Good A/T for snow?

[Daz]

I have BFG A/T on my stock '98 Cherokee (235/75R15).

When I bought my Jeep it had a set of new winter tires (Bridgestone Winter Duelers, if memory serves...). As I'm a dirt poor ski patroller just transitioning into a new career as a heli pilot, I couldn't afford a second set of tires and rims, so I left the winters on year-round which wore them out in a year and a half. They were awesome in the snow and pretty darn good everywhere else, but they were just too soft for year-round on and off pavement use.

I decided to replace the worn winters with the BFG A/T's based on their reputation and the fact that they were "winter-rated" with the snowflake symbol on the side. I didn't expect stellar winter performance, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well they work. They're not quite as hooked up as the dedicated winters, but they are not far off. To wit: when I lived in southeastern BC, I commuted daily up a 20km narrow twisty ski hill access road - on snow days I was often up it before the plows, and between storms the road was a mix of compact ice and snow, slush and bare patches.

The BFGs do really well in the uncompacted fresh snow, pretty good in slush and compact snow, and just OK on ice.

Since I moved to Vancouver I don't see snow as regularly, but I have made several winter trips across BC's mountain passes in truly nasty winter conditions (including once pulling a motorcycle on a trailer), and the tires did not fail to impress me.

Oh, and they're great on dirt/rocks, and seem to be durable as hell. Haven't had much mud experience, but I hear tell that there's better tires for mud than these. Also, I'd estimate that I lost about 1/2 to 1 mpg with these tires, but I figure that's a small price to pay for a durable do-it-all tire.

My 2¢ - I'll happily buy them again.

 

[Pooch72]

I know i'm a little late to this thread, but I thought i would throw my 2 cents in the mix with my experiences.

First of all, I would echo the BFGoodrich All Terrain Radials. I've been running them for several years on my truck, and have never been disappointed.

gratuitous truck picture:

This shows the difference in size between my classic Chevy and my buddy's giant Ford F350. I was running the BFG's and he was sporting the Toyo M/T. I literally walked all over him in the snowy hills in the Cascade mountains here in Washington. His tires were absolute garbage. From the moment we left the pavement, he was having problems. Me... it was like driving on a dirt road.

Now, I was doing great until Dave developed a transmission problem and started leaking ATF. When we saw the little red spots in the snow, the immediate decision was made to turn around and head down the mountain. Since I was behind Dave, I tried turning around. Unfortunately, as soon as my tires left the hard snow-pack, I instantly sank down to the axle and was screwed.

It took us 2 hours with a chain hoist (acting as a winch) to pull me out.

The following year, I went Christmas tree cutting with my dad and his classic truck. I was still on my BFG's and he was on ******** Cepek Fun Country Radials. 36x15.5x16.5LT. Big fat baloons under his truck, and just a mile up the snow road, and he managed to slide off the road and got stuck. This time, I hooked up my winch to his truck and pulled him out.

I've since acquired a set of Goodyear Wrangler Military Oz tires (what the military uses on Humvee's), but if I'm expecting snow conditions, the BFG's are going back on. NO QUESTION!!!

 

[Co-opski]

Im looking for a good A/T tire that is decent in snow. I would prefer a 245/85/16 (or 235) size tire. This is for a 09' Reg Tacoma 4x4 (no lift as of yet, but that will change with the new rubber).

I run the 235 85 r 16 BFG AT for my summer tire and Nokan Hakkapeliitta LT in the same size for my winter tire and chaines if I get some place hairy. The BFG do ok for a winter snow tire but a dedicated snow tire is hands down better than the BFG AT. Snow crawling and daily winter driving are two different animals. I don't want float with my winter tires as I'm not off road or crawling cross country in deep snow, so the 235/85 r16 cut well in the 1000 inches of wet coastal snow we get here. 70mph in 4 inches of snow is not uncommon on my drives. Cheers.

 

[h2os2]

Another really good tire and was excellent in snow is the Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 2.

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire/dueler-at-revo-2-eco

 

[colodak]

My Dakota came with Goodyears in '00, at 11,000 miles sold them to my Dad for his Dakota and put a set of BFG's on. Those Goodyears were crap, one cross country trip with them was enough. Had to have them balanced, rebalanced and road force balanced twice.

First set of BFG's went 45,000 miles and still had 10K life left on them, tire store gave me $35 ea trade-in and sold them 2 hrs later for $50 ea.. Next set went 30K before a belt slipped, BFG warranted them without issue. Next set went 40K and still had some life left when I upsized to a new tire/wheel.

Christmas/New Year '06/'07 we had back to back blizzards each one dumping almost 3 feet in the area, got stuck once and it wasn't the tires fault, it was my fault for being careless. I spent 4 days doing transports of emergency personel for the City. In two cases I had to make my own road through 2 or more feet of snow, not a single problem, just blazed through. My avatar pic. is from early on in the first blizzard. Been off-road may times. The biggest thing is to watch, there are some BFG A/T's without the snowflake symbol, BFG is phasing them out, but they are still around.

 

[wyojoe]

I ran the Wally-world Wrangler Authority tires in a 31x10.5x15 (or 265/75R15? I don't recall which it was) on my '05 Colorado and got 53,000 miles on them, with a little tread left (except the driver's front - it was cupped from not being aligned right after I lifted the truck). The problem is that there are limited sizes available, so unless you want one of the sizes they carry, you're SOL. The advantage to getting them there is the ability to have them rotated almost anywhere whenever needed.

I found these tires worked pretty well for my uses, which was mostly highway driving, including in inclement weather (rain and snow), as well as some dirt from time to time. I never did any hard core mud or rock wheelin', but these tires worked well for the mix I had. They did tend to become noisy about halfway through the tread life, and even though they were balanced and rotated regularly, they hummed loudly much of the time.

When they finally wore out recently, I decided to try the GY Duratracs in the same size. They were a bit more money, but have a much quieter ride (at least for now). I also like the looks, and from my initial experiences driving them in snow, they work pretty well for me so far. I'll have to wait and see about treadlife over the long term.

 

[Mountainhound]

Winter driving I prefer a true snow tire ie; soft compound and lots of sipping (sp). I have driving many a mile on at tires and always thought I had good traction, funny thing is alot of times I was in 4x4. Always felt as if I could go anywhere and did. But in 04 I bought a set of cooper discoverer m&s and the very first time I drove on snow coverd roads I was hooked. I never had the traction with an at or mt that I get with a true snow. A true snow never losses grip for long. I use to like to play in the snow (fishtailing and whatnot) not with a true snow though because when truck is sideways and all a sudden the tires have regained traction things can get a little to interesting quick. Also 1 other great benifit of a true snow is braking, theres no squillyness truck just stops and everything stays straight. This year I went with the firestone winterforce actually just a couple weeks ago couldn't afford till then. Anyway so far I like them more than coopers. With a true snow on I find that I drive in 2x4 and it's like driving on dry roads traction wise eliminating the need to use 4x4 which saves fuel and wear and tear.

 

[Haakon]

a vote for the Hankook ATMs...have them on my 2005 Tacoma and the E version on my 1 ton GMC and they are great in the snow...

I've got those on my 99 Tahoe, they came with the rig when I bought it. They did Ok in the snow in the foothills of the Cascades, but after about 30,000 miles they're worn out. I ran through 2 sets of BFG AT on my 2000 Suburban (I miss that rig!), they lasted longer and in my opinion were much better in the snow we get which tends to be on the wet side, I'd buy them again without reservations.

My Silverado came with some pretty worn Wild Country TXR's that worked well in the snow, driving through 15" was no problem. Not sure if they're still made, but they worked well.