Should I put my winter tires on?

I put the blizzaks on the Jeep a month ago, when it first started to get icy, and two weeks ago put the studded snows on the taco and on my neighbors rubicon...

The rubicon has 33" duratracs with #16 studs...but he lives on a mountain with a steep, two mile, dirt access road. My taco has firestone winterforce UV, with studs, loud on the highway, but wonderful on the icy, mountain roads up here. I also keep a company car in the valley, by the interstate, for my long distance highway miles.

Usually, my snow tires age out long before they wear out, and after three or four season, they are typically too hard to use. It all depends on how well they clear your streets, your driving needs and specific weather conditions.

Now, the wife's jeep NEEDS to have good snow on early in the season and late in the season due to her work, and the blizzaks, once you use up the top half of tread, they act as decent all seasons.

Howard

 

been a warm winter thus far....no need for snow tires just yet...and with nothing in the forecast....i'll leave my reg tires on

 

hey hey.....just switched tires tonight....bring on the snow tommorrow.

 

holy crap....love love love snow tires....it's like regular tires driving on wet pavement.

 

Good snow tires WORK...

 

Back when I lived in VT I used to run Cooper Weathermasters year round on my civics. It was nice to have them during mud season and all the dirt roads I used to drive, plus they were cheap. Yes they did wear a little more in the summer but nothing excessive. I would say put them on when it gets colder and be ready for snow instead of waiting til the last minute.

 

Wide versus narrow in the snow.
It has always been my opinion that on roads, a skinnier tire is better as it has a smaller contact surface to concentrate the weight. The vehicle then cuts thru the slush and contacts the road. It's this thin slushy/icy crap that causes all the problems. With wider tires on the roads, there is a tendency to float on that thin slushy/icy layer and you then have reduced traction.
Off road however, floating can be to your advantage, you won't sink as deep and there typically is not the slushy/icy layer to mess you up.
With that being said, My skinny tires don't have enough tread for me to feel confident in the winter with, so I am still running my 12.50s, but adjust the weight I add in back to the road conditions. If slushy out, I'll go with at least 240 lbs of sand bags to push those big tires down to the road surface. Sucks on gas, but worth not being in a ditch. When roads clear up or when on the dirt roads, I go back to just two (60lb) bags.
BTW I also re -adjust my headlamps in the winter as the rear load affects the body angle in the truck.

 

i go with some sad as well. helps out quite a bit. however, the bags were always sliding around so i just built a quick little wooden brace out of some 2x4 to keep them in place.

 

had enough of the buzzing at speed.....and since i don't live in the snow belt anymore...swapped back to the yokohama ats