Winter Tires

I agree 100%.... Having lived in the Great Northwest (Lots of snow/ice) for 24 years now, I learned quickly that proper tires for winter cannot be understated. Is the price hit a bit painful? Yup..... Just paid a grand for new All Season/All Terrain/Three Peak snow rated tires....
But the first time you don't end up sideways in a ditch, you'll thank yourself for biting the bullet and getting proper tires.

 

Dedicated winter snow tires make a huge difference, especially in icy conditions. I just put a set of Wildpeaks on my stock off road wheels and in the fall I swap out my Ray 10s w/ Ultraterrains to the stock wheels with Wildpeaks until Spring. While not "snow tires" the wildpeaks are winter rated and light years ahead of the stock tires in every way shape and form other than highway "smoothness" lol. You could always do those if money is tight, get better winter traction and better off road traction for spring/summer/fall, then sell your stock tires to cover some of the cost. Black Friday is right around the corner you will probably be able to score a deal.

 

yup. had the firestone on my truck.. they were good in a straight line, but lacked in the corners. put blizzarks on the womans cherokee. they make driving in snow feel like a light rain

 

One more thing to consider about this, with two sets of tires, you are now splitting the wear, so while you're spending more money on tires, you are also wearing them a lot less, extending their life (in time if not miles).

If you keep track of your milage when changing from summer to winter and back you can keep a very detailed log of how many miles you have on each tire set. I keep my maintenance log in google docs and it allows me to have it calculated for me at each change.

 

Last year I got a set of steel wheels and Blizzaks and was happy with the decision. That's the first time in 30+ years I opted for a seperate set of tires for winter driving and I wish I did it sooner.

 

you should be able to pick up a set of factory take off rims for cheap. think we paid $200 for a set of basically brand new jeep rims

 

Once you have winter tires, you will never go back. Blizzaks are about the best you can get but can be pricy. I have run Hankook i pike rw11 tires on my Tacoma and other cars for a few years now and I haven't noticed any real difference from when I had Blizzaks.

 

Anyone have experience in the snow with the Firestone Destination LE 2 on the SR with 245/75/16 rims?

My old 09 Tacoma 2wd that the new 23 Tacoma replaced had Destination LE and they were horrible in even 1 inch of snow. The new truck has 4wd but turning was scary with the old truck. 4wd would not have stopped the front wheels from plowing straight on turns. I got Michelins snow tires with steel rims from Tire Rack in 2010 which made the truck driveable in the snow. Blizzak WS80s were on it when it got hit by a dumptruck last year. Not sure what to expect with the new truck.

 

I have them.. smaller size... but same tire...


They are fine for drive payment.

In the rain, i spin pretty bad until the road grime gets washed away and when i hit the white stop line.

They are marginal in the snow at best. My anti locks kick on quite often even when the tires were brand new and there is only an inch of snow on the pavement.

 

I run Blizzaks on all my vehicles and have for the last 18 years. The best IMO.

 

Uh "getting stuck a few times" are issues. And you probably were a real pain to drive near or around for people that had snow tires. I think they should be mandatory in Canada especially since there are so many people who did not grow up here and don't know how to drive let alone in the snow and ice.

 

Go to www.canadawheels.ca for best deal, bar none. Especially if you can wait until Black Friday!

Even their steel rims are priced out of this world!

 

do they ship to the Northeast for a reasonable price?

 

I run 4R off road wheels (17x7) with 255/70/17 Yokohama IceGuard and they are great. Got the wheels for $400 picked up from someone on this forum and then the tires were on clearance from Tire Rack for $80-90 each during summer.

YMMV - but I've run a bunch of different brands for snow tires. Nokian Hakkas, Blizzaks, Firestone Winterforce, Yokohamas, General Altimax, Hankook IceBear and whatever Goodyear calls theirs. I have not noticed much difference between any of them - but the Nokains were probably 'the best' but not by a ton and questionable if I'd get them again given the cost over other options. I've had very good luck with just looking for good siping from a known brand and on clearance from Tire Rack. Easy peasy.

 

Another vote for Nokian Hakkas. I run the LT on my Tacoma and the R3 SUV on my SUV.

They make a huge difference. I'll note that these threads always end up with people from the midwest posting about how they've been running bald summer tires on their Camry since the dawn of time and don't see a new but consider this your reminder that the midwest doesn't appear until #10 in the snowiest states in the US. Nevada has a higher 24 hour snowfall record than all of the midwest.

If you're dealing with driving on snowfall regularly, you really can't beat winter tires.

 

get 3 more spare wheels

 

Discount Tire is offering $110 off a set of Blizzaks but then they want to change me $120 for a "certificate".... I guess that means a warranty. Is this a good deal? Total comes to $879

 

Usually the manufacturer have their own warranties, as long as you have the reciept from the date of installing you should be ok. I'd check online before paying for a 'certificate'

 

For the record I'm in the Midwest with frequent driving trips to CO to ski. Around here people think I'm nuts for running winter tires on my cars, until they try winter tires. The biggest problem in winter in the Midwest is exactly what you describe. Dumb asses with the wrong equipment that think they are fine until they aren't fine and they've t-boned you or worse.

 

I've never had a tire warranty besides the manufacturer warranty and never needed one. Is $879 with mount/balance? Normally I think DT charges $15-20 per tire but I don't remember the last time I did it.