in bronze and put my stock tires on those.